Fajardo area
We first spend a few days diving around Palomino and Palominito islands from Fajardo. We saw spotted eagles and southern stingrays as they flew through the water but the visibility could have been better. The reefs did look very healthy.

Culebra and Vieques
As the area was off-limits to boating and marine activities for so long most of the reefs are still in excellent condition and marine life is abundant everywhere. The US Fish and Wildlife Service protects the small islands around Culebra and offer over 50 sites with some very dramatic scenery.

Schools of Angelfish, Spadefish, and Spanish Grunts were plentiful. The depths varied from an average of 40ft. to 75ft. on deep dives. Dive sites include Arch Dive at a depths of 50 ft. with beautiful corals growing on the rocks and schools of fish hovering everywhere. Amberjack Hole was also nice with lots of French Angelfish, French Grunts, and Triggerfish at a maximum depth of 65 ft. At Anchor Reef we dove at 50 to 75 ft. and found many bottles and interesting “artifacts” left behind by the US Navy. My favorite was an open water dive called Fish Galore. There were lots of turtles, great visibility and pinnacles from the surface to about 120 ft.

When in Vieques or Culebra, don't miss out on a night dive into the breathtaking bioluminescent colored waters. The light brightens your way to see the exciting underwater night life, including lobsters running from their enemy octopus, sea snakes hunting for food abd parrot fish sleeping in their crevaces.

Fajardo
We started out diving with La Casa del Mar, a dive center located inside the facilities of El Conquistador Resort, one of the largest five star hotels in Puerto Rico. If you like to stay at a big resort with all kinds of activities at your fingertips, then this is the place. It is easy to get away from the hustle and bustle for the days as this hotel owns the beautiful Palomino and Palominito islands, just a short boat ride away. With crystal clear waters at the perfect temperature, we could think of worse places to relax.

Culebra and Vieques
You can try and do day trips to Culebra or Vieques from the main land but it is much better and more fun to take the ferry over for a few days and organize your diving with a local operator such as Culebra Divers. We thought there were no dive operators on Vieques yet but have recently come across Vieques Divers who can be reached at tel: 787 741 3627. If you are staying on Vieques (there is more "to do" on the larger Vieques and better accommodation), you can always hop on the ferry and make a day trip to dive with with Culebra Divers. They are conveniently located right opposite the ferry terminal.

Vieques is getting ready for more attention now that the US Navy has left. "The occupation" was a good thing in the sense that the beaches all still very deserted and there is little development. Stay at the Bravo Beach Hotel or at the Inn on the Blue Horizon, one of the best spots on the island to watch the beautiful sunsets while drinking a "Culebrita". We liked Cafe Media Luna for dinner. Look around and you will also find the last Spanish Fort built in the New World, which has been completely restored and is now a museum.  If you're not busy diving or going to one of the many beaches, you could visit the Esperanza Museum or one of the three art galleries on the island.

San Juan
We spent the last three days in San Juan, a definite must-see! The old-town has been beautifully renovated and is full of 16th-century Spanish colonial architecture in tropical pastel colorings. Take a relaxing stroll along the fort walls and visit one of the forts. Try to avoid the daily cruise crowds that descend on old San Juan during the day. Your time is better spent going to the beach at Isla Verde and come back for mojitos in the early evening when the streets are empty again.

There is a bustling night life scene south of Fortaleza Street (SoFo), full of excellent restaurants that makes you think you are in the it-place of any international cosmopolitan. Great restaurants include the Parrot Club, Dragonfly and Aguaviva who specializes in traditional Puerto Rican fare. Try the Latin-spiced fried pork over mashed plantain cake. My favorite hotel must be Hotel El Convento, an amazingly beautiful hotel housed in a converted convent. They also have a great tapas bar.




The climate is fairly constant all year round, with temperature ranging from 73 degrees in January and February to 80 degrees in July-September and the high humidity is made less oppresive by the cooling sea breezes. Hurricane season is July to October.

Visibility varies with rain runoff, in my experience there, it varied from 30ft (on a cloudy day with rain on the preceding day to 100ft + at Culebra.

Leatherback, Green Sea and Hawksbill turtle nesting season is in April and May. February and March is Whale season.




Although there are many direct flights to the capital San Juan in Puerto Rico from the United States, if you live in Europe things are not quite so straightforward. While all the major US airlines fly there, the only European airline with direct flights to Puerto Rico is Iberia's service from Madrid.

The result is that if you're flying from Europe you can either fly via Madrid, or else you'll need to fly to the US mainland for a connecting flight to your destination. The advantage of this latter option is the greater choice of flights on both legs of the journey.

From the USA, try Jet Blue or Continental

From San Juan you can take a taxi or bus to Fajardo. About two hours depending on the traffic. It took us forever on a Friday afternoon during rush hour. From Fajardo you can take the ferry to the islands. Or you can fly there from San Juan airport as well.

For information about ferry schedules, check out this website. There is a new high-speed (two-and-a-quarter hours) ferry service from Old San Juan to Culebra and on to Vieques once a day during the week, twice-daily on weekends. Round-trip tickets are between $73 - $78 for adults, $58 - $63 for children. There is also regular ferry service between Fajardo and Vieques. Tickets are $4 each way for the 75-minute trip. There are three to four ferries daily each way.

For information about air travel schedules from San Juan and Fajardo, have a look at Air Sunshine and Vieques Air link. Round-trip fares between San Juan and Vieques are between $90 - $125. Don't forget to make a reservations well in advance.

It is best to rent a jeep to get around the islands. Try Vieques Car Rental.



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Vieques Travel Guide

Underwater aftermath: a few years ago, the government of Puerto Rico wanted to find out what effect the U.S. Navy’s presence had on the underwater environment around the island of Vieques. So they hired Dr. James Porter, a Yale-trained expert on coral reefs, to study the sea bed around Bahía Salina del Sur and Roca Alcatraz, just offshore from the Navy’s airfield in Vieques. Click here for more...Porter and his team of scientists from the University of Georgia were shocked by what they found.