A Farm Stay Adventure in the Mountains of Puerto Rico
There’s something special about visiting a place through the lens of its farms, the people, the land, and the traditions that sustain them. I recently had the joy of traveling to Puerto Rico with a group of agritourism specialists from across the U.S. While our main goal was to collaborate on agritourism initiatives and resources, we were fortunate to spend time touring local farms and experiencing firsthand what agritourism looks like on the island.
Puerto Rico is often associated with its beautiful beaches, but venture inland, and you’ll discover a rich farming heritage that has withstood the test of time—and hurricanes. This American Territory has always been known for its farm exports: primarily coffee (once sought after by kings and queens in Europe), but also cacaos, plantains, and citrus. We wanted to see and experience farming in the interior, farms carved into steep hillsides that would seemingly defy commercial planting.
Everywhere we stopped, we were welcomed with hot meals and met farmers who were generous with their time and eager to share their knowledge. We discovered in our visits that Hurricane Maria (2017) had wiped out most of the crops and meant many had to start from scratch with replanting. Despite this devastation, these farmers are embracing innovation—experimenting with new crops like vanilla, focusing on sustainable farming, and adding agritourism in the form of farm stays to their operations.
Want to experience farming firsthand? These four farm stays offer a variety of accommodations—camping, cottages, and off-grid huts—all with breathtaking views.
Hacienda La Tradicion in Utuado is a coffee farm owned by Carlos Casanos. He returned to Puerto Rico after Maria, having lived in the States for over 30 years, and wanting to come home to the land where he was born. He bought a farm and has been in the process of planting over 12,000 coffee trees, as well as growing chilies and bananas. We saw the drawings for the Hacienda he plans to build for guests. Currently he offers camping (on a flat grassy area!) and hikes throughout the farm to ponds and waterfalls.
Finca La Puertas de San Pedro in Utuado is a farm growing coffee, cacaos, plantains and citrus. It is owned by Madelyn Heredia and Jesus Alcaraz Suyas. Most of the crops were destroyed during Maria so much of the planting is new. There are two accommodations at this farm, both with incredible views over the valley and the farm below. One is a one-bedroom cottage (Casita Limani) with a full bath, living room, kitchen, and covered deck. The other cottage (Casita Marsellesa) can sleep up to four and has a kitchen; also with incredible views. Additionally, there are three campsites laid out.
Hacienda La Guadeloupe in Jayuya is owned by Vidal Irizarry and Lisandra Pabon. This is also a coffee, cacaos, plantain and citrus farm, just beginning to experiment with growing vanilla as well. We were given a tour of the greenhouses, helped to plant some cilantro, and got a lesson on drying coffee beans. The couple offer lodging in an apartment above the roasting area and in a private off-grid cabin down a steep track that also takes you by the pond where the farmers grow tilapia (fish). Three more cabins are coming online and camping is available. Besides farm and coffee tours, the farm offers a workshop on harvesting, processing, brewing, and roasting specialty and eco-friendly coffees.
Finca Destellos de Luz in Aguas Buena (Utuado), owned by Evelyn Ortiz and Max Perez, is better known as the Permaculture Institute of Puerto Rico. Max led us on a tour to demonstrate the incredible planting of his farm, on the hillsides where he grows plantains and pineapple and in the areas around the buildings where one finds medicinal plants, flowers, herbs, and a fish pond (again for tilapia). There are two off-grid cabins to stay in with the most incredible views over a valley with a river below and a bath house with running water just steps away. There is also an on-grid cabin with its own bathroom and campsites on ground leveled for the purpose.
While not offering any lodging, we were fascinated to tour Amasar, an award-winning bread fruit flour factory in Jayuya. Breadfruit is considered a super food and grows throughout the Caribbean. Usually eaten as a fruit, the founders, a chemist and a biologist, were aware of its distinctive properties and realized they could mill it into a more stable flour to be used in baking (including a pancake/waffle mix). If you get to meet them, Marisol Villalobos and Jesus Martes are as enthusiastic as they are warm when recounting their business journey and their plans for the future of breadfruit.
If you are looking for some tasty local food, stop at the Buren Cafe in Arecibo on the way up to the farms. Owned by Casanos (Hacienda La Tradicion) and friends Jessika Tanner and her husband Mike, the cafe offers fresh pastries and sandwiches, along with coffee from Hacienda La Tradicion and honey from Jessika’s bees at Dulce Jibara.
Most vacations leave you with great memories, but few experiences are as deeply inspiring and perspective-shifting as stepping onto a farm, where culture and livelihood are intertwined. This trip was one of those moments, and I couldn’t wait to share it with the farm stay community.
A heartfelt thank you to our hosts for an unforgettable experience of Puerto Rican farm life—their generosity, resilience, and passion made this journey truly special.
(Banner and farmers photo credit to: West Virginia University Extension. Thank you.)
Side note: The roads to these farms are narrow and winding, but the journey is as breathtaking as the destination, with lush greenery and stunning mountain views at every turn. Spanish is the primary language but all of these farmers spoke enough English for those of us who spoke no Spanish to get by. The best communication is over a meal anyway – no words necessary.