Vieques
This cheerful guesthouse has two apartments at the top of a hill, just a few minutes' walk from Esperanza's malecón. Both are wonderfully cozy and decked out with all the things you might need – from coffee-making facilities and board games to beach gear and tips on the best snorkeling sites. A large common balcony has sweeping ocean views.
The owner Kathy is a longtime resident and activist; she's also a wealth of information on the island's complicated history with the US military.
24.37 MILES
El Yunque National Forest is one of Puerto Rico’s crown jewels with nearly 29,000 acres of lush, mountainous terrain scattered with waterfalls, rushing…
18.94 MILES
Stretching for a mile around a sheltered, horseshoe-shaped bay, Playa Flamenco (Flamenco Beach) is not only one of Culebra’s best beaches, it also makes a…
22.05 MILES
If you need a reason to hire a water taxi, Isla Culebrita (Culebrita Island) is it. This small island, just east of Playa Zoni, is part of the national…
2.1 MILES
Locals claim that the magnificent Bahía Mosquito (Mosquito Bay), a designated wildlife preserve located on the island of Vieques, about 2 miles east of…
Cabezas de San Juan Reserva Natural
21.25 MILES
A nodule of land on Puerto Rico’s northeast tip, this Para La Naturaleza–run reserve protects the Laguna Grande bioluminescent bay, rare flora and fauna,…
18.32 MILES
This remote thin, white-sand beach has one of the best snorkeling areas in Puerto Rico thanks to a barrier reef that almost encloses the beach's waters;…
Culebra National Wildlife Refuge
19.86 MILES
More than 20% of Culebra is part of a spectacular national wildlife refuge, which was signed into law more than 100 years ago. Most of it lies along the…
21 MILES
Head to the eastern end of the island and you’ll eventually run out of road at Playa Zoni. Many locals think this is a better beach than Flamenco and it's…
1. Vieques Conservation & Historical Trust
0.36 MILES
This trust, founded in 1984 to help protect the island’s bioluminescent waters, operates a tiny museum, which contains intriguing exhibits on its…
0.48 MILES
This slender beach runs the length of Esperanza. Its advantages are its spectacular views and the fact it's within shouting distance of the town’s hopping…
0.85 MILES
This uninhabited pinprick of land lies a few hundred feet across the bay from Playa Esperanza. Part of the Mosquito Bay Reserve, many intrepid locals swim…
0.95 MILES
Bored of all that powdery, blindingly white sand? This beach lives up to its name with dark, sparkly sand derived from offshore volcanic rocks. This…
1.03 MILES
A teardrop of land between the malecón and Sun Bay reached by a slender sandspit (or by wading, if storms have washed it out), Cayo de Tierra has a few…
1.13 MILES
Part of Puerto Rico's national park system, this half-moon-shaped bay, less than a half-mile east of Esperanza, is the island’s balneario (public beach),…
7. Hombre de Puerto Ferro Archaeological Site
1.76 MILES
Big boulders identify the grave from which a 4000-year-old skeleton of a pre-Arawak known as the ‘Hombre de Puerto Ferro’ was exhumed. Little is known…
1.82 MILES
If it's isolation you’re after, head east on the sandy road that runs along Sun Bay and you’ll enter a low forest. Go left at the fork in the road. In a…