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Search for more with Google! Vieques is a fascinating island, rich in indigenous ana colonial history, site of the Caribbean’s largest wildlife refuge, home of postcard-pretty beaches, and setting for a stunning bioluminescent bay. Its inns and restaurants are steeped in tropical allure, and the island attracts sophisticated travelers seeking the simpler pleasures.A narrow, 21-mile-long island, Vieques has the atmosphere of “down-island” Caribbean, with its barefoot feeling and outdoor lifestyle. It is easily reached by small planes from Isla Grande and Luis Munoz Marfn airports in greater San Juan (a 20-minute flight) or from Fajardo (a 10-minute flight); and by ferries from Fajardo. The ferries dock in Isabel Segunda, and planes touch down on a seaside airport about a 10-minute drive from town. Publicos (public cars) can take you to your hotel, or you can rent a car. You can drive between Ihe I wo main towns, Isabel Segunda in the north and Esperanza in the south, in no time Vieques’s most spectacular nightime entertainment is a visit to Mosquito Bay, site of magical bioluminescent waters. For daytime outings, local water sports operators offer nature tours and snorkeling trips to secluded bays, uninhabited offshore cay.s, and bird-rich lagoons. Anglers can cast their lines in shallow turquoise waters. For simple splashing, a mere ten-minute walk from Esperanza takes you to a grand curve of a beach: Sun Bay, the municipal beach with parking and public facilities. For beaches that are miniature jewels, visit nearby Media Lima (“half moon”) and Navío. A short drive to the east takes you to two of the island’s most beautiful curves of sand and sea, the legendary Red (also known as Caracas) and Blue beaches. Closed to the public for several years, they were reopened after the U.S. Navy left the island. The entire eastern region, some 16,000 acres, has been designated a wildlife refuge, parts of which are currently open to the public. Vieques has the largest U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Wildlife Refuge in the Caribbean. Head west beyond the airport along the north coast and you’ll enter the western portion of the refuge, which had also been Navy land elating back to World War II. Mosquito Pier, which stretches toward Puerto Rico and offers colorful snorkeling, was built during the war: the original plan was to extend it to Puerto Rico and provide a safe haven for Allied ships if worse came to worse, which, fortunately, it never did. The road ends at Punta Arenas, better known as (Green Beach, a beautiful stretch of Tahitian-like coastline shaded by thick stands of coconut palms. Inland from the beaches, a wooden boardwalk meanders through rich mangrove forest at Kiani Lagoon, and self-guiding signs explain local ecology.
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