I can add some first hand info.
Mona is a beautifull but desolate place. It is part of
Puerto Rico and is governed kind of like a nature reserve. their are 2
anchorages... with
mooring balls one is Playa Sardinera where the rangers and scientists have their houses/offices. the other is Playa Pajaros with nothing but a few huts and some composting toilets. both places have 1 long straight
dock and a few random
mooring balls. the area is not the calmest as it is only protected by a "barrier reef" which is maybe 300-500 yards from the beach.
Legally you can
anchor at the island anytime if you are US citizen BUT if you want to go on land you need a special permit only granted by the department of natural resources in PR called "Recursos Naturales" here in PR. you can find their out of date website by searching online.
The hunting season there has started. It runs from December to March. During this time permits are only given to non hunters to visit the island Friday-Sunday as hunting goes on Mon-Thurs. I went last year and am going again in Feb. 2012. we hunt wild goats and boars.
Another thing is if the ocean gets really rough you cannot go through the NARROW entrance at both anchorages. The entrances are super sketchy and they are marked by SMALL red/green bouys. Def. only do it during good daylight hours on a calm or relatively calm day. I have heard of boats going in on a calm day and the waves come up making them stay there untill the swell abates.
So, to sum it up it is an incredibly beautifull place but very inhospitable and unfortunatly the PR
government makes it pretty hard to impossible for tourists to go. They have NO services to give/sell.. no
food,
water,
diesel, NADA.. on Sardinera they have a
generator and cistern for use of the rangers and scientist. The island also has a short runway but again is for exclusive
government use. Us locals get there on private boats or chartering out a 45' motorboat that basically ferries hunters back and forth during the season and out of season does scuba/fishing trips. his
boat is based on the
west coast of PR near Boqueron.
If you are still interested and need some help or more info on the permits send me a PM and I can see what I can do as I live in PR and have to deal with this goverment agency frequently.