The town centre is easily walkable. The plaza, the church, the nearby restaurants, and the bars are all within a short walk of each other. If you arrive by car you can park near the plaza and cover everything on foot.
A car becomes essential as soon as you want to move beyond the town centre. The Río Gurabo valley, the hiking in the Sierra de Cayey, and especially the roadside lechoneras are spread across the surrounding rural area and are not accessible on foot from town. The university campus is a short drive from the centre.
The roads around Gurabo are in reasonable condition and the driving is straightforward in daylight. Some of the rural tracks leading toward the hills and the river can be rougher — standard road clearance is usually fine, but a higher vehicle is useful if you want to explore the more remote farm roads.