Roamin’ the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico
This is exactly what I thought when I read about this island in a travel article. Where is it at? What is there to do? When can we go? Why should we go? These where the four big W’s that crossed my mind after my read. A check on the map showed it was an island just off the coast of Puerto Rico. Vieques is actually a part of the Territory of Puerto Rico. For those of us traveling from the U. S., no passport required and no change in currency!
Another summer of travel for this family! We hopped a direct flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico with Sun Country Airlines. A few hours later we felt the warm sun on our faces as we walked out of Luis Munoz Marin International Airport. We used Taxi Concepts of Puerto Rico for our transportation needs on the main island. They were reliable, knowledgable and brewed a great espresso from their in-car coffee machine. There are a few ways to travel from San Juan to Vieques. You can take a local airline right from San Juan, you can take a ferry across from Ceiba Ferry Terminal or you can take a local airline from Jose Aponte De La Torre Airport. The ferry dock and local airport are located on the West side of the island and requires an hour taxi ride from the international airport in San Juan. We chose to take the local airline, Vieques Air Link, from Jose Aponte Airport. For our family, there was enough savings on airfare that this made sense. With no time constraints on the way back to San Juan, we chose the more economical ferry at $2.00 per person. Which ever you choose, there are plenty of departure times to fit your needs. While on Vieques, we rented a jeep through Vieques Car Rental. They offer pick-up and drop off service from the airport to their business location. Vieques roads were easy to drive and it was easy to navigate our way around the island. Watch for horses while driving around the island, according to the locals more horses than people call Vieques home.
The next stop was our rental home, Las Piedras, which was located right on the water. The home is just a short drive North of the town of Isabel II. Isabel II is the largest town on the island and home to the local airport, ferry dock, multiple restaurants and shops. While searching for a rental home in Vieques, I found there were a limited amount of homes right on the water. If that is a must have, you may want to book your accommodations early. We found our home through the Airbnb website and was able to converse directly with the owner. The house manager met us at the property for a walk through and gave us great information about the island. The house was spacious and open with a full length patio on the top floor and a wonderful deck and pool on the main floor, both facing the ocean. Sea breezes and views for miles!
For our first evening on the island, we ate and danced the night away at Buga’s Mexican Restaurant, which is located in Isabel II. The next day we did some exploring by car and found the local market to stock our house for the week. While on the island we checked out the local beaches and walked the Museo El Fortin Museum. We even stopped to sit under a three hundred year old Ceiba tree! The other main town is Esperanza, which is located on the Southern part of the island. Several small restaurants and bars line the main street along with the inns, boutique hotels and a local market.
We chose a different beach everyday, most within the Vieques National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge was a Naval training ground until the early 2000’s. One of the neatest beaches we visited was the Black Sand Beach. To get down to the beach we had a fun hike through a forested riverbed!
Secret beach was a great place to kick back and swim in the calm waters of the Caribbean Sea.
The soft sand and calm waters of Playa Chiva make it a great beach day for everyone!
The grand finale of our time on Vieques was the Bahia Bioluminescent Bay. It was a magical experience for our whole family, kayaking through the bay at night, dipping our hands in the water and watching them glow, watching the water light up with every dip of our paddle. This was an experience of a lifetime and a true memory making event. Sorry, no pictures for this adventure, some things are better left as a picture in our memory……..
We loved our time on the island of Vieques. Laid back, quiet, peaceful and beautiful………
