Tag Archives: Caribbean island

Trip to Culebra Island, Puerto Rico

This past week we took a mini vacation to the small island of Culebra. If there was ever a place that has the quintessential tropical Caribbean island look, this is it!


Incredible Culebra!

The long stretches of powdered sugar white beaches and the warm turquoise waters of Flamenco beach were straight out of a travel magazine. We only stayed one night at the first place we saw, Kokomo, right off the ferry dock, but we got a good feel for the place.

I think we could have gotten a better deal because it was about the size of a closet and we had to crawl over the bed to get anywhere, and the floors needed a good mopping but it had hot water to shower and a clean bed so it wasn’t too horrible for $65. We asked around at a couple of places just to see what the going nightly rate was. One guy quoted me at Mamacitas Guesthouse $119 plus tax and I just said thanks and turned around. Then he said, “Well, how about $80?” So there is definitely room to negotiate if you go there!


The ferry terminal has moved from Fajardo to Ceiba after Hurricane Maria

It was still off-season on a Tuesday in early November. There was hardly anyone on the roads as we drove around in our golf cart (that we rented for about $50) going about 10 mph hiding Aeden in a beach bag. It was so fun. It’s like being in a tropical island adventure video game where you drive in a go-cart especially up some crazy hills and little side dirt roads haha.


Golf cart and off roads

Probably the hardest part about the trip was just how far it was from Rincon. Rincon is the furthest west you can go on the island of Puerto Rico and Ceiba is nearly the farthest east! So we gave ourselves 4 hours to get there going the southern route and giving time to stop for breakfast at El Meson, but we were still late and had to take the 11am ferry instead of the 9am. The boat ride was fun if a little choppy and we caught air a couple of times that made me just a little queasy. It took about an hour ride there. It was much quicker coming back the next day not fighting the current and we learned to go inside into the air conditioned area.


From the Ceiba Ferry to white sand beaches in about 1 hour!

The island is super tiny. Only about 1500 people live there and there are no other towns than the island itself. The disparity between rich and poor is very obvious. The poor and tourists take the ferry and the rich (and splurging tourists) fly in or boat in with sailboats and other vessels. The poor live in run down shacks and the rich have huge mansions on the hills.


Boats in the harbor


Family fun!


Cool drawbridge and moon!

My overall impression was that it was an incredible place to visit, but I would definitely get island fever living there because there is really not much to do other than spend time at the beaches and drink and that would get old quick. At least on the “main island” of Puerto Rico we can drive for 4 plus hours and get lost!


At the bridge to Flamenco Beach


One of the tanks by the sea

The most shocking thing to me was learning about the history of the bombing and military drills that were practiced on Culebra and Vieques. I can only imagine what it would have been like to live on an island that is so pristine only to hear, feel and see live munitions going off. And occasionally people (as well as flora and fauna) were hurt! Rates of cancer have been found to be higher on these islands as a result of dropping bombs on them as well. Thankfully these practices ended in the early 2000s but there are still some remnants such as these leftover tanks rusting in the sun and sea salt.


Another tank on Playa Flamenco that has been consumed by the sea


Great place for a photo shoot!


The Dinghy Dock is a popular restaurant in Culebra


We dressed up for dinner out. And with Hector the Protector in the background


Melones Beach is much different than Flamenco and is mostly full of washed up coral

Overall, it was a wonderful, short trip. I would have liked to have maybe seen a couple of other beaches, but I think we got a good feel for the place in our brief time there. There’s not a whole lot on an island that’s only about 7 miles wide! We climbed a hill, visited the police dock, went out to dinner at the night Dinghy Dock restaurant that had just opened for the season and walked around the ferry/downtown area where they are doing construction on a new pier/dock.


Aeden playing on the beach

Worth a visit for sure! When we arrived back on the main island we caught up with our friends Fran and Steve and then hung out at a pizzeria at the Luquillo Kiosks and then we were on our (long) way back home to Rincon. A fun outing and Aeden did so good in the car!

Here’s a quick video of our trip. Enjoy!

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Palominito Island Adventure

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Isla Palominitos shining in the distance

We recently took an island adventure to Isla Palominitos also known as Palominito Island. This is a tiny islet off the coast of Fajardo that is so small it is more like a sandbar than an island. At one point in time it had a bit more vegetation and palm trees, but due to some storm damage and erosion, when we arrived it was desolate. Still, there was an intense beauty and rawness that beckoned us to enjoy it.

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Sunrise!!

We started our day off early in the morning around 6am and saw a rare (for us) sunrise on the drive out before caravanning with some friends. It’s a long drive from Rincón (the farthest west) to Farjardo (the farthest east) and after a couple of short stops and many toll booths we arrived at the Marina a little before 11am. Some other friends had left the day before and we met them at the dock to load up onto the boat that we chartered with a man called Captain Mingo for $35/person.

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A fun group of friends!

On the boat trip we took the long route and saw the islands of Icacos and Palomino Island before finally arriving at our day destination: Palominito. The water was the most turquoise blue I have ever seen! It was truly the Caribbean destination of the magazines. All that was missing were the coconut palm trees!

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Vibrant cerulean and turquoise colored waters

When we arrived we set up camp sort of like on Survivor with some tent sails. We turned on some tunes, grabbed a cold drink from the coolers and set out to the warm water.

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Setting up the area we named “Boneyard Camp” for the bleached trees and white coral fragments

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Coral fragments of the Boneyard

We had the whole island to ourselves for about an hour and then a few people came and visited us. They said that from afar it looked like we were having a grand party. And in fact, we were!

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White sand beaches and crystalline waters all to ourselves!

We greeted the first “invaders” to our island and found out that they were with a movie production crew. It’s such a great spot that even Pirates of the Caribbean has had a scene on Palominito (when it was a little more of a lush oasis).

first-invaders
Our visitors with me and Jill on the ends

Britton and I laughed that we drove 3 hours just to go to another beach, but it was definitely worth it! We liked the adventure of the boat, the new area and the feeling of being castaways on a deserted island. We had a lot of fun just lazing about in the water, tossing a football around and taking fun photos.

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Thanks to Daisy for this pic

point-sitting floaitng-aroundThe water was like a swimming pool!

fly-like-an-eagle Flying!

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Postcard perfect!

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Britton and I enjoyed the gorgeous day

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Strike a pose with the moon

We spent about 5 hours out there eating, drinking and being merry on an island in the sun. When Captain Mingo returned we were a little sad to leave. On the way back, Britton even got to drive the boat for a while! He said it takes a little bit of getting used to because you have to steer using opposite inputs.

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Captain Britton at the helm

As we were unloading everything from the boat and into the truck some drunk fisherman crashed right into us! Britton ran over and moved the truck out of the way of the ramp and then he rammed us again and started rambling incoherently at us! Captain Borracho as we now call him. Thankfully he only hit our bumper and did virtually no damage to our truck! These are the unknowns to any adventure! After all that commotion we decided to just head back home rather than spend more time with friends in Fajardo like we had planned.

On the way back we took the northern route through San Juan instead of the southern Ponce route. If you are coming from the west coast I would suggest always taking the southern route. There are fewer exits to navigate and much less traffic.

Overall our day trip to Palominito Island was definitely an adventure and the beauty was beyond compare. For anyone who loves raw nature and the idea of just hanging out on a small deserted island with white sand beaches and crystal teal waters this is the place for you!

cassie-picA perfect place for taking beach bunny photos!

Please enjoy this video of the trip!

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