A Day Trip to Culebra

17 miles off the northeast coast of Puerto Rico sits Culebra, one of the Spanish Virgin Islands. This quiet little island is a mere 12 square miles in size. Regardless of its relatively small stature, Culebra boasts several gorgeous beaches, one of which, Flamenco Beach, is frequently listed as one of the top 10 beaches in the Caribbean.

While spending some time in Puerto Rico, we wanted to experience a day trip to Culebra and arranged to take the ferry on a weekday morning to try and miss some of the local weekend traffic.

We arrived at the ferry terminal in Fajardo at 7:30 am. We’d heard that the ferry to Culebra can fill up quickly and that if we wanted to be sure to get on the early ferry, we needed to be there ahead of time – in fact our hotel recommended up to 2 hours early. So, we set the alarm, rushed out the door of our resort in Rio Grande, battled a bit of rush hour traffic and arrived at about 7:30 for the 9:00 ferry. Thankfully, we were the first ones in line for tickets.

For $4.50, we each purchased a round trip ticket on a large and comfortable vessel with plenty of seating. We plugged in our iPod’s, settled in and enjoyed the smooth hour long transfer to Culebra. On the trip over, we were able to reserve a golf cart for the day and upon arrival were whisked to Carlos Jeep Rental to finish the transaction.

So what did we do during our day on Culebra?

We started out with a frozen mango – guava cone sold at a stand right off of the ferry dock.

Headed to Flamenco Beach where we spent a good part of the day walking from one end to the other in the beautiful white sand,

floating in the warm water enjoying the sunshine and scenery,

then washing down some tasty Pinchos with a cold Medalla.
(Read and see more pics from our Flamenco Beach post here)

Drove the golf cart to the other end of the island to see Zoni Beach, another spectacular stretch of sand on the islands east side.

Strolled through town to check out the shops, restaurants and bars

Then capped off the day sipping Bushwackers at the Dinghy Dock while watching huge groupers swim by the dock…

What did we miss? Quite a lot actually. We could have used at least one more full day to enjoy some of the islands best snorkeling at Melones Beach and Carlos Rosario Beach, some time to hike and enjoy the beautiful vistas and more time sipping a cold beverage while chatting with the locals and other visitors at the Dinghy Dock. Then, we would like yet another day to take a water taxi over to Culebrita, a little uninhabited cay off across from Zoni Beach to hike to the abandoned lighthouse, check out the beautiful, deserted beaches and to snorkel with the islands resident turtles.

Ok, if we had our way, we’d have to stay at least a week to totally take in the beauty and charm of this laid back island where you can really kinda feel yourself entering island from the moment you step ashore.

Have you been to Culebra? Tell us about it!

Find Culebra on our Puerto Rico Map

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