Vacation In Vieques
Vacation in Vieques. This is a fantastic Caribbean destination with many fun activities while staying at affordable vacation rental homes.
Rows of palm trees swaying in the sea breeze, tropical music playing from a local yacht club in the distance, and a beach on which you can walk for hours…this is what vacation feels like to someone who has never visited Vieques. For those who have experienced it, you know that this is heaven on earth.
Vieques — world famous for its bio-diversity, powder-like beaches and pristine waters. It´s small enough to feel like you own the place, and there’s still so much to explore and discover; yet big enough to offer a wide range of outdoor activities and adventures. Come visit us soon, you´ll see all of this and much more.
If you are looking for the ultimate island getaway , look no further than Vieques . This Caribbean island is home to some of the most beautiful natural scenery in the region. With hypnotic beaches, picturesque mountains, and a rich and vibrant culture, one can’t help but feel totally relaxed and pampered for an entire week. Here are 3 reasons why you should definitely consider vacationing in Vieques this year!
Do you know much about Vieques? Probably not. Just reading that name makes you feel a relaxation, because Vieques is a Caribbean island belonging to the United States.
When Elliot and I began planning our winter getaway to Puerto Rico, we were pretty intentional with our itinerary. We wanted to have a relaxing trip that didn’t involve too many hotel switches, but we also wanted to make sure our tourism dollars were being put to good use.
We decided to split our time in Puerto Rico between the city and the beach; we spent 5 days in San Juan, and 3 days on the island of Vieques.
Vacation In Vieques
Vieques is a small island 8 miles off the east coast of the main island of Puerto Rico. Most well-known for being home to the brightest bioluminescent bay in the world, Vieques is also a popular weekend getaway spot for both locals and tourists alike.
Vieques, Puerto RicoPlay Video
A little Vieques history
It would be easy to simply say that Vieques is a laid-back, beachy paradise, but I think it’s important to know about the island’s history before visiting, too.
Vieques was first inhabited by indigenous people that came from Caribbean regions like Cuba and Hispanola. They became known as the Taíno people, and were the first people Christopher Columbus would have come into contact with when he “discovered” the New World.
The Spanish claimed Vieques along with Puerto Rico in the 1490s. The smaller island eventually became a center for Taíno rebellion against the Spanish, leading to the Spaniards killing, imprisoning, or enslaving most of the native population of the island.
After the Spanish rolled in, Vieques experienced a few hundred years of lawlessness, becoming a hotspot for pirates and smuggling. Then came the sugarcane plantations in the mid-1800s. In 1898, after Spain lost the Spanish-American War, Vieques (along with the rest of Puerto Rico) changed hands and became a US territory.
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In 1941, the US military seized most of Vieques to be used as an outpost for its Roosevelt Roads Naval Station on the Puerto Rican mainland. After WWII ended, the US Navy continued using Vieques for munitions testing and didn’t leave Vieques until 2003, after a few long years of local protests.
After the military left, much of Vieques was designated a National Wildlife Refuge. But there are still scars left behind; some visible (like the signs around the island warning you to watch out for unexploded bombs), and some more sinister (like the mysteriously high rates of cancer and other serious illnesses among longtime residents).
On top of all this, Vieques was hit hard by Hurricane Maria in 2017; not only were buildings flooded and destroyed, but the world-famous bioluminescent bay went dark for a while, as the tiny organisms that produce the bay’s glow all died.
But Vieques has rebounded. There are few physical signs of hurricane damage any longer, and the bio bay is now brighter than it ever was before. And since the island doesn’t get the cruise ship tourists that the main island of Puerto Rico sees each year, we knew our tourism dollars could do some good on Vieques.
When to visit Vieques
NOTE: Vieques is open again to visitors, but ALL people traveling to Puerto Rico need to present a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken no more than 72 hours prior to their departure. More info here. The Vieques ferry has also been operating for locals only; tourists may need to fly to the island.
The weather in Puerto Rico is generally pretty warm and tropical year-road, but there are definitely some months that are better for a visit than others.
Puerto Rico basically has two tourism “seasons.” Peak season is from December to May, and off-peak season runs from June through November. June-November is also hurricane season in the Caribbean, and can be slightly wetter (and obviously also sometimes full of hurricanes).
Another thing to consider when visiting Vieques is the moon cycle. If kayaking in Mosquito Bay (the famous bioluminescent bay) is on your to-do list, you’ll want to schedule it for as close to the new moon as possible, since darker skies make for a brighter bay.
Elliot and I visited Vieques at the new moon in late February, and it ended up being pretty perfect. It was hot enough to swim (and the water here is always warm enough for swimming), and the bio bay was super bright!
How to get to Vieques island
There are two different ways to get to Vieques: you can take the ferry, or you can fly.
The ferry leaves from Ceiba, which is a little over an hour from San Juan by road. The ferry is cheap (only $2 per person) and only takes about half an hour. But the ferry can get crowded (especially on holiday weekends), and locals are always given preference over tourists. They do offer a small number of tickets for pre-booking online (here), but there is sometimes a risk of not making it onto your desired boat.
The other way to get to Vieques is by flying. There are flights from 3 different airports to Vieques; you can fly from San Juan International Airport (SJU), Isla Grande Airport (SIG), or Ceiba Airport (RVR). Several small airlines fly these routes a couple times per day, including Vieques Air Link and Cape Air.
