Juan Ponce de Leon founded Caparra in 1508; the settlement moved to this islet in 1521, making San Juan the oldest European-founded city under the US flag and the Americas' second-oldest European capital, after Santo Domingo. Castillo San Felipe del Morro and the walls of Old San Juan, with La Fortaleza, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. As a US territory it runs on the dollar and needs no passport for Americans; Act 60 tax breaks draw investors and remote workers, and everyone else uses ordinary US visa rules. The city is a global capital of salsa and where reggaeton took shape in the 1990s, and hurricane season, June to November, shapes the calendar, as Maria showed in 2017.
Nights sit around 26°C and afternoons around 32°C.
San Juan barely changes season: afternoons sit around 31°C and nights around 25°C most of the year.
It rains all year: about 15 days in 30 in November and 13 in March, so there is no dry stretch to aim for.
Wind is rarely an issue; most months sit between calm and a light breeze. Air quality is worth watching: July averages an AQI of 55, while November clears to 28.
Days stretch to about 13.1 hours of light in June and shrink to 10.9 in December — something to weigh if you work to a fixed timezone.
For what you're after, the best months in San Juan are December – April. Expect fast internet (220 Mbps) and a high cost of living (about €2000 a month).
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