I know both are PR…
Have you taken the ferry - recently? Any tips? We want to take our car with us as we’re staying two nights to see the Bioluminescent Bay and Beaches + hopefully scuba and whatever else we opt for.
I’m so glad you qualified that. 
Not a good idea. I believe the major rental agencies prohibit taking the car off the main island, and that the ferry requires the car registration.
I have no idea if they have yet returned to Pre-Covid capacity, but preference for both passengers and cars has always been given to residents of Vieques. So even with the required reservation, you could get bumped.
Additionally, the ferry timetable is more of a suggestion. Ferries are delayed or cancelled for numerous things - weather, maintenance, the day ends in “s,” the day ends in “o.”
But Vieques is beautiful.
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I went to wedding on Vieques 10 years ago. The bride recommended that we fly from Puerto Rico. It was a small wedding (about 35-40 people) and she was the one who made the air reservations for guests and wedding participants (my daughter was in the wedding). The Bioluminescent Bay was spectacular.
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Glad you mentioned this. I just looked at the small print… guess we’ll be figuring out transportation on the island too.
I had heard about the unreliability - hence the question, esp for recent experiences. Thanks for the info!
Ok, I have rented a car now - and the ferry looks like it has several trips per day so hopefully it will work for us passengers (no car).
Anyone who’s done a Bio Bay tour - what company did you use and did you like them?
Is it better to go at 7 or 9, when the moon on the day that we’re going reaches it’s top point at 9:25pm (unfortunately). We’re limited on when we can go due to Doctor boy visiting on those days. At 7 it’s still in sunset time. Total darkness comes about 7:40.
I’m not on CC much while we’re traveling, but have a little time today and wanted to update this thread in case anyone else is interested.
The Puerto Rico ferry is now much more dependable than before. The difference (as I was told here in PR)? They’ve been sold to the private company, Hornblower. This should be familiar to some because they run the ferries in NYC and own the “Maid of the Mist” on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, probably among others.
This means if you have the time, you can save a LOT of money taking the ferry to/from Ceiba/Vieques vs flying. It costs $2 each for the ferry, though you can add on more for luggage or other things you want to bring over (one carry on per person is allowed). Flying, when we wanted to go, was a minimum of $55 each. You can make reservations online during the month of travel and starting somewhere near the end of the previous month - when, exactly, varies based upon when they get the docking schedule.
The ferry takes about an hour, maybe a little longer, though just 45 minutes for the actual trip. Flying supposedly takes 10 minutes of flight time. We took the cargo/passenger over and the solely passenger vessel back, preferring the latter but the first wasn’t horrible. They say to arrive an hour before boarding time, but that’s not super necessary either. They have nice areas to wait in.
Those with special needs are boarded first (wheelchairs or similar). Residents of Vieques are next, then us minions, but it wasn’t difficult for us to get good seats, esp since we were there an hour early.
On a separate note, if going for the Bio Bay, definitely try for at or near a New Moon - or when the moon has set before darkness. We couldn’t do that with S’s schedule to be with us, so took a chance on a near Full Moon night. We’d have been disappointed except we went with Fun Brothers due to a recommendation by our AirBnB host. They had a dark tarp they pulled over a couple of kayaks at a time to let one see what it would be like and it’s phenomenal (to us nature lovers anyway). We will go back on a New Moon at some point, but not this trip.
Afterward we thought perhaps all tour operators did that, but talking with others we met the next day, no, they don’t. We’re really glad we followed the recommendation. That said, on their web site or email (forgot which) they suggested bringing a coat due to cold - don’t bother. It’s not cold, and a coat will just get wet. On the bus they tell you to leave everything behind, including shoes, as you need to walk through mud to get into the kayaks (at least with their company).
Also… again, in our opinion, Vieques was not worth scuba diving on. The water was murky and we didn’t see much. St Thomas last year (also this time of year) was much better, as was the western part of the main island of PR. We’d have rather spent our diving time snorkeling or seeing more beaches.
Don’t expect cheap food on Vieques either. They have to ship it all in from PR. There are very few veggies as we found out with a mostly vegan DIL. Bananas (restaurant) made a terrific Vegetable Mofango that we’d all have gladly gotten again, but it wasn’t on their menu and they said they only made it on slow nights - mostly because it’s too difficult to get good vegetables - we were told they were more expensive than meat. We lucked out with the waitress telling us about it once she heard S and DIL wanted vegetarian fare. It was superb!
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One last Vieques tidbit… yes, this is one of the places you can travel in PR and not know any Spanish. One could easily think you were in a US English speaking state with some foreign tourists speaking other languages (many foreign tourists - we met some from Finland, France, etc).
In a lot of PR, it’s tough to get by with no Spanish. San Juan is another area where it doesn’t matter as much, but as my son (who lives here) said, “If you hear from someone that they went to PR and didn’t need any Spanish, you know where they’ve been.”
Thanks for the update
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Culebra has excellent snorkeling – clear, beautiful water, and sometimes you’ll have the beach all to yourself, or nearly so. If you want that experience on this trip, and if you have a day open, I would recommend it. Rent a golf cart for about $60 or so on Culebra, and putt-putt around the island. If you do go, a few good snorkeling spots are Carlos Rosario, Tamarindo, and Melones beaches. The postcard beach, and one of the most famous in the Caribbean, is Flamenco – but it is also the busiest beach. So take a picture of the tank (lol), and the beach, and move on. hehe
Or, you could do a day trip to Culebrita, which features gorgeous beaches (especially Tortuga), a lighthouse, cliffs/baths, and… goats. lol
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Culebra is going to be part of our next trip here. We’re looking forward to it!
We had the beaches we went to on Vieques totally to ourselves, or at least it seemed like it. Snorkeling was ok on the far end of La Chiva - saw quite a few turtles, grunts, snapper, and similar.
The 300-400 year old Ceiba tree is also worthy of admiring on Vieques.
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We took that 10 minute flight when we went 10 years ago. It was interesting. The airport had lost power and each passenger had to stand on an old luggage scale before boarding. A tourist had been murdered shortly before our trip, so I was on high alert. We loved the remote beaches. There were not a lot of other tourists, so we had the beaches to ourselves. I remember reading that you shouldn’t lock your rental car because you didn’t want thieves to break the glass, so we always left our car open. We went with a tour group to the Bio Bay in a very old school bus and I remember the roads (paths) being very rough. The Bay was beautiful.
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Thanks for the trip report @Creekland! We were in PR for the first time 2 weeks ago, loved it! We were only there 4 nights so didn’t get far off the beaten track or over to Vieques or Culebra, but we did spend 2 nights in Luquillo. Stayed in an airbnb in town, which felt very much like living amongst the locals - but, no Spanish needed at any of the local eateries or at a restaurant in Fajardo. The other 2 nights we stayed at a B&B in the heart of OSJ which was a great experience. The owners spoke English, and of course we had no language issues at any of the eateries in OSJ.
Next time we go I think we will do a day trip to Culebra, following @prezbucky’s advice! If the ferry is more reliable that is the option we would choose. Then probably spend some time over on the west side of the island. H and I plan to take a Spanish class before our next visit!
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Yes, to be more specific, my guy tells me the northeast is the best area for not needing Spanish - from San Juan to Vieques/Culebra, plus anywhere else one can find a resort or place that almost totally caters to tourists. Luquillo, Fajardo, Carolina, and Loiza are all in those areas as is El Yunque. The difference is quite amazing from other places we’ve been around the mainland.
Thanks for the review, particularly the bit about the ferry. Spouse and I are going to PR for a week in May, including two nights on Vieques. We are debating how to get there. The ferry sounds interesting and cheaper but someone on Trip Advisor discourages use of the ferry saying that it is intended for Vieques residents and that tourists are apt to get bumped. Did you hear anything about that?
No one got bumped when we were there and neither ferry we were on was full. There weren’t that many residents traveling those dates. I suspect if you buy your tickets online ahead of time you’ll be fine.
We did see people in line for tickets waiting for a bit and one person told others she knew to, “Just get them online. It’s quicker.” Ferries do sell out - online will say, “Sold Out.” Locals told us they keep some available for last minute, so perhaps that’s one way Hornblower has improved things - reserving slots until the end to avoid having to bump others.
Vieques residents were the ones who told us to go with the ferry as it had vastly improved with the sale. I’m not sure how long ago the sale was, nor the Trip Advisor person’s experience.
Adding a few restaurants we thoroughly enjoyed (vs liked or disliked). Where I say Spanish is helpful, the staff we had didn’t really know English. I suspect Google could have helped though if S and DIL didn’t know it.
On Vieques we liked Bananas as already mentioned. Our S and DIL did two breakfasts at Kristy’s and really liked it, so the recommendation comes via them - note they don’t want meat. That’s not the case for H, our other S who came here, or me, though sometimes the rest of us choose meatless dishes.
Not on Vieques:
Lolita’s Mexican in Luquillo - perfect food and inside decor as well as a great wait staff. It’s on the main road - looks iffy from the outside, but terrific on the inside. English is fine.
La Gallinada in Carolina - more difficult to get to as it’s not on the main road and continues with the iffy look on the outside - typical basic diner on the inside, but the food is very tasty authentic Puerto Rican. Knowing Spanish is very helpful here.
Mai Pen Rai in San Juan - super tasty Thai where one can get no spice or super spicy dishes (0 to 4 scale), though very cold inside temperature wise. This place can get quite crowded. English is fine.
Agridulce Bar and Grill in Juana Diaz - yep, a typical beach bar and grill with great food and the best Coconut Mojitos I’ve had as of this typing. It’s across the road from the actual beach, but worth it. Puerto Rican food. Spanish is helpful.
Bokita Vegana in Aibonito - DIL is vegetarian/vegan so this restaurant is a relatively new favorite of theirs. It’s a small diner inside, along a main street. The food is quite tasty, though we stay away from the “pretend” meat. They have really good recipes that change daily. Spanish is helpful.
There are probably some others I’m not thinking of TBH, but those are definitely places we Creeklanders all liked. Some others we’ve eaten at were enjoyed by some, but not by others, or eh by all, or once and done by all. I tend to not review those knowing different taste buds for different folks.
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