13. THE BEACHES ALONG THE NORTH SHORE: Generally speaking, the beaches along the North shores of Vieques are not white sand beaches and tend to be more rocky. The waves are larger and the waters more rough, some beaches more protected than others.
Below: Young man walking his horse along the beach in Monte Santo. |
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2. & 3. Sun Bay Balneario is a public beach, the only one with facilities. Entrance fee is $2. per car. In the distance is Cayo de Tierra, which can be walked to along the shore. In the far distance is Cayo Afuera, only reached by boat from Esperanza. It is an easy walk along the shore to Sunbay from the town of Esperanza.
Below: Kids setting up for a picnic and an awards event at Sun Bay.
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4.< Playa Media Luna or Half Moon beach, Calm and protected paradise! Perfect beach for kids as it gets deep very gradually. It is a fairly longish walk past Sun Bay or a short drive. At the Western end you can find a path that leads out to the cliffs, a nice walk. The road goes on after Media Luna and ends at Navio Beach. Navio is also very beautiful and has more waves than the other beaches.
Below: Playa Media Luna, with parking and gazebos.
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15. Punta Arenas AKA Green Beach, the Western end of Vieques is a Fish & Wildlife Reserve and closes at 6 PM but the biting gnats come out by 4 PM and the beach becomes intolerable. ( Also intolerably buggy on a rainy day.) Interior is mostly mangrove lagoon and swamp. There is some nice snorkeling near the last gazebo going south.
Below: Beach at NW tip of Vieques island, called Punta Arenas..
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7. Playa Caracas AKA Red Beach. Possibly the most spectacular beach, although more crowded than others because of the good road, nice gazebos and always beautiful. In the distance, behind the rocks, is another wonderful beach called Playuela, which has a separate and more difficult entrance. Below: Playa Caracas and distant Playuela.
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9. Bahia de la Chiva AKA Blue Beach. Lined with gazebos, this is a very long beach with waves at the West end and flat calm at the Eastern end. You can swim out to the little island where once lived a goat herder with his goats, therefor the name of the bay is Bahia de la Chiva.
Below: Blue Beach, Bahia de la Chiva Bay and La Chiva Island.
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Very Small beach between Bajia de la Chiva and Playa de la Platam called Playa Escondida and also nicknamed 'Plastico'. Down the hill on a small dirt road.
Below: Playa Escondida.
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10. Playa de la Plata AKA Orchid Beach or Silver Beach. Playa de la Plata can be the most exquisite beach or , depending on wind from the South, it is only an ordinary beach. On its' best days ( wind from the North) it can not be beat. In the distance, past the rock cropping, is another little beach.
Below: Playa de la Plata
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10. This little beach is at the East end of Playa de La Plata, The bottom is mostly Eel grass though, so not as lovely to swim here.
Below: East end of Playa de La Plata.
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Below: Kayaking in the Mangrove Lagoons with Bioluminescent plankton.
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LEGEND OF THE GOLDEN HERON - THE FIRST BIOBAY
All of the Vieques beaches are dependent on the wind direction on any particular day. If the winds are from the Southeast then the North Coast beaches will be calmer and nicer. If the wind is blowing from the Northeast ( more often in winter months) then the South coast beaches will be at their best.
Vieques is lined by beaches, beach walking, looking for beach glass on the North coasts, swimming and snorkeling is what a vacation here is about. Of course, the Biobay on a moonless night is one of the worlds most unique phenomena! Vieques also offers a great variety of excellent restaurants.
Many turtles nest in Vieques, contact the U.S. Fish & Wildlife office to see if any turtles are nesting!
LEGEND OF THE GOLDEN HERON - THE FIRST BIOBAY
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