If you're the type who starts getting anxious when you're not moving, or you think it's time to finally get started on that workout routine your trainer has been after you about, here is a list of places around the metropolitan area where you can practice your favorite sports in a safe environment open to everyone. Remember to bring water, because it's hot!
Courts and fields for sports in San Juan
The capital city has a number of sports complexes available to residents, many of them free or requiring only a small parking fee. For runners, for example, there are four tracks:
Complejo Deportivo del Recinto de Río Piedras de la Universidad de Puerto Rico: These facilities also include tennis and pickleball courts, a soccer field, three baseball/softball fields, and swimming and diving pools. The pools require a prior reservation.
Estadio Sixto Escobar: This historic stadium, built in 1938 and used for the 1979 Pan American Games, sits on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean and also has a soccer field and an adjacent baseball park. You can park in municipal lots at playa Escambrón or arrive by bicycle or electric scooter.
Parque Central de San Juan: Along the John F. Kennedy expressway, Parque Central offers a running track, tennis courts, walking and running paths, and access to the Natatorio de San Juan (for an additional fee). Parking is cash only at the entrance, so make sure you have money on hand.
Parque Dr. José Celso Barbosa (Ocean Park): Along playa El Último Trolley, near Punta Las Marías, sits the Ocean Park running track, with tennis courts and a baseball park. Due to deterioration, this sports complex is currently being renovated, but work is progressing toward reopening to the public as soon as possible.
You can also find other soccer fields around the capital, including those in: Baldrich (with tennis courts), Quintana, Country Club (with its Pan American velodrome) and Reparto Metropolitano, among others.
For sports fans who also like to hang out, there is Eco's Sports Park, a venue next to Estadio Hiram Bithorn where you can rent beach volleyball, soccer and padel courts, among other sports, while enjoying time with friends, sharing drinks and watching your favorite events on one of its many screens.
Courts and fields for sports in Guaynabo
At the Complejo Deportivo Wilfredo Gómez you will find a baseball park, tennis courts, volleyball and boxing gyms, and even a judo pavilion. Further up, in Torrimar, there is a running track, a soccer field, and tennis and basketball courts.
The soccer team Guaynabo Gol holds its practices at the soccer field in the Canta Gallo community, near the Terrazas de Guaynabo development. There are also tennis and basketball courts in the park of the Luis Muñoz Rivera development.
For bowling fans, just across the municipal boundary near San Patricio Plaza sits one of the best bowling alleys in the metropolitan area: AMF Bolera Paradise Lanes. It has more than 20 lanes and stays open until close to midnight, so you can shake off the rust with friends after a long workday.
Courts and fields for sports in Bayamón and Cataño
Any dedicated soccer player in Puerto Rico knows about the Bayamón Soccer Complex, a three-field facility along the Río Hondo expressway with one of the only synthetic turf fields on the Island.
Bayamón has become, over the years, a hub for sports in the metropolitan area, and its sports complexes offer opportunities for athletes of all ages and disciplines. Some of these are:
Complejo Deportivo Efraín Calcaño Alicea: In the Lomas Verdes area, it has a baseball field, a track, a soccer field, tennis courts, a lap pool and a basketball court.
Centro de Tenis de Puerto Rico: Between Avenida Lomas Verdes and the Rafael Martínez Nadal expressway, the Centro de Tenis de Puerto Rico offers 16 tennis courts for rent, as well as classes for individuals and groups. You can follow the link and find more information about its services and hours here.
Río Bayamón Golf Course: In the Los Filtros sector, this golf course has 18 holes along the banks of the Río Bayamón and serves as the starting point for the Paseo Lineal of the same name, which extends north toward the coastal waters of the Ensenada de Boca Vieja. You can explore its membership options here.
Courts and fields in Carolina and Trujillo Alto
In the Tierra de Gigantes, there are soccer fields at the Extensión de Country Club, at the Mirabelli Soccer Academy and at the Complejo Deportivo Guillermo Angulo, which also has a track, tennis and handball courts, and an Olympic pool.
That last one is one of four pools in the Carolina and Trujillo Alto area. The other three are at the Arrevica park, in Hoyo Mulas, in the Encantada development and in the Round Hill development, along the Manuel Rivera Morales expressway.
Next to the Parque Yun Yun Dávila in Isla Verde, there is also the Isla Verde Tennis Club, with four courts. Find more information about its training clinics here.
Courts and fields in neighboring towns
Caguas: At the Complejo Municipal de Caguas, there is an Olympic pool, tennis and pickleball courts, a soccer field and a gymnastics pavilion where classes are offered for children and adults. The Pedro Milán Clara athletic track is located behind the Colegio Católico Notre Dame. East of the historic downtown, at the Complejo Deportivo del Este, there are baseball fields and another soccer field.
Canóvanas: The Complejo Deportivo Jaimito Rivera, along PR-3, has a track, a soccer field and pickleball courts.
Toa Baja: Within Levittown, there are tracks, a municipal gym, an Olympic wrestling center, an Olympic pool, multiple baseball fields, basketball courts and two tennis courts at the Parque Camino del Mar.
What was your favorite park?
When we were kids, we loved running, jumping and roughhousing at our favorite recreation parks. As we grow up, we gradually leave that tradition behind, but the nostalgia for those spaces stays with us. What was your favorite park?
This content was translated with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
