Why such early closing times?

[twinkletoes915]

It's a mystery to me how this city can close their shops and Forts so early when thousands of people dock at 3 and 4 pm in the afternoon. I have been searching the Boards for information on all of the wonderful things to do in San Juan and the info I'm getting is that the tours, shopping and Forts close by 6pm. Can't shop owners make their own hours? If I owned a store where hundreds of potential customers were docking I KNOW I would be open till the embarkation time. I also read that the Forts were beautifully lit, I wonder why they can't have night tours? I'm not judging or complaining in any way, I'm very curious as to the reasons why.

Thank you in advance for your response.

[ajilimojil]

The forts are part of the National Park system and they control the hours of operation.

 

Some shops do stay open late, especially on days that ships are in port.

[twinkletoes915]

Thank you so much AJ, that's good information to know. I understand that there is a Bio tour that's supposed to be wonderful but it's too much of a time crunch and would be stressful. So the plan is to head straight to Fort, then the shops then the restaurant called Cafe Berlin. Do you happen to know the age to get into the clubs? Our daughter doesn't drink but she would love to go clubbing with us and she'd 17.

Thank you in advance!!!

[Ms411]

Legends of Puerto Rico offers some tours at night. Fort Morro has a cultural show starting at around 6 p.m. on Tue, I think. It's on the events page of the PR NPS site.

 

The Latin Roots Restaurant offers salsa lessons at (again, I think) 6 p.m. every night and it's open to all ages. The clubs in PR don't really get going until after 11 p.m. Don't know minimum age.

 

There may be something going on at Plaza Princessa (sp?). There were outdoor photography exhibits when I've been there. If not, it's a beautiful walk to the Raices Fountain which is beautiful at night.