Christopher Columbus first sighted Vieques in 1493. Since then it has remained a jewel of the tropics, nestled between turquoise sea of the Caribbean and the azure waters of the Atlantic. The Jewel part is really appreciated at the beaches or when seen from above...Now thousands of visitors come every year to discover what the 9000+ inhabitants already know, Vieques's beauty is unsurpassed. A must see on your stay is our bioluminescent bay. It is one of the best examples of this phenomenon in the world and will absolutely astound you. The luminescence of the BioBay is stunning. You go in the by after dark, swirl your hand in the water and you create a small trail of light in the water. You jump in the water, thrash around and you create bluish glow around your twisting limbs and torso... the water droplets twinkle on your skin and hair... pretty surreal!! The only unfortunate part was that some tour operators are unlicensed and seem not to be careful with sensitive eco-habitat of the bay and the surrounding mangroves.
Next, you rent a vehicle and go beach hopping. Chances are you will be one of only a handful of peop
le on a half-mile stretch of glistening white sand... The beaches in Vieques are breathtaking - in coves and bays with aquamarine waters... At some beaches there is nobody or one or two other people all afternoon long with crabs giving you company as they zip back and forth digging holes. At some popular big beaches, though, there are people - lots of people enjoying Presidente or Medalla Light in the shallow water or blasting loud music - especially Shakira singles ;-). The April waters were warm, shallow, and sometimes with Angel fish trying to cozy up... if you decide to snorkel along the coast you can either see a plethora of beautiful coral fans, multicolored, multi-sized fish or nothing/sea grass - the remnants of US Navy's bombing practices for decades or an occasional plastic bag :-(... As for renting a car or jeep on the island, if the exorbitant prices don't get you, be prepared for gas shortages with lines as long as 60 vehicles at the only two gas stations on the island. Renting a scooter, on the other hand, is much more fun except for required attention to avoid hitting multitude of horses roaming the island roads and beaches!!Vieques is l
ocated just 7 miles off the east coast of the big island. Though if you are planning to take the ferry from Fajardo, those 7 miles can cost you almost 4 hours - what with long wait times at the ferry ticket counter depending on when the ticket window opens, or once open when the clerk decides to sell the tickets to non-Viequense (may be after 45 mins) or whether the Puerto Rico Maritime Shipping Authority decides to start the ferry trip 5 minutes past the scheduled time or 30 minutes later. Some hotels in Vieques strongly recommend to instead take the 20-25 min flight from San Juan. But if the objective is to be a laid back traveler or to develop an appreciation for "island time" or to court the uncertainty of boarding the ferry currently in the dock or the next one, Fajardo to Vieques Ferry Service delivers... Big Time :-)!! And then the ferry ride itself is redeeming - especially on a clear sunny day with flying fish and dolphins darting around the ferry, and clear views of the waters and islands of the Caribbean.
You'll find the people of Vieques very friendly and helpful if you are in need of assistance, directions, or just a quick Spanish lesson. Friendly indeed - An employee from Hix Island House went over and above his duty of call to drive guests from Isabella back to the hotel late one night when no taxis were available or a lady at the Coconuts Restaurant being exceptionally helpful to find a taxi late one night... some of the taxi drivers, on the other hand, did try to swindle the passengers and some locals do seem to not care about the beauty of the island throwing water bottles, soda/beer cans, out of the window of their cars, along many a roadsides....To learn about Vieques's history and culture visit our museums: the Historical Trust located on the strip in Esperanza, Punta Mulas Lighthouse just past the ferry docks in Esable II, and the Fort Conde de Mirasol, the last military fort built by the Spaniards in Western Hemisphere, perched on a hill just above the center of town. The Symphonic Orchestra of Puerto Rico performed at the Vieques Cultural Festival at the grounds of the Fort Code Mirasol on Saturday April 16, 2011 under the direction of Maestro Rafael Enrique Irizarry, along with tenor, Cesar Hernández and the Lyric Coral of Puerto Rico. The pleasant surprise of the orchestral performance was the uninterrupted hub-hub and noise at the back of the tent behind the audiences where the local merchants/artisans were plying their wares or selling sweet concoctions or making margaritas, while the tenor sang and musicians performed - another unique Vieques/Puerto Rico "thing" presumably!!
In summary, if real relaxation is what you are after, Vieques offers tons of it.... So kick back, order another Pina Colada and watch the sun go 
down.*Source: Text modified from a hotel brochure.
Guest Blog by Jeff Goforth, a new friend found and made in Vieques :-)
The Greatest American Hero
I rented a 50cc scooter from a guy who worked in a shed in Esperanza, a very small town in Vieques. The scooter literally would not go uphill. I think my engine was powered by a hamster...or a mongoose. They have mongooses (mongeese?) down there. Anyway, my mongoose was lazy, or hung-over or something. As long as I rode along the perimeter of the island I was fine. It was relatively flat along the shore.
One afternoon I decided to hop on my hog and check out Blue Beach. The road to Blue Beach was gravel, which is always a wise choice when you are looking for a good challenge on a scooter. Blue Beach is a very long beach, and it is undeveloped. No buildings at all, some of the prettiest beaches I've ever seen. There were several entry points to Blue Beach from the gravel road. I pulled up to one of the entry points, grabbed my towel and planned to hang out there for a little while.
Just as I emerged from the coconut tree lined entry two older women approached me and said, "be careful, we just got ripped off." They were still dripping wet from a swim. Apparently they saw someone going through their things while they were in the ocean no more than 2 minutes earlier. They were missing their camera and 800 bucks. As they were describing the robber, a young male, dark hair, gray t-shirt, one of the ladies pointed behind me in the woods and yelled "there he is!" I turned around to look, but did not see anything. Like the 70s, this beach was totally natural. The brush was thick. Apparently he was just about 20 yards away, but I didn't see or hear anything. I went into the brush, not really thinking about what this guy had available for weaponry. I had a helmet, a towel and had a coconut, and I was ready to smoke him out of his hole! I never saw the guy. The two women helped in the search by yelling things from the beach like, "give us back our stuff, jerk!" Very helpful. Eventually the ladies told me it wasn't worth it to try to confront the robber so that portion of my man hunt came to an end after only a few minutes. None of us had a phone signal, so I volunteered to drive back towards Esperanza and alert the authorities.
I hopped on my hog again and took off, peering into the woods as I drove to see if I could find someone matching their description. The guy had to be close. We were miles from any buildings. There was only one way out. He had no way to get away quickly. These beaches are pretty isolated. As I was performing my first ever mongoose powered man hunt I saw a guy running down the gravel road several hundred yards ahead of me. I put the hammer down on that scooter to get a closer look. As I approached him from behind I noticed the guy had dark hair and was wearing a gray t-shirt. Decision time...Should I run him over from behind with my 35 pound scooter? Should I clothesline him as I drive by at 8 miles an hour? How effective would a helmeted head butt be? Could I just throw my scooter at him? Do I know karate? So many things running through my head. My testosterone fueled decision making skills were tempered just in time, because 1/4 mile or so past the perpetrator I spotted a uniformed park ranger. I again put the hammer down. I must have had that scooter up to 10 or 11 miles an hour!
I past the runner and interrupted the park ranger's discussion with a local. I had just enough time to quickly describe the situation before the perp arrived at the park ranger's location. The ranger stopped the robber. I sat on my scooter smugly and observed, all the while making mental notes of where the closest coconuts were just in case all hell broke loose. He questioned the man, asked him where he was coming from, to empty his pockets, etc. The man replied that he was just jogging. His wife and kids were still at the beach. Then the park ranger patted him down and found nothing, and sent the guy on his way. Turns out he was just a tourist going for a run. The park ranger called for reinforcements to try to find the real robber, but as far as I know they never caught anyone. I was glad I didn't have to pretend to know karate or test my coconut throwing abilities.
Pros: I did not run anyone over or throw my scooter at anyone. Got my deposit back.
Cons: As far as I know the robber got away. Need karate lessons.
