Vieques & Culebra · Puerto Rico
Free-roaming horses, a glowing bay, and Flamenco before the day boats.
Two small islands off Puerto Rico's east coast, and the three things that make or break a trip there: the ferry, the moon over the bio bay, and the hour you reach Flamenco. We sort all three, then help you book the good parts.
We sort out the ferry and the moon, then help you book the good parts.
The best of the islands, ready to book
Our picks, priced off the listings and checked by hand.
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- Every page dated, none checked before
- No operator pays to be listed or ranked
- How we make money
Start here
Get across
The ferry leaves from Ceiba, not Fajardo, and an empty booking page is not a full boat.
Pick an island, then a bed
Esperanza for the bio bay, Isabel Segunda for the ferry, Ensenada Honda on Culebra.
Book the dark night
The moon decides the bio bay. Pick a dark window, then the boat.
Which bio bayMosquito Bay from San JuanTours from the islands
Las playas
Pick a beach
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Culebra
Flamenco Beach
Regularly called one of the best beaches in the world, and it has the parking lot and the day-trip crowd to match. Come early or stay the night.
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Vieques
La Chiva (Blue Beach), Vieques
Ranked among the best beaches in the Caribbean by Puerto Rico's tourism board, and absent from the wildlife refuge's own trail and activity listings.
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Vieques
Playa Caracas (Red Beach), Vieques
The one refuge beach the Fish and Wildlife Service actually documents, with gazebos, restrooms and a sheltered cove that suits small children.
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Vieques
Sun Bay, Vieques
A mile and a half of calm public beach on Vieques with almost nobody on it, free-roaming horses in the grass behind, and no chairs or bar.
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Compare all 4 beaches → by parking, snorkeling, crowds and whether you can walk in.
La lancha
The ferry, flights and getting around, sorted
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The Ceiba ferry to Vieques and Culebra, and what actually holds
Tickets online or at the counter: $2.00 to Vieques, $2.25 plus a $2 fee to Culebra, until 31 December 2026. It leaves Ceiba, not Fajardo, and takes no rental cars.
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Vieques and Culebra ferry schedule, August to November 2026 Every sailing
The Ceiba ferry schedule to Vieques and Culebra and back, 1 August to 30 November 2026: every sailing, including the 3:45 a.m. Tuesday and Friday boat.
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Vieques and Culebra ferry price 2026 $2 now, $11.25 proposed
The rise was postponed on 4 May to 31 December 2026. Until then it is $2.00 to Vieques, $2.25 to Culebra. After: $11.25 plus a $2 fee each way, and $3 a suitcase.
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Flying to Vieques and Culebra Cape Air from SJU, or the 25-pound charter
Cape Air flies from SJU itself: 25 minutes to Vieques, 20 to Culebra, one small bag free. Vieques Air Link flies from Isla Grande and Ceiba with 25 pounds, total.
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Getting to the Ceiba ferry terminal without a rental car
75 to 90 minutes from San Juan, and the rental car stays behind. The ferry operator's own ground transport runs from Río Piedras at $9 a seat, $30 minimum.
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Getting around Vieques and Culebra
Your rental car cannot come with you, but on Vieques a jeep counter is 100 feet from the ferry. Who rents what on each island, públicos, and golf cart or jeep.
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Every planning guide → from the ferry terminal to the refuge.
Word when something changes
Every page here carries the date we last checked it. This is that same checking, sent to you instead of waited for — a ferry time moving, a bio bay operator changing, a road washed out.
Leave an address and we'll write when something on the islands actually changes. That is the whole list — no schedule, no filler, and some months nothing at all.
Or skip the form entirely — everything we send is also posted on the changelog, free and dated.
Photo credits
- Swimmers off a boat over a Culebra reef: dejeuxx (Flickr), CC BY 2.0
- Dewey and its ferry landing from the air: Steven595, CC BY-SA 4.0
- The main street of Esperanza: ReggaeMan567, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Flamenco Beach, Culebra: Breezy Baldwin, CC BY 2.0
- La Chiva, Vieques: Vieques NWR/USFWS, Public domain
- Playa Caracas, Vieques: Vieques NWR/USFWS, Public domain
- Sunset over Sun Bay, Vieques: Steven Isaacson, CC BY-SA 2.0
- A ferry at the dock in Culebra: Jirka Matousek, CC BY 2.0
- The bow of the Vieques ferry: Josefito123, CC BY-SA 4.0
- On deck crossing to Vieques: Steven Isaacson, CC BY-SA 2.0
- A Vieques Air Link Islander: twiga_swala, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Isabel Segunda, Vieques: Karan Jain, CC BY-SA 2.0
