More Vieques

On the ferry dock on Vieques looking back at Isabel Segunda

Getting to Vieques is pretty easy. We decided to take the ferry, one, for the experience and two, because it's only $2 each way. The ferry makes three round trips daily from Fajardo. Depending on seas, the trip to or from Vieques takes about an hour. But get to the ferry dock early and get your ticket. Between tourists and locals the boat is usually full. There are several airlines that fly to Vieques from the Big Island as well. Air fares range from about $20 to about $70 each way. The amount of luggage you can take on the airplanes is limited. That's another advantage of the ferry: you can take as much as you want to carry

Since much of the island is off-limits, getting around on Vieques is pretty easy as well. There are only two towns, Isabel Segunda on the north coast (where the ferry docks) and Esperanza on the south coast (where the beaches are). Publicos (taxis) are around pretty much all the time to take you back and forth or out to the beaches. They are especially common in Isabel II when the ferry docks. Since Vieques is only four miles wide, it's a short trip between the two.

There are a number of local car rental companies on Vieques. No big names though. Reservations are highly recommended. Our trip was pretty last minute and there were no cars available. We managed to rent a scooter for three days from a place on the beach in Esperanza.

There are only a few main roads on the island. Two run north and south between Isabel II and Esperanza. One runs through the Nature Reserve out to most of the beaches. Another runs to the extreme west end of the island. At the edge of another area of nature preserve the pavement gives way to a reasonably well-maintained gravel road that goes through the preserve to Green Beach.

Somewhat surprisingly, the main roads are very good. Even in the "rural" areas, the roads and mostly wider and better maintained that those on the Big Island. This may be one of the few positive legacies of the Navy occupation.

Finding gas for your vehicle can be a problem. There are only two gas stations on the island, right across the road from each other in Isabel II. Gas, like all supplies for the island, come in a truck brought over on a ferry. The gas truck comes twice a week (usually). People line up for hours to get gas. And when they run out, they run out. No more gas til the truck comes again.

It's the same for food and beer. We found two "grocery" stores on the island. The largest of the two, near the plaza in Isabel II, we never did see open. The other, The Green Store in Esperanza, would be a large well-stocked colmado (a sort of local convenience store) here. There are a lot of little colmados on the island that stock mostly canned goods. They all have the usual assortment of beer - Medalla, Corona, Heineken - all in the little 7 oz. "shot glass" bottles. Finding a full size beer outside the restaurants and bars proved to be a bit of a challenge. There is one colmado right in the center of the island on carr. 997, the "main' road between Isabel II and Esperanza, that sort of "caters" to gringo touristas. We found full 12 oz beers there. (I don't know why those 5 ounces make such a difference!)

We were told beforehand that food is expensive on Vieques so we took a most of our nonperishables with us so the grocery store wasn't a big issue.

We have more about food in the restaurants coming up.