Who would expect to have to stop for wild horses when
driving along a dirt road on a Caribbean island? Who would expect to see swirls
of neon blue when you dip your kayak paddle into an inky bay at night? Or to see
a cluster of plants and rocks on the sea floor start moving, only to realize that
clump is actually a creature?
Surprise! That’s the best word to describe the island of
Vieques.
To the uninitiated, Puerto Rico is a popular Caribbean vacation
destination, a bigger island than most. But most people are unaware that PR is
actually made up of a number of islands. The two largest (besides the mainland),
Vieques and Culebra, are tropical paradises sitting a few miles off the east
coast, their natural wonders just waiting to be discovered.
We visited the
larger one, Vieques, this week and will spend a couple nights on Culebra in
December.
Getting to Vieques
Vieques is located just 7 miles off the east coast of Puerto Rico. You can take a ferry
to get there, but we opted for a ten-minute flight on Vieques Air Link from the
east coast airport of Ceiba. The flight was $80 round-trip, much more expensive
than the $4 R/T ferry ride. But the ferry can be unreliable, waits can be long,
and the water can get very rough, inducing seasickness – unless you’re truly
unlucky and can’t get on board at all. Get more info here.
We chose comfort, convenience, and guaranteed seats – which
meant packing like sardines into a tiny 8-seat plane for the eight-minute flight.
There are also flights to Vieques from two airports in San Juan, but which are
more expensive. There are also several air providers, but we chose the local
one, Vieques Airlink. Get more info here.
Exploring Vieques
People don’t go to Vieques for nightlife. They go for
the nature. The island is quiet, lush, and uncrowded, with unmatched natural
beauty. Vieques is home to the brightest bioluminescent bay in the world, Mosquito
Bay. Travelers will discover countless undeveloped beach coves, as well as the
largest natural wildlife refuge in the Caribbean. They’ll also discover rough,
bumpy roads, which is why renting a 4WD vehicle is essential.
Vieques is 20 miles long and four miles wide. The
Atlantic Ocean crashes against its rocky shore on one side, while the Caribbean
Sea gently laps the golden sand beaches on the other.
The island has two main towns --
Esperanza on the Caribbean coast and Isabel Segunda on the Atlantic coast to
the north. Between them and stretching in both directions are lush mountains
crisscrossed by narrow dirt roads, with a jumble of colorful concrete houses
built to weather hurricanes and hot sub.
Isabel Segunda
Isabel Segunda, to the north, has all
the resources islanders need for their day-to-day lives -- a couple of small supermarkets,
a few gas stations, Town Hall, the main Plaza, the Ferry Terminal, and a bunch
of restaurants and shops.
Esperanza
Esperanza, to the south, has a more bohemian
island-life vibe, with a number of open-air bars and restaurants boasting
overprices pina coladas and American barmaids, facing a malecon (kind of a
boardwalk, only built Caribbean-style with concrete instead of wood) along the
coast with spectacular views of Esperanza Bay. Esperanza has a beach within
walking distance, making it possibly a better choice if you choose (or are
forced) to come to Vieques without a vehicle.
All over the island, businesses and homes are painted
with colorful murals featuring mermaids, iguanas, horses and tributes in memory
of lost relatives. It’s a truly charming place.
Getting Around
There is no public transit on Vieques, and we read that
taxis don’t like going to the deserted beaches, and may not be available to
bring you back. So unless you stay in the southern town, Esperanza, which has
lots of restaurants and several beaches within walking distance, you need to
rent either a golf cart or a 4WD vehicle.
Why 4WD? Because some of the roads to the beaches, like the one to Black
Sand Beach, are car-swallowingly big.
The biggest piece of advice we got about rental cars was
to book your car first, then build your vacation around it, because there are a
limited number of vehicles available. So the availability of this red jeep at
Island Jeep and Coqui Car Rental for Nov. 9-11 pretty much decided our
destination!
We didn’t regret the expense. A golf cart would have
been cheaper, but they only go about 15 mph, and you have no protection from
the tropical heat or sudden rainstorms except the small roof. We experienced
some very bumpy roads, and bob enjoyed tooling around in the jeep on them,
while I clenched my teeth.
Our Lodging
There are no big chain hotels on Vieques. You’ll find a
choice of boutique hotels, guesthouses, Airbnbs, and hostels for the
backpacking crowd. We stayed at the Bravo Beach Hotel, a boutique hotel located on the edge of Isabel
Segunda. For just $90 a night, we had a spacious room with a queen bed,
refrigerator, large bathroom, and little porch with a bench. This boutique
hotel also had two swimming pools, one of which was right next to the ocean,
where I was able to witness a couple of stunning sunsets and one incredible
rainbow.
The hotel also gave us the use of beach chairs, swim towels, and even
a cooler, which turned out to be really useful since the beaches we visited had
no amenities. The hotel wasn’t serving breakfast because of COVID, but we found
a place called El Café de Rincon (Coffee Corner) in a food truck park on the
other side of town that we really enjoyed.
Wild Horses
Horses roam freely throughout the island, thousands of
them. Everywhere you go you will see them: mothers feeding foals on the
roadside, herds hanging out in the nature reserve, horses strolling down the
main street or passing through a food truck park, islanders riding horses in a
choppy trot up hilly, narrow streets. Their omnipresence feels like a return to
a simpler time. Learn all about them here; it’s hilarious!
We also saw many roosters, a couple of wild pigs, a
couple of huge green iguanas, and countless snowy egrets, pelicans, and other
seabirds.
End Part 1
