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Get around Mayaguez
Get around Mayaguez
Mayagüez is a small city, roughly shaped like a crescent. Many of its landmarks are within walking distance of each other, but the location of some will demand that you use alternate means of transport. The downtown section roughly follows a grid pattern. The main thoroughfares of the grid are the Calle de La Candelaria (from west to east) and Calle Méndez Vigo (from east to west), which run parallel to each other. They are closest to each other near the town square, the Plaza de Colón (Christopher Columbus Square), whose four corners are still called Las Cuatro Esquinas by some older mayagüezanos. City Hall (whose bell tower is roughly modeled after New York's) and the local Roman Catholic cathedral, Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria are located at opposite sides of the square. Slighly west of the city center the Avenida Ramón Emeterio Betances runs across the city from north to south. Towards the north, the Avenida Betances makes a sharp turn towards the northwest, becomes the Boulevard Alfonso Valdés Cobián, and borders part of UPR-M.
Towards the north of the city square you will find three residential subsections (barrios): Paris and Antonio de Balboa (working class) and the student district of Barcelona. South of the square you'll find the subsections of Salud, Santurce and Liceo, among others; towards the west you will find "Mayagüez Playa", by now mostly a business district, and the barrios of Dulces Labios and Trastalleres. All these subdivisions are at least 100 years old, and many of their inhabitants have lived there for generations.
Public transportation is scarce. If you rent an automobile, be advised: parking is even more scarce. Parking meters abound in the downtown section, but parking laws are not consistently enforced. You are advised to cover your stay by using them, though; fines cost $25-$250 depending on the infraction. There are private parking lots around town, whose hourly rates are relatively cheap (roughly $1/hr), but most are small, and many close by 5:00 PM. Should you be staying at a downtown hotel you may be entitled to use a parking space at one of these for the night.
If you need to travel reliably through town your best bet is to book a taxi, which is relatively cheap compared to San Juan's (a drive within the downtown section is approximately USD$7). There are two taxi companies: Yellow Cab (just south of the Cathedral) and White Cab (on Calle José de Diego, two streets north of the Plaza de Colón)
There's a free municipal trolley which makes a short circuit between its terminal just north of City Hall and the Palacio de Recreación y Deportes, which has a large, free parking lot. It mostly runs during work hours, 7:00 AM through 5:00 PM.
If you are adventurous, you may walk to the Terminal de Carros Públicos and take a publico (fixed-route public car). Most likely you will have to wait until the vehicle is full of passengers before the driver departs. Most routes cover nearby towns as well as Mayagüez Urbano, defined roughly as the expanse covered by Betances Avenue, and PR-2 up to the Mayagüez Mall. The rides are cheap, but as the routes are fixed, please discuss your plans with the driver before boarding.
Travel by bicycle, although convenient, may be limited by the availability of parking facilities. Assume that, if you travel with one, you will have to lock and fasten your bike securely. Many drivers are not used to sharing the road with cyclists, although there is at least one dedicated bike trail on road PR-3108, near the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez.
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Mayaguez Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.