No trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico is complete without a tour of the Bacardi Rum Factory. Personally, I thought it was a great way of spending a few hours and on the plus side, you get a couple of free drinks.
If you happen to be on a cruise, you can save yourself a bit of money by doing this excursion on your own. Most cruise lines charge from $30 per person to experience what is ultimately, a free tour. There is NO charge for the tour or the drinks, just the cost of getting there.
It’s pretty easy to get there from the port of San Juan. First, you need to take a Ferry from Pier 2 to Catano. The cost of the ferry is $1.50 one way for adults and $.50 one way for kids. Once you get into the terminal be sure you are on the ferry for Catano and not Hato Rey. The ferry ride is about 5 minutes and the views are incredible. It’s like 2 tours in one. Be sure to have your camera ready. It’s the best way to enjoy a full view of the bay!
View of San Juan from Catano Ferry
Once you get off the ferry, there will be plenty of taxis available to take you on to the Bacardi Rum Factory. The cost is $3 per person one way. When you ask the price, the taxi drivers will always say $3, but keep in mind they need to drive you back, so really the total cost is $6. Many of the people who were in our cab did not realize this until we were well on our way. The drive is about 5 minutes, but it would be a very long and unsafe walk as it is located in an industrial zone.
If you happen to have a car rental, you can drive there as well. The directions from San Juan are: take Highway 22 west to the Cataño exit, Road 165. The plant is visible on the right about a mile from the exit on Road 165, Km 2.6, Int. 888, at the Bay View Industrial Park in Cataño.
Casa Bacardi Visitor Center and Gift Shop
Upon arrival, first thing you will notice is the Bacardi bat, the bar, and the gift shop. Be sure to pick up your tickets for the Free drinks. Why come out all this way if not for the drinks, right? When my husband and I went we had our 9 year old with us and they gave him coupons as well for juice and/or soda. You can get your drinks first and then go to the tour or vice versa. We made it just in time for the last tour, so our drinks would have to wait.
You board a tram to the entrance and the tour begins with the guide giving a brief history of rum and the Bacardi family. Then you move on to another room where an 8 minute movie is played about the history of Bacardi and why the bat is their logo. I won’t give out the reason. If you make it out to the tour you can hear all about it. Pictures and video are allowed in the entrance, but after that they are not allowed until the end of the tour.
After the movie, you will be led into a 3rd room where you can smell the different kinds of rum and see some pretty interesting historical memorabilia. The last room you are led into, has a guide that will go over how to make their famous “mojito”.
Now, every group always has to have that one person you want to kick off the tour. Well, ours had him. His cell phone kept going off during the tour and of course, he had to answer and talk right over the guide giving the recipe and we heard none of it. Luckily, if you want their “mojito” recipe, you can find it online at www.casabacardi.org. And if you do go on the tour, please turn off your cell phone. The world can wait for 1 hour while you do a tour.
At the end of tour, you can make a short video and email it to your friends and family back home and then board the tram back to the bar to get your drinks and of course, stop in at the gift shop. Not a bad way to spend a few hours in Puerto Rico.
For more information on the tour, drink recipes, and their updated tour hours, please visit www.casabacardi.org.
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