San Juan's beaches are a continuous strand of white sand running east from Old San Juan along the Atlantic side of the city — a single long beach divided by neighbourhood lines. From west to east the sequence is Escambrón, Condado, Ocean Park, and Isla Verde, each with its own character and crowd. The sand is soft and pale, the Atlantic is the open ocean (not the calm Caribbean of the south coast), and the water is consistently warm.
For calmer water and a coral reef offshore, head to Escambrón Beach near the Capitolio. For the polished resort experience, Isla Verde. For the local windsurfing and volleyball scene, Ocean Park. The Condado beaches in front of the bigger hotels are the most accessible if you are staying centrally, but they are narrower and busier than Isla Verde.