San Juan on a moon-light night is as romantic and beautiful as any city in the world.  The old town fort and the cobble streets bring back days of the pirates and buccaneers.  The capital of Puerto Rico is a spirited modern metropolis with high-rise beach strips, a major commercial center and a justly famous historic colonial core. It dates from the early 16th century, making it the second oldest city in the Americas.

Today it's the engine of the islands economic and political life and the cultural beachhead for US influence in the Caribbean. The port of San Juan is very busy and home to most of the leading cruise lines offering itineraries out of this central Caribbean island port.

For an old timer, San Juan can seem pretty spry - nothing like strips of high-rise hotels and heaps of hardbodies littered about the beaches to make a town look young. Even Old San Juan seems strangely fresh and well-preserved given that it's getting on for 500 years old.

Many Caribbean adventurers never make it past San Juan: there's a lot to be said for being able to lay a towel down on an unmistakably white Caribbean beach, while having the culture and quaintness of a historic city and the convenience of a modern metropolis just minutes away. But if daytripping appeals, the capital also makes a good base from which to explore the compact island.

The walled city of Old San Juan is a seven-square-block historic precinct of narrow cobble stoned streets, pastel-colored colonial architecture and shady plazas. It's located at the western end of San Juan Island, surrounded by sea on three sides and laden with the atmosphere of a bygone era.

The monumental 16th-century fortress of El Morro at the western end of the district has had as much to do with preserving Old San Juan as the recent restoration efforts of government bodies. It repelled raids by Caribs, pirates, the Dutch and English sea-dog Sir Francis Drake.

It rises nearly 150ft above the sea, has walls 15ft thick and contains a labyrinth of ramparts, tunnels and dungeons. In these peaceful days, El Morro is also known as the world's best kite-flying site.

Its twin, El Castillo San Cristóbal, lies a mile to the east. Construction of San Cristóbal began after 1598, when the Earl of Cumberland's English forces took El Morro by siege, demonstrating the need for land defences.

This was the only time El Morro fell and even then it was only a matter of months before the invaders succumbed to disease. Both forts are studded by Puerto Rico's trademark garitas,sentry boxes, jutting over their outer walls.

San Juan is a gateway to a bigger and more exciting Caribbean, come find us today.