Puerto Rico
From the bustling urban streets of San Juan to the serene coastal landscapes, you’ll capture the island’s diverse beauty under the moon and stars. Iconic lighthouses along the coast, bioluminescent bays aglow in the night, diverse nature preserves and the remnants of former plantations offer a rich canvas for your nocturnal photographic explorations. Days will be spent experiencing the vibrant culture and one-of-a-kind mix of West African, Caribbean, Spanish and mainland American cuisine.
Tour Details
November 15-23, 2025
This is an 8-night, 9-day tour. Your adventure begins with your arrival in San Juan by 2 p.m. on November 15, and ends with your flight home anytime on November 23.
$7,995 for singles, $14,595 for couples + applicable taxes. Register below.
Skill level
All Levels. Open to all who have an understanding of the basic principles of photography and of their cameras.
Group size
10, with 2 instructors — 5:1 ratio
NPS Website
San Juan National Historic Site
Tour Leaders
Registration
| • Deposit of $2,995 (singles) or $4,595 (couples) is required to reserve your spot on the tour. |
| • Balance of $5,000 (singles) or ($10,000) couples is due on November 18, 2023.. → Pay balance here. |
| • You may choose the “Pay in Full” ticket if you desire to pay all at once. |
| • Last day for a cancellation request is November 17, 2023. (see cancellation and refund policy) |
| • The tour fee includes 8 nights lodging (with breakfast) at two 4-star hotels, the services of a local guide, entry fees, and all transportation in Puerto Rico, including airport pickup and drop-off. |
| • The tour fee does not include airfare to and from Puerto Rico, tips and meals other than breakfasts. |
The Puerto Rico Experience
This photo tour is designed as an introduction to Puerto Rico’s culture, history and landscape. We’ll be dividing our time between the urban areas around San Juan and the beaches of the south coast.
We’ll begin the tour at a beach resort on the south side of the island, which will be our base for exploring lighthouses, nature preserves, waterfalls and a bioluminescent lagoon. You’ll be able to get your 10,000 steps most days, as the trip includes several easy to moderate hikes to get to our shoot locations, as well as some downtime to relax and enjoy the tropical weather and beautiful beaches of Puerto Rico.
Some of our destinations include:
Old San Juan and the San Juan National Historic Site, consisting of colonial era forts which played a major role in numerous conflicts, including the Spanish-American war.
A nighttime boat tour of the La Parguera bioluminescent bay, with an opportunity to photograph and swim in the glowing waters.
Several of the many lighthouses on the island. Lance and Chris will offer instruction specific to photographing each lighthouse, as photography techniques vary with the type of light in each structure.
The Punta Guaniquilla Nature Reserve in Cabo Rojo, one of Puerto Rico’s crown treasures. Dry woods, grasslands, meadows, mangroves and the majestic Guaniquilla Lagoon dominate this reserve. The lagoon serves as an essential sanctuary for migratory birds that flock to the area each winter, some traveling all the way from the Canadian Arctic tundra.
Las Cabezas de San Juan Nature Reserve, which shelters seven different ecological systems, including beaches, lagoons, dry forest, coral reefs and mangroves. Animal species that forage here include big iguanas, fiddler crabs, myriad insects and all kinds of birds. (The reserve was damaged during hurricane Maria, but is scheduled to reopen in time for our visit.)
Hacienda Lealtad, a historic coffee plantation that also features a museum and boutique hotel. We’ll have a tour and dinner, and then photograph the grounds at night.
Hacienda La Esperanza is a 2,150-acre nature reserve that was a colonial sugar plantation. The hacienda is home to a sugar mill and a unique 1861 West Point Foundry steam steam engine.
This is just a sample of our scheduled destinations, but our days and nights will also be filled with unscheduled photographic opportunities as they arise.
Like most of our tours, this trip is well-suited for couples, even if one partner isn’t a photographer. The days and nights are full of photographic opportunities, but the days will be so rich with cultural, historical and natural experiences that there’s something for everyone.
Most days and nights will be filled with activities, but there will also be scheduled time for rest and relaxation, usually in the mornings.
What You Should Know
Night photography experience is helpful, but not necessary. Participants must have at least basic photo skills, know their cameras well, and be comfortable shooting raw in manual mode with a DSLR or high-end mirrorless camera.
If you would like to attend this tour but are unsure whether you have adequate night photography skills, we can offer pre-tour tutoring to get you ready for your adventure with us. Alternatively or additionally, a few of us have written books that may be productive pre-tour reads.
What You Will Learn
We hope to push you to step outside your comfort zone—to test the limits of what you and your camera can do.
TOPICS COVERED WILL INCLUDE:
history and culture of Puerto Rico
day and nighttime landscape and street photography
photographing lighthouses at night
light painting
waterfall photography
and more …
As this is a photo tour rather than a workshop, the emphasis will be on getting participants to great locations with great light, and making sure that everyone has the trip of a lifetime. We want you to make the most of your time in Puerto Rico, and you wouldn’t want to spend it in a classroom. As with most of our tours, we will not be holding formal lessons or image reviews, but rather assisting as needed in the field. We’ll be photographing day and night.
The instructors will be available for one-on-one guidance in the field. We’ll be glad to review your images with you during quieter moments, but there won’t be formal group image-review sessions.
Lance and Chris will always be ready to answer your photography questions, or to help you in the field with techniques or composition tips. You can make what you will of our photographic locations, whether you are a casual photographer or a professional on a mission to develop a portfolio.
Night Conditions
Logistics & General Info
Travel
You are responsible for arranging and paying for your own transportation to Puerto Rico. The tour will begin and end in San Juan.
Flights:
Plan to arrive in San Juan (SJU) on November 15 by 2 p.m.
Plan your return flight for anytime on November 23. We suggest an afternoon flight, as we will be out photographing the night before.
Rental Car
You will not need a rental car for the tour. We will be providing transportation, including airport pickup and drop-off.
Lodging & Food
We’ll spend the first 4 nights at a resort on the south coast that is set on a half-mile stretch of private beach, amidst 20 acres of tropical gardens and close to many dark sky locations.
For the second half of the trip, we’ll be based in San Juan at a boutique hotel inspired by 1950s ambiance with mid-century modern decor. Pricing is based on single accommodations with private bathrooms.
Breakfasts are included at the hotels, but you are responsible for paying for your lunches and dinners. Plan to budget about $50 per day for lunch and dinner. We will generally be eating together as a group.
Puerto Rican cuisine is a one-of-a-kind mix of West African, Caribbean, Spanish and mainland American cooking, and it’s not unusual to find meals offering a mix of native island ingredients such as cacao and plantains with African legumes combined with a Spanish flair for all things fried. You are sure to experience food that you’ll not soon forget, and that might kick-start some serious cravings lasting long after you’ve left.
Vegetarian cuisine may be limited outside of San Juan.
Weather
Daily high temperatures in November are around 84 F, rarely falling below 80 or exceeding 89. Daily low temperatures are around 73, rarely falling below 69 or exceeding 76.
November is a somewhat dry month in Puerto Rico, but that doesn’t mean we can count on sunny days every day. Afternoon rain showers or thunderstorms are common at any time, and there’s a good chance we’ll experience a few.
Recommended Attire
Bring clothes suitable for tropical weather.
There may be days when your clothes get wet, so it is recommended that you pack an additional change of clothes for those days.
Bring sturdy hiking boots, a light raincoat, a swimsuit, a sun hat and sunscreen.
Exertion Level
The exertion level of this tour is Easy to Moderate. (See more about our classifications.)
No vigorous activity will be required during the tour, but please consider your physical abilities prior to registering. We’ll be taking several long walks, some with elevation gains of 200 to 300 feet, on varied terrain including rocky trails, beaches and pavement.
Considerations
IMPORTANT: We encourage reading our FAQs section for more information about skill and gear requirements, and other information that pertains to all our workshops.
If you have questions, please contact us—we're happy to talk it over with you.
Sparkles and Stars …
“We paddled about a hundred yards out, and our guide stopped and motioned that it was time to climb out of the kayaks and swim.”
In 2004 I was in my last year of working for Tennis magazine, and for one of my last assignments I traveled to Puerto Rico. My sister Katie joined me for the trip. During the day I went to meetings and such, while Katie enjoyed beaches and such. Evenings we got to spend together.
Katie is intelligent, spirited and personable, and while making Puerto Rican acquaintances off the resort, she scored some good information: If we wanted to see some bioluminescence, we should skip the resort’s commercial excursion and go local. Her source recommended that we show up at such-and-such beach at dusk, and there we’d find a local guide with some kayaks, who would escort us and whoever to a sparkling bay under a new moon.
So, our plans for the evening were obvious. We showed up at the rumored place and time, and sure enough found what we were promised. There wasn’t a word of English to be heard, which made the foray feel all the more legitimate.
With darkness having set upon the sea, we paddled from the beach into a mangrove forest. We moved effortlessly and quietly through a tunnel of trees for a half-mile or so, then emerged into a peaceful bay. We paddled about a hundred yards out, and our guide stopped and motioned that it was time to climb out of the kayaks and swim.
We slipped out of the boat, into the warm spring waters of the Atlantic. As we moved in near-perfect darkness, the water began to glow, as if someone had poured gold around us. The sea lit up—like daylight below and night above.
The moment lasted only about 15 minutes of time, but holds a spot of forever in my memory. We lifted ourselves back into the kayaks and began to paddle back. Katie looked up, looked down, looked all around.
She said, “I don’t know whether to look up at the stars or down at the sparkles.”
