Bad Bunny’s Residency: How to Navigate El Coliseo de Puerto Rico

By  Juan J. Arroyo

Bad Bunny_El Coliseo de Puerto Rico

Art by Alan Lopez for Remezcla.

San Juan’s Coliseo de Puerto Rico, or El Choli, as locals refer to it, isn’t known as the mecca of reggaetón for nothing. With Puerto Rico being where the genre came into its own and where most of its superstars and legendary acts call home, playing a sold-out show at the venue has become one of the biggest badges of honor — even for artists who visit from outside, like Feid, Karol G, and more.

Starting this month, the biggest one of all won’t be just playing one sold-out show, but 30 concerts over the course of 10 weekends. Bad Bunny starts his residency, titled “No me quiero ir de aquí” (I Don’t Want to Leave Here) on July 11, inspired by his universally acclaimed album DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS. El Choli seats 19,500 people, and everyone expects every seat to be filled during those 30 shows. Attendees will be flying in from all over, especially since Benito has remarked he has no interest in doing a U.S. tour.

So, what should you know about Coliseo de Puerto Rico once you arrive? What’s the best way to get there? Should you rideshare or trek it? Where do you go with your tickets? Where can you grab a bite before, and where can you hang out afterwards? That one’s tricky, but we’ll explain. Here’s your quick guide to all that and more.

How to Get There?

The Coliseo is located in the Hato Rey neighborhood of San Juan, just off the avenue known as the Milla de Oro (Golden Mile) due to all the bank and financial headquarters lining the strip. Think of it as Puerto Rico’s Wall Street, with more tanned yet equally greedy Gordon Gekkos. The coliseum itself is nestled right beside residential apartment complexes, which is a hint at how difficult it is to find parking.

Right in front of the main entrance is a large parking lot where entry usually goes between $15 and $30 per vehicle, depending on whether you go for regular or quote-unquote “VIP” parking (which means an area inside the lot closer to the venue). Behind the Coliseo is a multistory parking garage called New San Juan Parking. Pricing fluctuates when there are concerts, and it also fills up very quickly. There is another parking lot right next to it, but it’s typically used as a holding area or crew parking during concerts, so access might not be available.

An Uber will definitely drop you off right in front, once you brave the inevitable traffic jam that forms in the area, but another option is the Tren Urbano. That’s San Juan’s elevated rapid transit system that has a convenient stop right at the corner of the Coliseo. Hitch a ride and get off at the Hato Rey stop. Most stations have their own parking as well, which would probably be less congested.

If push comes to shove, or you’re running late, you might have to park across the Luis Muñoz Rivera Avenue, either on a side street or in clandestine parking lots that charge a pretty penny.

How Do I Get In?

This answer is pretty straightforward. The main entrance is located in front and is accessible to everyone who doesn’t have arena seats. For arena seats, there are two entrances on the right or left side of the coliseum: the west entrance (“Oeste”) and the east entrance (“Este”), which are pretty easy to spot once you walk around.

If, for whatever reason, you need to pick up your tickets at the site, the ticket booth-will call station is located on the east side, at the bottom of the steps, under a sign that says “Boletería.”

What Can You Bring?

New rules that went into effect this year put a strict limit on what you can bring into the Coliseo. A new initiative called “Carteras Pa’l Show” (Bags for the Show) establishes that bags cannot be bigger than 4.5” x 6.5” if you want to bring them inside the venue. An exception is made for bags that do not exceed 12” by 6” in size, provided they are made of see-through plastic. More info with examples can be found on the “Carteras Pa’l Show” website.

Cameras with detachable lenses are not allowed (with the exception of press), nor are backpacks, coolers, vapes, folding chairs, etc. You can, however, bring binoculars if you’re seated at the very top — with the pigeons, as Puerto Ricans would say.

Who Can Go?

The events are open to anyone with tickets, with the exception of unaccompanied minors. An adult must accompany anyone under the age of 16, or they will be denied entry. In this case, an adult is anyone 21 or older, despite 18-year-olds being considered adults in some cases (such as the ability to legally purchase alcoholic drinks). The Puerto Rico Department of Family Affairs has said they will have personnel present every night of the residency to make sure no unaccompanied minors attempt to make their way inside the show.

Where to Eat? 

If you get anxious about making it to the show on time and forget to eat beforehand, fear not! Not only does the Coliseo have a variety of food options available inside — think fast food — but Bad Bunny will be bringing special booths and kiosks that will be serving traditional local foods, in keeping with the album’s celebration of Puerto Rico’s essence.

The menu is said to include mostly “frituras,” which are the popular fried snacks locals gorge on during beach days or dive bar hopping (what we call “chinchorreos”). These will probably include a variety of empanadillas (or “pastelillos,” depending on which part of the island you’re from), alcapurrias, bacalaitos, arepas, tostones, papas rellenas, and more. The full menu of options hasn’t been revealed, but common sense says these will make an appearance.

If you’re still hungry after the show, your options are unfortunately limited (depending on what time it lets out, but see the next part for more on that). If you’re truly starving, there’s always Los Pinos Café, which has an extensive menu and is open 24 hours. There are two locations in San Juan, and while there might be a wait to get in, the food is worth it.

Where to Celebrate After?

After what’s sure to be an extraordinary experience at Benito’s concert, of course, you’d want to go somewhere to grab some drinks, rave about the show, and keep dancing, right?

Well… In late 2023, San Juan mayor Miguel Romero Lugo updated the city’s municipal code, specifically what is known as the “last call” measure. Since then, bars and venues must stop selling alcohol by 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday (and Sunday if Monday is a holiday). Every other day of the week, the cutoff time is 1 a.m. Effectively, most locales end up closing up shop at that time too, since there’s no financial incentive to stay open beyond that hour, and also because heightened local police patrols kill the vibe. This includes popular hotspots like Old San Juan, Calle Loíza, Santurce, La Placita, Puerta de Tierra, and other neighborhoods that used to be known as top-tier nightlife. The big problem is that between concerts ending around midnight and most people finally exiting the jammed parking lots around 1 a.m., the list of places to go to is incredibly short.

Your best bet? Hoof it to the Isla Verde strip of Carolina, which is just outside the boundaries of San Juan’s municipal code, and hit up one of the bars and clubs still open there. Also, for what it’s worth: the measure doesn’t apply to bars, clubs, or casinos that are found inside hotels within San Juan city limits (i.e., the Condado area). So if you want a $30 watered-down gin & tonic at 2 in the morning, that’s your best bet.

Bad Bunny bad bunny residency NO ME QUIERO IR DE AQUÍ NO ME QUIERO IR DE AQUÍ residency