About Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico is renowned for its warm hospitality; fantastic climate and exotic allure that makes this beautiful Caribbean island an exciting meeting and incentive destination. Plus, it has the key advantages of being an easily accessed U.S. Territory where English is an official language and the U.S. Dollar is the currency.

Located at the gateway to the Caribbean, the island of Puerto Rico is 110 miles long and 35 miles wide. San Juan, the capital city, is a unique juxtaposition of old and new — with modern business structures and services as well as traditional Puerto Rican and colonial Spanish flavors in Old San Juan. Puerto Rico's second largest city, Ponce, is just 90 minutes from San Juan by car. In 1493, Columbus claimed Puerto Rico for Spain and the island remained under Spanish rule until 1898 when Spain ceded the island to the U.S. in the Spanish-American War. In 1917, under the Jones Act, Puerto Rico's residents became U.S. citizens and the island became a commonwealth of the U.S. in 1952.

Weather/Climate/Attire

The climate is Tropical Marine with a regular daytime temperature of 82°F. Puerto Rico enjoys warm and sunny days most of the year. Lightweight clothing is appropriate year-round. The El Conquistador is situated on the northeastern end of the island where gentle trade wind breezes make it even more of a paradise!

Because of the latitude of Puerto Rico, the sun is high overhead all year and there are no great variations from day to day between the times of sunrise and sunset. The sunrise/sunset average is 6:54 am to 6:21 pm.

Click here for the most up-to-date weather information and week long forecast.

Attire for the 2010 ACEC Fall Conference is resort casual.

Time Zone

Puerto Rico's time zone is Atlantic Standard (AST), which is one hour later (+1) than Eastern Standard Time (EST) and four hours earlier (-4) than Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Puerto Rico does not observe Daylight Savings Time.