Confession time: we love watching Caribbean Life on HGTV.
Even though we are not island people (Bonnie is too fair to do the Caribbean sun long-term), we love the idea of living somewhere warm with a slower pace of life. So, when planning our trip to Puerto Rico, the island of Vieques was already on our list.
The show portrays Vieques as a bit of a hidden gem, which it is, and an ideal place to find a relaxed, slower pace of life. So, we made a point to spend one day exploring Vieques and we are so glad we did.
We found so many gorgeous beaches with few, if any, other folks around. We were able to drive the island from end to end, exploring the accessible parts of the Vieques National Wildlife Refuge. It was a very cool place to spend a day.
Truly, Vieques was a relaxing change of pace from San Juan and the rest of Puerto Rico.
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What is Vieques?
Vieques is a relatively small island (about 20 miles long by about 4 miles wide off the east coast of Puerto Rico. While the island has been inhabited for hundreds of years, 80% of the island was either purchased or seized during World War II by the US Government to use as a bombing range for the US Navy.
For the next 60 years, the Navy used the island as a bombing and gunnery practice range. In 2003, the Navy ceased operations in Vieques and transferred control of the gunnery ranges to the US Fish and Wildlife Service as a National Wildlife Refuge, which you can visit.
That said, much of the wildlife refuge is off-limits to visitors due to either chemical contamination or unexploded ordnance. The government is very slowly cleaning up the wildlife refuge, but it will take decades, mostly due to the thick vegetation.
The population of the island is now a bit more than 8,000, mostly concentrated in the two towns: Isabel Segunda and Esperanza, which are located on the north and south sides of the middle of the island, respectively.
How We Spent One Day Exploring Vieques
Explore the Southeast Stretch of the Vieques National Wildlife Refuge
We decided to spend the day exploring the Vieques National Wildlife Refuge. We started out driving out to Punta Conjeo on the southeast side of the island. We traversed the dirt roads of the refuge, doing our best to dodge the feral horses. There are a LOT of feral horses on Vieques. You will find them everywhere.
We saw plenty of turn-offs for various beaches along the way. As we got out towards the point, we stopped at Playa La Chiva, where we stepped out on a nearly deserted beach. Seriously, there was only one other group on a vast expanse of pristine beach. I totally get the attraction of this island, now!
The roads on the southeast side of the island had their share of potholes but were not too bad and you could make it out to these beaches with a car if you are careful when you drive.
Honestly, this is the perfect area to pack a picnic lunch and plan to spend a relaxing day on the beach.
Lunch in Esperanza
It was getting to be about lunchtime, so we headed west to Esperanza, a small town on the south of the island. The main stretch along the Caribbean had several restaurants and we found a couple we had met on the ferry, Chris and Stacey, hanging out at Bananas and joined them for lunch.
Lunch and a couple of beers overlooking the Caribbean was just what we needed. We enjoyed the lunch, the company and the view!
We spent a bit of time walking the waterfront of Esperanza. We were visiting in the summer, so it was a bit quiet but the town was really cool and had a lot of neat restaurants.
Exploring the West Side of the Vieques National Wildlife Refuge
After lunch, we headed back to Isabel Segunda to check into our hotel and drop off our luggage. From there, we drove west, following the north coast of the island.
Our first stop was Laguna Kiani. This saltwater lagoon had a ton of small crabs as well as great views of Mount Pirata to the south. The views were great.
From there, we continued west to Punta Arenas, the westernmost point of the island. This is where the famed Green Beach is. This area was quite secluded and the road to get out there was little more than a jeep trail in parts. Seriously, the vegetation is quite thick!
We stopped to check out the beaches and they were quite deserted. There was maybe one other car out there. Aside from the beaches, the water is apparently great for snorkeling. We did not have gear with us or we would have jumped in.
Exploring the Jungle and Going to the Black Sand Beach
From Punta Arenas, we headed into the jungle, following the available “roads” to check out some of the bunkers left by the military.
I am not gonna lie: these were barely roads. I was quite glad to have a Jeep. We found several bunkers which have become canvases for local artists… It was really cool to find these pretty murals painted upon these symbols of war.
As we continued through the jungle, the vegetation got thicker and thicker. Finally, we got to the point where we simply could not keep going without seriously damaging the rental car. So, we turned around and headed to the south to visit Play Negra.
Playa Negra is the black sand beach not far from Esperanza. You will find signs for a trail leading down to the beach off the road and there is a dirt parking area across the road from it.
The “trail” to Playa Negra is actually a stream bed that is in a deep gully. It was a really cool walk out to the beach. You will likely get your feet wet on the trail. Once you get to the beach, you will find black sand mixed in with golden sand, making for an interesting contrast. If you keep going west along the coast, the sand gets more and more black but it is still mixed in with golden sand.
While this beach is quite cool, it is not like the black sand beaches of Maui.
Read more about driving the road to Hana and seeing a black sand beach in Maui.
Afterward, we headed back to Isabel Segunda to grab some dinner at one of the local markets and relax at our hotel.
Other Things to Do in Vieques
Vieques has one of the best bioluminescence bays in the world, Mosquito Bay. The couple we met on the ferry, Chris and Stacey, took a paddling tour of the bio bay. They LOVED it! Their experience was everything our bio bay tour in Fajardo was not.
We also saw plenty of opportunities to take a horseback tour of various parts of the island, which looks like a cool way to experience the island.
How Do You Get to Vieques?
There are two ways for most travelers to get to Vieques: you can fly or you can take the ferry.
There is a small airport on Vieques and you can fly from San Juan or Ceiba to the island via Vieques Flight Link or from San Juan to Vieques via Cape Air. Obviously, flying is more expensive and a cursory check of prices range from about $50 to $120 per person per flight.
Check Skyscanner for flight prices.
The ferry from Cieba is Isabel Segunda is much cheaper ($2/person each way) BUT you cannot take your rental car on the ferry. It is limited to local cargo and cars PLUS most rental contracts specifically prohibit you from taking a rental car to Vieques. There is a $20/day charge to park at the ferry.
Additionally, you get one small carry-on bag included in the fare. Larger or wheeled luggage will cost you an additional $2 each way. We saw plenty of folks hauling carts of beach gear with them for a day relaxing on one of the beaches.
The ferry is about 45 minutes long and dealing with it is pretty smooth and easy. You can purchase tickets in advance online (recommended) or at the ferry itself. Just be a bit cautious of buying a last-minute ticket on the weekends. Vieques is a popular day trip location for Puerto Ricans looking to spend a day on a remote beach.
How Do You Get Around on Vieques?
While there are taxis on the island, we did not see many of them. We highly suggest renting a car on the island. We rented a Jeep from Maritza’s Car Rental and had good service with them. They picked us up from the ferry in Isabel Segunda, got us in our Jeep fairly quickly, and gave us a decent paper map of the island.
You can rent a car as opposed to an SUV, but I would recommend against it if you want to get out to the wildlife refuge. While the roads on the island were recently paved and in great shape when we were there, there were some pretty deep potholes on the dirt roads of the wildlife refuge.
We did see golf carts, scooters and UTVs for rent as well. While I would gladly rent a UTV on Vieques, I would not rent a scooter or golf cart. Again, the roads on the wildlife refuge are pretty rough. Also, those options don’t allow you to lock up your belongings. While theft is not rampant on the island, I would not leave your belongings out where anyone can get to them.
Where to Stay in Vieques
We stayed at the Seagate Hotel in Isabel Segunda. We found the hotel via Chase Travel and found it to be both affordable and comfortable. While our room was a bit small compared to most hotels we have booked, it was clean and had a pretty good view, even from our bottom-floor room.
The one drawback of the Seagate Hotel is the distance from the main part of town. It is not walkable to any sort of restaurant.
Read Tripadvisor Reviews and Book the Hotel.
That said, if we were to do it over, we probably would have stayed in Esperanza. Esperanza seems more geared towards tourists, it is closer to the bio bay and has plenty of restaurants and bars in easy walking distance from various guest houses in town.
Final Thoughts on Spending One Day Exploring Vieques
Vieques was just one overnight stop on our 18-day tour of the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. While we enjoyed San Juan and the San Juan National Historic Site, it doesn’t compare at all to Vieques. They are two completely different places.
Vieques is a great place to spend a day (or more) exploring. We got to see pretty much the entire island in one day of driving. If we had more beach gear with us, we could have easily camped out at a secluded beach and just spent the day enjoying the isolation.
What makes this place so special is that a large portion of the island is now preserved from development. While the use of the island for a bombing range for decades has left a lasting impact on the island and, most importantly, the people, the resulting preservation has made for an idyllic landscape.
This is a great place to explore in one day… or better yet, spend more time here to truly relax and slow down.
| Check out all of our articles on visiting the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico |
|---|
| How to Visit the National Park Sites in St. Croix |
| Visiting Virgin Islands National Park in St. John |
| Touring the San Juan National Historic Site in Puerto Rico |
| A One-Week Itinerary for Visiting the Caribbean National Parks |
| Our Exact Costs to Visit the Caribbean National Parks |
| Six Puerto Rico Day Trips from San Juan |
Travel Resources
What do you use to find a flight?
We use Skyscanner to find deals on flights. Skyscanner has a great interface and compares tons of airlines for the best pricing and routing. That said, it does not always have every airline and some airlines will have better deals on their website. Still, Skyscanner is a great place to start.
Click here to search for a flight.
What do you use to find a hotel?
We typically stay at Hilton properties, so we use the Hilton website. You can find good Hilton Honors discounts or AAA discounts for a hotel there. We make great use of our free night certificates from our Hilton Honors American Express.
Click here to book a Hilton property.
If there are no Hilton properties available, we use TripAdvisor to read reviews and book the hotel. We find we can get the best price that way.
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We recently partnered with Stay22 to add interactive maps to each of our destination posts. This will allow you to see a plethora of hotels and vacation rentals all in one responsive map of the area.
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What if I need more space than I can get at a hotel?
We use Vrbo for the times when we have rented a cabin for a weekend getaway, like this cabin in Townsend, TN, or needed to rent a house for a large family vacation. We had a great experience with them in terms of refunding deposits when COVID hit and will continue to use them.
Click here to search for a vacation rental.
Who do you use for rental cars?
As a general rule, we book with Hertz for rental cars. We have had nothing but good experiences with them. Plus, we really like unlimited mileage and not worrying about crossing state lines. We have even rented from Hertz overseas in both Slovenia and Croatia.
Click here to book a rental car.
How about booking a cruise?
We have found some amazing prices for booking a cruise through Cruise Direct. We have saved a lot of money on our cruises compared to what we found elsewhere, making a last-minute Bahamas cruise even cheaper.
Click here to book a cruise.
What if I want to rent an RV?
We highly recommend Outdoorsy for RV rentals. We rented a camper van for a week to visit Rocky Mountain National Park for the elk rut and Custer State Park for the Buffalo Round-Up and had a blast. The program was easy to use and we really enjoyed the freedom of having a camper van for that trip.
Click here to rent an RV.
What do you use for booking tours?
We don’t often book tours. Typically, we like to do stuff on our own. That said, there are some experiences you can’t have any other way. So, when we do want to book a tour, we always check Viator first.
Click here to book a tour.
Do you use anything to get discounts on the road?
We make extensive use of both Good Sam and AAA on the road. Good Sam is normally regarded as a discount card for RVers at campgrounds and Camping World but anyone can use the 5 cents off a gallon at the pump at both Pilot and Flying J.
Click here to get a Good Sam membership.
We have had AAA as long as we have been married and it has more than paid for itself in discounts at hotels, aside from the peace of mind of having roadside assistance. Add in paper maps and the ability to get an international driver’s license and it is more than worth it for any traveler out there.
Click here to get a AAA membership.
Where can I get Travel Insurance?
We have partnered with Global Rescue for travel and evacuation insurance. This provider will put you out of the worst situations and get you to medical care promptly. You can even purchase “cancel for any reason” insurance from Global Rescue. This is our go-to provider of travel insurance. Traveling somewhere dangerous? They will even extract you if war were to break out on your trip.
Click here to get Global Rescue for your upcoming trip.
