Debbie

Hi,Just got back from 8 days on Vieques.The flight over was a puddle jumper...not too bad.The island is very nice.We rented a two<BR>door Jeep Wrangler and drove around the island.The beaches are beautiful.We rented a<BR>3 Bedroom/3 Bath house with a pool and it was great! We spent alot of time in the pool.<BR>It had a big wrap around porch and beautiful views of the hillside.The gounds were very well cared for with tropical flowers,fruit trees,and palm trees.The house had an electronic gate to keep the wild horses out.<BR>We had a couple of hens and a rooster in our yard and there were about 100 different birds and insects that sang all night long.<BR>It was really very nice after we got used to the sounds. I think Vieques is the most 'tropical' island I've visited.So lush,not many people,totally deserted beaches....It's very quiet and for people who are looking for total relaxation and quiet.I'd be happy to answer any ???????

Andy North

Did the military target practice bombing runs wake you up at night or did they blend in with the other island noises?<BR>Did you come across any undetonated munitions on the beaches?

cj

WOuld you mind sharing the name of the place you stayed? I did a search once on Vieques and got totally confused!!! Were you near or on a beach or up in the hills?<BR><BR>We went to Culebra several years ago and heard nice things about Vieques but didn't have time to check it out. Was not really happy with our accomodations on Culebra -- way too "rustic" but thought Vieques might be nice for a change, someday.<BR><BR>Would appreciate your responses!<BR>Thanks.<BR>

ANDREA

Hi. I am planning a trip to Vieques in just a couple of weeks!! This is a last minute- I can't believe we really pulled it off-sending second child off to college -trip. I spent a day on Culebra a few years ago with my husband. We have only been snorkeling once and the kids (20,18,14) have never been. This is sort of a dream trip. I know I am going to have to hustle for reservations and budget is a problem. I imagine your villa is way out of my range, but I would welcome any information you would like to share. We get into San Juan at midnight, so I am thinking of getting to Fajardo for the night and taking the ferry over. (We flew to Culebra- didn't mind the flight, but for 5 of us, I think we will take the adventure/cheap route). We will rent a jeep or something for part of the time- or will we need it all of the time? Beach, snorkeloing and bio bay are our priorities. Do you know a particular tour we should look for @ snorkeling? Places we can snorkeo on our own? Anything would be welcome. Thanks. Andrea

Debbie

Hi CJ,We went thru Crows Nest Realty.com<BR>You can see the house we rented under<BR>viequesrealty.com It's Casa Lattimer.<BR>It's located in a residential neighborhood up on a hill.Great breezes<BR>all the time.No trouble with bugs at all. The house is very nice and has a big private pool around the back.It was<BR>clean and the gounds beautiful.The man who takes care of the pool lives next door...I beleive his name was Manuel.<BR>Very nice man.He came over to clean the pool and answered all our questions about the island.You do need a jeep the whole time your there.There is really no public transportation.The roads are narrow but after I drove around for a day I got used to it.You don't run into<BR>hardly any other cars on the road anyway.It's a beautiful Island and fun to explore.We had a difficult time finding Green Beach but we finally did!<BR>It's a huge,gorgeous beach.You go down a dirt road for about 5 miles before you hit the beach.No wonder it's deserted.The house we rented cost $1,100 off season. Sheila Levin at Crows Nest Realty took care of us.Very efficient and nice too.<BR>Andrea.The Crows Nest Realty also has an<BR>Inn to stay at.I heard it's very nice.<BR>Reasonable too. You might want to look at that.Also,they do have a tour that goes to Bio Bay.As I don't know about<BR>a Snorkel tour.We went thru Vieques Car Rental and Allen Thompson set us up with a nice 2 door jeep wrangler,Auto,Air,for $45 per day.I'm sure you'll love Vieques.Be sure to search out all the Beaches.Their off the beaten path but well worth it!<BR>Hope I could answer a couple of your questions.Debbie

lucky03

Debbie, do you remember any of your favorite restaurants in Vieques? How was the snorkeling and what else did you do? We're thinking about going and wiuld like as much info we can get. My e-mail is [email protected] if you would rather do it that way. Thank's a bunch.

RichF

Hi, was Green beach as nice as Sun Bay? Was Red and Blue beaches open? Is it worth me renting a car for 2 or 3 days or just take taxi's? Did you see the bio-bay?

KaribIslander

Check out the new Wyndham that took over the resort that was going to be run by Rosewood, Martineau Bay. They had some nice priced packages for their opening in December and a B&amp;B option for $249 a night. You stay 3 nights and get the 4th &quot;free&quot; is also offered.

cmd366

Husband and I were in Vieques last Feb - highly recommend it - very relaxing, slow pace, good food, fab beaches. No commercialism - you'll find no McDonald's here, in fact no retail or hospitality chains of any kind. Unspoiled, but I fear, not for long. Media Luna beach is amazing - good waves,locals hangout on Tues. Sun Bay was OK - huge! but very very placid - good place for kiddies. Blue and Red were closed (are on military base), but may be open now. Green was way out there, but again, deserted and lovely. Lots of places to explore. Need rental car or jeep (is very reasonable - See vieques Car Rental)as are no taxis - unless you can corral a wild horse! Also all roads to beaches are dirt and bumpy as hell. DO THE BIO BAY TOUR - it's amazing and is one of the last in the world! Worth the money. No military - no bombing - people don't always have all the info...(husband spoke to mayor!) No undetonated anything - no island noise for that matter! Just the sweet sound of the ocean and a nice breeze lulling you to sleep! There are deserted bases and the military does come in occasionally - but it's extremely discreet, usually overnight and they're not allowed into the towns - they stay on base. However - all bombing and testing has ceased! Check out islavieques.com or enchanted-isle.com for all info. - went for 7 days, stayed 12!! Happy to answer any other questions. Bon Voyage!

Eagle

We returned from Vieques a couple of weeks ago and had a wonderful time. We were there for 2 weeks. Rented our car from Chepitos for $35 a day.(very nice fella). Be sure to go to Chez Shack on Monday nights for their steel band and Bar-b-que. Lots of fun. There are lots of good restaurants. El Quero (Sp) in Esperanza was very good. Duffys was ok too.We went to a different beach every day. Dont go to Green Beach in the p.m. though as there are lots of bugs. Stayed at Cane Garden and would highly recommend it. On the hillside with great views and breezes. Lots of wild horses. It is very laid back and relaxing.

mlbcruiser

Debbie, did you fly on Vieques Airways (VAL)? If so, how'd you manage w/your luggage weight? If you flew on another airline, which one and how much luggage wt. did they allow?

We'll have just 2 nights to stay in Vieques and time will be tight getting back to SJU for our flight back home. Therefore taking a ferry isn't workable for us.

We'll be getting off a cruise so our luggage will be heavier (50 lbs. each) than VAL allows (normally 25 lbs., but 40 lbs. at an extra cost IF the plane isn't too bogged down w/other wt.). We want to fly out of Isla Verde Airport since it's half the cost of flying out of SJU, but there is no luggage storage at Isla Verde. I am getting conflicting reports on whether or not there is at SJU (?). I sent an email to the address listed on SJU's website nearly 2 wks. ago, but had no reply. So - any ideas?

bilsue

Did Vieques a couple of years ago, stayed at Hectors by the sea--- unbelievable. Huge property with horses and an outstanding view with pool and hot tub under the stars. Did the Bio Bay and it was too cool, even after you get back in the boat you snap your bathing suit and you GLOW!! Would go back in a heart beat. Chez shack was excellent food!!

sassy_cat

The original post is from 2002 so I expect Debbie won't respond!
mlbcruiser... call the airline and ask about luggage (they'll probably charge you for excess baggage but you could get bumped if the plane is full).
Can you reduce your luggage weight?

mlbcruiser

sassy_cat, thanks. I neglected to notice the orig. post date. At any rate, I had visited this site because I had already checked some other travel websites for baggage storage info. w/no luck.

No, we can get our bags down to down to 25 lbs. per person - not w/formalwear for a cruise and Rx snorkel masks, etc. Anyway, I had spoken to someone at VAL already before my post above. And once since. The second time the person I got said we could check another bag (we'll just need the one bag between us w/our overage wt. in it) if we pay the fee.

Additionally, I verified (by calling) that SJU DOES offer a baggage storage service. However, our flight to Vieques will leave from Isla Grande Airport, which does not offer baggage storage. I think we are going to have to pay for one extra suitcase between us and then use one airport going TO Vieques and another returning to SJU for our trip home. Thanks for the date tipoff, though.

sassy_cat

sounds good! Have a great trip and let us know how it went.