The Spanish Virgin Islands (SVIs) are part of the commonwealth of Puerto Rico and are located off its east coast. The two main islands are Vieques, the largest, and Culebra. There are several smaller islands that are also included as part of the SVIs. Over the course of eight days, the three buddy boats visited four of the SVIs, starting with Vieques. But first, some history.
A little history
If you want the pre-Columbian, or Spanish history, you can check out the Wikipedia links below. I’m starting with the U.S. gaining control of these islands, along with Puerto Rico, at the end of the Spanish-American War in 1898. In 1903, The U.S. established a naval reserve on Culebra for the South Atlantic fleet. In 1911, the U.S. reduced the size of its forces there (because we started leasing Guantanamo in Cuba) and started using it for training maneuvers and later gunnery and bombing practice. In 1975, due to protests by residents of Culebra, these practices stopped and moved to Vieques. In 1941, the U.S, purchased or seized nearly 80% of the land of Vieques as an extension to the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station on mainland PR. It became a bombing range of live munitions for more than 60 years, including depleted uranium bombs starting in the 1970s. Yes, while several thousand people still inhabited the island. Military exercises, munitions testing, and firing range practice continued until protestors in 1999 managed to get the military to cease, but only until April of 2001. Further protests finally resulted in the Navy withdrawing entirely from Vieques in May of 2003. At that time, much of the island was named a National Wildlife Refuge, and the island was placed on the National Priorities List for hazardous waste cleanup. No idea how much “cleanup” has actually occurred. Parts of the wildlife refuge are open to the public, but some are closed due to contamination and unexploded ordinances. [More Culebra history in Wikipedia][More Vieques history in Wikipedia]
Our time in the SVIs
On April 28th, we and our two buddy boats, Caretta and Wild Horses, made the 45 nm trip from Salinas to the Green Beach anchorage on the NW end of Vieques. It was a fine cruise, but even a calm eight-hour cruise is tiring. Dave and Barry each caught a cero (painted mackerel), so they were quite pleased. Fresh fish! After Ocean was taken ashore, we all gathered on Wild Horses for drinks and to plan our next stop. It was early to bed for most of us that night.
The next day, Saturday the 29th was overcast and sprinkling. Just as Dave and Barry were getting into the dinghy for a 9am snorkel, the skies opened up! Oh well, they were going to get wet anyway, so off they went. They found so-so snorkeling, but not at the official Department of Natural Resources (DRNA) mooring ball, but rather at the opposite end of the anchorage. [See my aside about the quality of our snorkeling experiences this season, below.] Fortunately, we’d planned a late morning departure for our three-hour trip to Cayo Icacos, because the rain didn’t let up until after 10am. When it did stop, we all hauled anchor and arrived shortly thereafter into the weekend fray that is Cayo Icacos. This is the largest island of the Cordillera chain off the NE point of Puerto Rico and it’s a popular weekend hangout spot for locals and for day-charterers on vacation. It was hopping! Fortunately, it cleared out around sunset both nights we stayed and we were the only three boats at anchor both nights. Then it was peaceful and lovely. While there, we walked the beach, had a fish taco potluck (courtesy of the fresh mackerels), had another disappointing snorkel at a DRNA dive mooring, then a less than disappointing snorkel near Cayo Ratones where dive boats don’t go. The coral was still mostly dead, but there was more multi-leveled structure and many more, varied fish.
From Cayo Icacos, we and Caretta moved to Lana Cove at Cayo Luis de Pena off the west coast of Culebra while Wild Horses continued on to Ensenada Honda. Mike had pulled his back that morning wrangling the dinghy onto the beach to walk Ocean, and he needed a couple of days of dock landings to nurse it (and that worked). We dove and Caretta snorkeled the south end of the reef in the anchorage. It was the healthiest we’d seen yet, though it is probably slowly dying. Who knows, maybe it’s slowly coming back to life. At any rate, there was quite a bit of pretty, live hard and soft corals and a ton of fish. Well worth breaking out the hookah equipment! We had a lovely, quiet night at anchor. The next morning, Dave & Barry dove the other end of the anchorage, which they said was even better. After cleaning up, we moved the boats a few miles north to the area of Carlos Rosarino Beach, above Punta Grande, on the west coast of Culebra. Our friends on Seas the Moment had messaged us that they had had a great dive from one of the DRNA mooring balls on a reef wall that went from 5-45 feet. It did not disappoint! The four of us used our hookah and dove off from Indigo Lady. It was even better than the spot at Luis de Pena and we were down for about 50 minutes. After cleanup and lunch, we hauled anchor to join Mike, Victoria and Ocean in Ensenada Honda, arriving by mid afternoon. We all went for dinner ashore at the Dinghy Dock Restaurant.
Ensenada Honda is the bay on the east side of Dewey, the only town on the island of Culebra. On our first full day there together, everyone piled into Indigo Lady and we cruised up to the north anchorage of Culebrita off the east coast of Culebra. We hiked up to the light house ruins from which you can see the USVIs, then over to “The Baths” on the other side of the island. “The Baths” are a natural pool fed by surge from the ocean. It was a bit crowded when we got there, but we soaked in it for a bit before heading back to the beach and then back to Lady for the return trip to Ensenada Honda. The next day we rented two golf carts and took off for world-renowned Flamenco Beach where we basked in the refreshing water and gawked at the graffitied U.S. WWII tanks left there decades ago. Then we found lunch and then tooled around the island from end to end before returning the golf carts. Our last day at Dewey, everyone piled back into Indigo Lady and we all went back to that awesome spot at Punta Grande so Mike & Victoria could enjoy a snorkel there, which they did, each taking turns onboard to entertain Ocean by throwing one of her toys in the water for her to retrieve. Dave, Barry, Andrea and I got on the hookah and dove the wall again. Still awesome! We were back at Dewey by 4pm, in time to shower and rest a bit, before heading to the Dinghy Dock Restaurant for dinner.
It was a lovely time in Culebra, and that stop concluded our time in Puerto Rico. We all needed to move on. So, on Saturday, May 6th, we again hauled anchor and headed for the US Virgin Islands, which I will tell you about next time. Until then, stay safe and take care of each other!
[Aside: Despite what the tour companies and DRNA say in their ads or pamphlets, if tour boats go there, it will likely not be a “pretty” snorkel site. Yes, you may see fish, even many colorful ones, and if you’ve never snorkeled a healthy reef before, this may be fine for you. I have snorkeled and dived healthy reefs, and the majority of those we’ve seen so far this season are not pretty. The coral is mostly dead. It’s depressing. Still, we keep hoping and diving/snorkeling.]
Life on Lady 