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Old 24-10-2011, 08:00   #1
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Vieques and Culebra

I'm picking up a week-long charter in Red Hook St. Thomas next month and plan to visit Culebra and Vieques. I plan on visiting Culebrita, Dewey and Esperanza. I'll be on Vieques for the New Moon and will see the Bio Bay then. Any suggested itineraries? Also, I have some specific questions:

I noticed that there are still some restricted areas (not the "danger area" on the east) along the southern coast of Vieques (including the Bio Bay). I read the regulations and these are true no-go areas, even for boat traffic. I thought that other than clean up the Navy was gone. Are these still in force?

I've also seen some recent posts about theft of dinghy motors on Vieques. I will have a cable, but is sounds like they cut the cables. It's really impractical to have someone watch the dinghy all the time. Is that really needed?

Finally, we are scuba divers and will have all of our own gear. We will go out once or twice with local dive operators, but are also interested in diving on our own. Suggestions?
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Old 25-10-2011, 17:40   #2
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Re: Vieques and Culebra

Go to TTOL's (travel talk on line) forum. There is a Puerto Rico/SVI forum and scroll down to page 2 or 3 (can't remember) and you'll see a couple threads regarding trip reports and info. Enjoy!
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Old 25-10-2011, 19:54   #3
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Re: Vieques and Culebra

Culebrita is a must-do. Anchor west of the island and then hike to the AWESOME beach on the north side. The old lighthouse is a cool hike too. If the swell is down you might even get lucky enough to go anchor off that fabulous horseshoe beach.

On Culebra, Flamenco Beach is great if you're into surfing/boogie boarding/body surfing. Beware though, the waves are pretty strong.

On Vieques, you already know about Bio-bay. If you can get a moonless or cloudy night, it'll blow you away.

As far as sailing on the east side of Vieques, I'm pretty sure you can do it (I know folks who have) but check with the charter company.

On Culebra, there are a bunch of cool anchorages. Feel free to explore. If you're going to be in Dewey, anchor in Ensenada Honda.

Have fun, and maybe you'll see us there. Bojangles is leaving from NY on Nov 5 and we would hope to land in Culebra by the 14th or 15th. Then we'll be there again over Christmas.

Cheers,
Colin
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Old 26-10-2011, 04:10   #4
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Re: Vieques and Culebra

Challa,

There are several threads in the CF archives on the Spanish Virgins that have a lot of good info in them. Click on the link in my sig line and do a custom Google search and you'll find them.
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Old 13-11-2011, 00:36   #5
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Re: Vieques and Culebra

I am with BoJanglesIV on the Bio-bay. Go on a night with a new moon not a full moon. We anchored in Ensenada Sombe, dinggy into the beach south of the swimming area and there is a dirt road that will take you back to Mosquito Bay. It truly is amazing on a moonless night!
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Old 13-11-2011, 03:41   #6
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Re: Vieques and Culebra

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Chris W.
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Old 13-11-2011, 12:59   #7
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Re: Vieques and Culebra

For those who contemplate hiking to lighthouse on Culebrita: Do NOT do this in anything other than LONG PANTS and good shoes with socks. The briars will eat your legs up.
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Old 13-11-2011, 13:52   #8
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Re: Vieques and Culebra

Quote:
Originally Posted by bstreep View Post
For those who contemplate hiking to lighthouse on Culebrita: Do NOT do this in anything other than LONG PANTS and good shoes with socks. The briars will eat your legs up.
Is this new info from experience this year? We hiked to it (in shorts and sandals) in March 2010 and didn't have any problems with briars. Might have overgrown since then.

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Old 16-11-2011, 13:33   #9
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Re: Vieques and Culebra

Quote:
Originally Posted by colemj View Post
Is this new info from experience this year? We hiked to it (in shorts and sandals) in March 2010 and didn't have any problems with briars. Might have overgrown since then.

Mark
Both old and new - but not as recent as March 2010. Last folks I heard of had the problem about 2-1/2 years ago. This might be a seasonal/rainfall thing?
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Old 16-11-2011, 15:30   #10
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We are planning on going early next week, and if we do the hike up to the lighthouse, I'll report back..
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Old 29-11-2011, 19:12   #11
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We ended up hiking across the island, but didn't do the lighthouse. Although we were fine in shorts and sandals, the path going up to the lighthouse was narrower. Might be fine without, but I would consider some long pants, if you have them handy. Culebrita was great!
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Old 30-11-2011, 09:09   #12
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Re: Vieques and Culebra

We just got back from our trip to the SVIs so I thought I would provide a quick update to this thread. We used Island Yachts in Red Hook, St. Thomas and took an Island Packet 4400. I highly recommend them and the boat. For most of the week we had 15-22kt winds and the boat was a rock. It moved great, hitting its sweet spot around 12 kts and I never felt a need to shorten sail even in the lower 20s with some stronger gusts. It was also very comfortable and well kept, especially for a 4 year old charter boat. Red Hook Dive Center is at the same marina and we got tanks and weights from them.
The first day we did a short hop from Red Hook to Buck Island. We took a mooring ball on the west side above the Cartanza wreck. It was a dive boat ball (red), but the dive shop said it was okay to use them. This is a really nice spot. The wreck is in about 40 ft of water and there are lots of turtles, rays and friendly fish that are obviously fed. We liked it so much we stayed the night – had the place to ourselves.
The next day we had a fast reach in 15-20kts around the north end of Culebrita. We went to the anchorage on the north side, which was absolutely gorgeous. The north swells, however, convinced us to go around to the west side. We grabbed a mooring ball and spent the afternoon snorkeling and diving. The reef was mostly dead in the shallows and not that interesting in the deeper areas. The anchorage was beautiful and we had it to ourselves. We did not hike to the lighthouse – next time.
We next went around into Ensenada Honda and spent two nights anchored near Cayo Pirata. It’s a good anchorage, but be careful not to foul your ground tackle as many of the boats are obviously there long-term and have multiple anchors out. The Dinghy Dock was marginal, Mamacita’s was very good, but our favorite was Zaco’s Tacos. They supposedly close at 6 pm (odd!), but we showed up around 7 and stayed until 9. Excellent food and drink – try the ginger mojito. Flamenco Beach was worthwhile and interesting to see the old tanks used for target practice by the military. We did a dive through the cut on the south end of Cayo Luis Pena. Fantastic soft corals and lots of life, including a napping nurse shark, once we got to about 25 ft. Air fills are available at Culebra Divers.
Another fast reach down to Vieques in 20+ kts, and then a run over to Esperanza. No pole on the boat so the crew got a good workout trimming. We anchored away from the town near the little island thinking that it would be calm with the north swells. Surprisingly, it was a little rolly and I would probably go a little closer in next time. The town is really cute – lots of bars and even a “yacht club.” We ate at Banana’s, which is obviously popular, but was also very good. It was a new moon and we did the biobay. It was really amazing, though we did not see any sharks or rays as we were hoping.
Then it was time to start paying for all the wonderful reaching. It was a beat all the way back to the east end of Vieques and then a reach back to the west side of Culebra. We took a mooring ball just north of the cut and enjoyed a quiet Thanksgiving dinner with only one boat at the other end of the anchorage. The next day it was a slow beat back to St. Thomas -- we ended up getting a pretty good look at St. Croix before tacking back. A header on starboard tack pushed us back towards Savana Island and forced us to crank up the engine so we could be bedded down before dark. We went back to Buck Island and got in a quick dive with the resident spotted eagle ray and the aggressively friendly yellow tail snappers. We returned the boat to Red Hook the next morning. Very sad. I am already planning my return.
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Old 31-03-2021, 11:14   #13
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Re: Vieques and Culebra

We hiked to Cublerita lighthouse two weeks ago in shorts and tennis shoes. No problem. Awesome ruins of one on the last built Spanish lighthouses. Beautiful views.

Other hikers were seniors (like us), kids, dog, less than seniors.

Bring sun protection, very open once your out of the trees.
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Old 16-04-2021, 07:30   #14
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Re: Vieques and Culebra

Overview (trip during COVID)
I’d say that compared to BVI, this is a much more primitive, tactical trip, and only for more experienced crews. There was little to no support/options on land at Culebra or Vieques, very few on-shore options, and anchorages were further and fewer in between. However, if the group is experienced, it is a far superior trip (we all agreed on this) since there were fewer boats, more pristine beaches and coves, and the sailing was wide open and beautiful.

Charts were accurate and moorings balls and anchorages were very well marked. We had two issues with mooring balls (1) was that some seemed incredibly close to shore, especially the west side of Culebra, and (2) the lines on the mooring balls require real inspection to confirm durability. If the boat were to swing, we feared we’d end up grounded. We always opted for a ball furthest from shore, sacrificing a little roll for peace of mind not damaging the boat.

The boat
Chimera (Lagoon 45) was very well equipped and in good shape. We had a few minor issues during the week with the boat. I'm happy to go into detail if you want them. Sail Caribe was very very responsive and it did not affect our trip one bit.

Provisioning
We also provisioned pretty well, since there wasn’t a decent place to restock. We stopped at Ralph’s in Fajardo which had most things, but terrible hard liquor selection. We took a separate trip to Walmart to get hard liquor and a few other items. Our driver talked us out of going to Costco near SJU (claimed it was out of the way) but I think that would have been a better stop.

FRI
We checked in at 5pm at the marina office. We were told by the marina office that we did not have access to golf carts to take our stuff to the boat. This was pretty shocking to us since I’d have thought this was part of the service. I walked over to the Sail Caribe office for assistance but it was closed. As I was walking back, a car stopped and Natalia (I think) who worked with Sail Caribe, introduced herself. I explained the situation with the marina office and she drove down to explain that Sail Caribe did in fact offer that service. Apparently there was a new person at the marina office who was not aware of this.

Nevertheless, it all worked out well (but it was a little sloppy after a full day of travel to PR).

We boarded the boat, unpacked and had dinner at La Cueva Del Mar at the marina. Good.

SAT (4 hours)
We had a very thorough and professional briefing by Jose and we left the dock around 10am. It took about four hours, the first part motoring away from the marina. Winds were blowing 18-20 knots (most of the week) and seas were 4-6 feet so it made for some very nice sailing. We reefed the main (for the whole trip) and put up the jib. We had two on the boat who had never sailed so they were justifiably nervous. The cat though was very stable and we were able to do a few good tacks. By the time we got to Tamarindo Bay on Culebra though, we were all ready for some drinks! We picked up a mooring ball and watched the sunset.

SUN (2.5 hours)
After a little snorkeling and swimming, we hiked(15 minutes) over to Flamenco Beach and took the mandatory photos of the US army tank at the beach. Flamenco Beach was widely touted as one of the most beautiful beaches around, but I felt it was a little overhyped. It was very nice, but unremarkable compared to other beaches in the Caribbean.

We dropped the ball and sailed down Culebra and tried to find a mooring at Dakity. As indicated it was quite crowded (the only area really were there were lots of boats), couldn’t find a suitable place to moor, so motored east to Almodovar, which was a fantastic mooring. We were lucky to find the last mooring ball (in 10ft of water) and it was very well protected. There were a handful of motor boats there, but most left by sundown.

MON (3 hours)
We dropped the ball and had a great tack up to Tortuga Bay on Culebrita. This by far is the most beautiful beach I’ve ever seen. There were two other private sailboats there (so we knew it was OK to enter. Apparently if there’s a northern swell, it can be hazardous). We kayaked and dinghied to shore and spent the whole morning there. We also hiked up to the lighthouse which was well worth the 15 minute walk, and were rewarded by epic view of the US VI, Vieques and Culebra. We saw goats along the way and lots of other critters.

Reluctantly, we dropped the ball and sailed over to Melones Bay (mild roll but easy access to the town) on Culebra for a scheduled SCUBA dive, picked up a ball, and dinghied into the town of Dewey. Dewey has been ravaged by the hurricane and COVID, so it was essentially a ghost town. We spent the afternoon at Lana’s Cove diving. (The diving was average at best.)

TUE (2 hours)
We dropped the ball late morning and had a very nice reach to Lana’s Cove (southwestern most cove) on Luis Pena and moored just north of Punta Cruz on a fantastic little beach. The snorkeling, right in the middle of the cove along the shore, was fantastic (lobster, eels, tons of fish). There’s a nice beach here, and ashore walk gets you over to an east-facing cove. Interesting it is littered with garbage, giving an interesting contrast to the lee-side beaches, which are largely pristine.

WED (4 hours)
We got an early start to sail to Vieques. We first stopped in Dewey to get dinghy gas and for some shopping. We found a decent grocery store, Colmado, for some items. We had originally hoped to anchor at Playa La Chiva, but our dinghy motor was not starting so we instead went to Esperanza to see if we could find help. Note that along the southern shore of Vieques, about 1/2mile off shore, there is a long line of small white bouys, marking the military restricted area. They are very difficult to see, and there’s no indication on the chart (or the briefing) that these are in the water. Each marker has two floats so could easily wrap around a propeller if not seen. Two arrays ran all along the southern coast for about 6-7 miles until Chiva.

We picked up a mooring ball near the Malecon and went ashore for lunch (and dinner). It was a fun stop. Noisy and a surprising amount of action for a tiny town. I can only imagine what it’d be like after COVID!

THU (1 hour motoring)
We motored from Esperanza to the next cove east, Sun Bay. Gorgeous, huge cove with plenty of room to anchor. We spent the day there kayaking, snorkeling, swimming, and sitting on the beach. Lively crowd here and even more so due to the Easter holiday I think. We then motored back to Esperanze and picked up a mooring ball, for what we though would be an uneventful evening.

About an hour after sunset when we were getting ready to go ashore, we realized that we were no longer on the mooring ball. It appeared that the pick up line was not securely tied to the mooring ball at all and gradually slipped out of the mooring ball. Fortunately, there was very little wind/current, so we drifted only a couple hundred yards (into deeper water). There was enough light from the town that we were able to pick up another mooring ball. Jose said that some mooring balls are not reliable… We spent a restless night, periodically checking our position throughout the night.

FRI (2 hours)
We woke up gratefully on the mooring ball, put the sails up, dropped the ball and had a fabulous sail over to Punta Arenas. Very nice spot, but this was the only anchorage that was slightly rolly. We spent the afternoon doing the usual.

SAT (2 hours)
We pulled up the anchor after a little snorkel (not very good) and sailed back to the marina under modest (8-10k) winds.
Jose was there to guide us to the fuel dock, and our sailing adventure was over. We had a quick debrief and we were off for lunch then to San Juan for a couple of days on land.
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Old 16-04-2021, 07:47   #15
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Re: Vieques and Culebra

Very nice review. Thanks
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