Vieques, Puerto Rico

It was a hot, humid February 13^th in Fajardo, a port town on Puerto Rico’s eastern shore, the day I boarded the 1:00 PM ferry to Vieques Island with my friend Gillian. The last time I’d been on the open sea was during a family vacation to Mexico when my mom had arranged for a dingy to go fishing. She’d instructed me to stare at a point on the horizon to avoid sea sickness but I ignored her advice and wound up miserable. As we departed the marina and my stomach began rolling with the gentle waves, I decided maybe there was wisdom in what she’d said. But we were below deck so there was no horizon; instead I chose a bolt in the boat’s wall.

Spontaneously going to Vieques ended up being a happy accident in the planning of our island vacation. Tomorrow was Valentine’s Day, the last day of our five day stay.  It was irrelevant to us but not to others in San Juan who were there to celebrate. Traveling on the cheap, we were able to get a room in a lovely hostel in the heart of Old San Juan for the first three nights but they were booked solid for Valentine’s eve. Not wanting to spend the last night stuck somewhere in the suburbs, we decided to explore other options and hit on Vieques, a quiet Caribbean paradise boasting miles of pristine beaches and a campground with good facilities. It was formerly notorious for being the site of a U.S. Navy bombing range. The price of a tent permit was next to nothing to be on a beautiful equatorial beach, too good to pass up.

The ferry took about 45 minutes, all of which I spent staring at my bolt, and miraculously I did not get sick. Unfortunately, Gillian didn’t fare as well. When we disembarked at the small but charming town of Isabella Segunda, one of only two on the island with colorful colonial style buildings and palm lined streets, it was blistering hot. I’d called ahead to Black Beard Sports, a sporting rental store not far from the ferry, for our tent rental and when we arrived Gillian was feeling less than refreshed after an uphill walk in the sun. Gladys, one of the owners, swooped in and gave her a chair in the shade and a glass of water while I inquired about our rental.

Now, this was my first big mistake:  I only rented a tent. No air mattresses, no sleeping bags, nothing. I figured, “We’ll be sleeping on a warm, sandy beach.” We would learn soon enough that was not entirely true. If you’re planning to camp on Vieques, you definitely want to be sure you have more than just a tent. It should also be noted that Black Beard Sports is one stop shopping for any outdoor activity you’re considering – biking, kayaking, canoeing, SCUBA diving, you name it they have it.  After securing the tent I flagged down Gladys to ask about getting a cab to the campsite and she obliged with a list of drivers. I went outside to hail someone while I tried the numbers and after a few minutes with no luck (midday is as close to “rush hour” as it gets there), a white pickup truck full of bikes pulled up. Gladys waved down the tanned man behind the wheel.

“That’s my husband, Michael,” she said. “Any luck with the cabs?”

“Not yet, I’m going to keep calling.”

“Well we’re delivering some bikes, why don’t we give you a ride? We’ve got to make a few stops, but we can drop you off in Esperanza, not far from the campground and you can get some lunch in town.”

Since our plans were to depart the island in less than 24 hours, a personal tour was too good to pass up so we climbed in and headed off. Our first stop was not far away at the W Retreat and Spa, part of the W Hotels chain. It was odd at first to find a chain resort on Vieques, which seemed to have a reputation for being a place where one goes to get away from large, sterile resort properties, but the W Retreat and Spa is anything but sterile. The warm, tasteful oceanfront property fits right in there and even got Gladys and Michael’s (ex-pats who came to Vieques to escape anything chain) stamp of approval. “They really did a great job,” Gladys commented while the resort staff unloaded the bikes. Michael, the stoic one of the two, nodded in agreement behind his sunglasses.

Then we were off again cutting across the island on a narrow road almost completely covered over with a canopy of trees. One of the most charming things about Vieques is the horses that roam the island. They are domesticated, but not penned, and left to wander wherever they see fit. We saw several lazily trotting to who-knows-where in the shade. When they heard us coming they simply hopped over a fence and continued their journey through the trees. Next stop on our mini-tour was the Hix Island House, an eco resort nestled on a hill in the island’s interior. A far cry from the squat, charming wooden buildings of the “W”, Hix Island House is a series of architecturally arresting stone buildings, specially designed to stay cool without air conditioning.

After dropping off more bikes we were off again, this time to our final destination, the town of Esperanza. Located on the opposite side of the island from Isabella Segunda, it’s the more touristy of the two. The main drag called The Malecon is a row of restaurants and bars that look out over the ocean. Gladys and Michael recommended having lunch at Duffy’s, which offered a delightful mix of classic American cuisine and island dishes. We’d had a bit of trouble finding inexpensive good food in Old San Juan (a story for another time), so we were in heaven. I ordered crab cakes with a spicy aioli sauce that were light and flavorful, and she had a shrimp salad that was so good she barely left the tails. After lingering a few minutes to take in the incredible view from our table, we collected our stuff and began walking to the campground

Sun Bay was located a leisurely 10 minute walk down the beach and across a sandbar. Even though it was about 5:00 PM when we arrived, I still had ambitions of a beach day, so we scrambled to pay for our permit and get the tent set up. One thing I had not considered when making arrangements was that the roaming island horses would also be roaming the campground. As we walked around the grassy field looking for an ideal spot we saw about 15 to 20 of them milling around, casually chomping on the grass and fruits from the Noni trees dotting the surroundings and drinking from the leaking outdoor shower spigot. I’d had a few negative horseback riding experiences as a kid so I wasn’t exactly thrilled about this but after monitoring their behavior for several minutes, I realized they were totally calm and just there to graze. That being said, when camping at Sun Bay (or anywhere for that matter), remember to situate yourself as far away from the refuse as possible. No need to get any friendlier with the wild animals.

Once we were set up we rushed to the ocean for a few last minutes of fun in the sun and sand, and then showered off outdoors. With the sun going down, we decided to head outside the campground to look for a place to get a drink. To our surprise there was a tiny shack right across the street from the front entrance off the main road and we enjoyed a couple of cold cervezas while watching the sunset. We stumbled back to the campground in the pitch dark, having purchased two keychain flashlights that were essentially worthless given how dark it was. It was then that I realized my second big mistake – camping takes more planning than just a tent rental. I hadn’t gotten an air mattress because I thought the camp would be on the sand (it wasn’t) or brought blankets because I thought it would stay warm during night (it didn’t). As the cool air began blowing off the sea and we settled in on the lumpy, hard ground it became clear we wouldn’t be getting much sleep. Additionally, we pitched the tent too close to the refuse which drew the horses and in our sleep-deprived delirium we become paranoid about them trampling us in our tent. We stayed up all night, our hearts racing at the sight of equine shadows on the tent walls.

After not so much as waking up the next morning as wanting to leave, we sorely realized mistake number three – leaving food out! After watching a glorious sunrise over the beach, we began to pack-up when a suspicious horse decided to investigate. Upon seeing that I was stashing an open bag of pita chips, he loped toward me with hunger in his eyes. Panic stricken I dumped the chips on the ground which only stalled him for a few seconds. Not satisfied, he then sniffed out a baguette that Gillian had stored in her beach bag. When we didn’t hand it over he decided to help himself by ripping the bag apart. Mortified, but too exhausted to launch a major offensive against the animal, we continued to try and pack-up the rest of our supplies around him when a park ranger showed up and showed us mercy shoo-ing him away and chuckling at our cowardice.  By the time we were done it was nearly 8 AM and I wanted to catch the 9 AM ferry back. Gillian put her foot down. “You can get on the ferry if you want but I’m staying and not leaving this island until I’ve had a real breakfast.”

So rather than rushing to the ferry dock with our nerves frayed and our necks in knots, we strolled leisurely back down the beach to Esperanza to get breakfast. At Belly Button’s on Esperanza’s main strip we enjoyed omelets with delicious home fries and the Valentine’s Day special, a mimosa made with cranberry juice. We laughed about the whole experience and talked about what we would do differently next time:  rent bikes and ride around the island, discover some of the off-the-beaten-path beaches, see the famous bioluminescent bay and maybe even camp with real gear. Although on paper our Vieques day trip was mired in calamity, oddly enough I count it as one of my favorite trips. And after only a taste of this beautifully scenic island, we hopped the ferry wondering when we could go back and do it right.

The dialing code for Puerto Rico is 787.