DeborahB

Part 1 - Vieques

3 of us just spent 4 days in Vieques and 2 at El Conquistador last week. I'll try to keep this short and will answer any questions.

Vieques:
Getting There & Around - we took the ferry to save $. It was a very long day. Ferry ride took a little over an hour. When we docked I was suprised to see no taxis. Called Wyndham and they sent one to pick us up. Was about a 10 min. drive to the hotel from the dock. We rented a jeep from Martineau Car Rental and were very happy with our experience with them. We drove all over, including at night and found it easy to get around. If you want to explore some of the military beaches you definitely need a 4 wheel drive vehicle. We never drove faster then 35 mph due to the many horses & cattle we saw. At any moment a horse could walk in front of your car. Got sea sick on the ferry ride back to PR which was a first for all of us. Couldn't wait to reach land. If you've never gotten sea sick its not a pleasant experience!

Wyndham Martineau Hotel - beautiful hotel and nice room overlooking the water. 2 complaints though - I'm a By Request member and did not receive the welcome snack. Also our electronic safe didn't work and the security man said he would be out Monday to fix it and never did show up. We didn't complain though since we found another place to hide our $.

Food: We ate at the hotel our first night there. Food was very good and price not bad. Came to $68 for 3 people. We also ate at Banana's one night. Was ok - nothing special. We had reservations for Chez Shaq but they ended up closing for a week due to a death in the family. Also ate at Richards Cafe - again I would say average food. We went to the supermarket and stocked up on snacks and sandwiches there.

Beaches - We hit alot of them. Never spent any time at the beaches in our hotel due rough tide and wind. We didn't have the best conditions at any of them due to rains in Nov. and Odette which went thru earlier. We visited Sun Bay, Green, Media Luna, Navio, Red and Blue beaches. Of those Red and Navio were our favorites. Good snorkeling at Red on the left hand side if your facing the water.

Biobay - Very neat and worthwhile experience. We went with Island Adventures and were very pleased with their service. Water is very warm there even though earlier in the day time we cold at some points.

DeborahB

Part 2 - El Conquistador and PR.

We intended on renting a car and spending time away from here for meals and touring but to be honest we were tired of traveling and just wanted to relax so we didn't. This was a beautiful resort however the room was very basic. Definitely nothing special about it. 1 funicular was working the first day but on our second day the other one was fixed.

Yes everything was expensive but we knew that beforehand. I don't think I was expecting it to be that expensive though. Since we were only there a short time it wasn't so bad but I can't imagine staying there for a week.

We ate at the poolside restaraunt twice (Belle something) because we liked the food there so much and didn't feel like making reservations. Ate at the cafe once (cheeseburgers) and was one of the worst $60 meals I ever had.

Their island was pretty but I kept thinking that it was manufactured and not very natural. We rented a kayak ($35 for 1 hr) and went to Paliminito (I think is how its spelled). This little island looks beautiful on approach but we walked to the other side and there was garbage everywhere. The beach at Palimino was calm and fairly clean on the dock side but the other side was dirty. We tried snorkeling there but it was such a shallow snorkel it was unpleasant.

We had a nice time in spite of the weather and water conditions. We know that the rains and Odette probably made it a slightly different experience then normal. But all in all we probably wouldn't go back. Vieques was lovely but it was alot of work getting there. There are other islands that are just as nice but not as much hassle. If we do ever go back I would definitely fly rather than take the ferry.

xgao

We just got back from our 6 days trip to PR as well. Overall it was a good trip since this is our first trip to the Caribbeans and PR does offer a variety of things to see. However, I have to say that all the places that we went were just OK, not great.

A few observations/disappointments:
- PR (San Juan in particular) is a very crowded and busy island. A bit of a surprise to us. The atmosphere wasn't as relaxing as we would like it to be.
- Trafiic was very heavy on Route 3 during the afternoon. It took us 2 1/2 hours to reach El Conquistador from San Juan.
- Major disappointment in Vieques. The biobay was not glowing much at all the night we went. We were told it was because of the heavy rain the island endured lately. We stayed at the Bananas due to its convient location. I thought it is a very basic though clean guesthouse. Basic indeed. Not clean at all. The room is very smelly and we even had cockroaches. My 2 year old simply did not want to go to the room and asked me to pack and leave (Can't blame him! What a sharp contrast to the El Conquistador!) Later, we talked to a few people in the island. The message we got is that Vieques and the biobay is just overly advertised. (DeborahB seems to have a very different experience with the biobay).
- Ponce is an interesting town (The city center is very small though). However, We were there on a Monday and a lot of places (including the restaurant in hotel Media) are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

DeborahB

Xgao who did you do the biobay with? We did it with Island Adventures and they told us the same thing you were told. In fact many people chose not to go. As it was our last night we had no choice - do it then or probably never.

It wasn't very strong but I got the idea of it and enjoyed it just the same. IA has a hollowed out boat that we went under where the experience was much more intense due to the darkness. In fact the guide told us that under the boat is what it would look like if it was glowing at its normal strengths outside the boat. I haven't heard anyone say Biobay was overhyped - that is definitely news to me.

The one thing I was disappointed in was the water clarity and snorkeling. But like I said I contributed that to the recent bad weather. Folks over at the USVI forum tell me snorkeling there has not been as good as normal lately either due to rough waters. So it would make sense that both areas have been effected. I'm still waiting for someone who has been to Vieques during good weather to confirm that for me or not.

xgao

We did the biobay tour with Island Adventures too. The bus ride was a bit too rough for a 2 year old, I think. And he kept asking me where were the glowing things that we were supposed to see.

Acutally when we picked up our rental car at San Juan airport, the Hertz shuttle driver told us that he thought Vieques is a tourist trap (no good beaches and the biobay isn't that unique either, plus its uneasy access and higher cost). We didn't buy his idea at that time. The next morning after our night tour, we talked to a guy that was having breakfast at trade winds. He told us that if you have a boat and go sailing in the ocean, you'v encounter luminous waters often. Therefore the one in Vieques wasn't that unique indeed.

Anyway, I am sure biobay would be a much more interesting place to visit during good times. However, there are other factors to consider other than just moon condition.

PRnative

I'm sorry that your trip to PR seems to have been mostly a disappointment. I guess I shouldn't assume that people going to PR know that it's a densely populated and developed place (one of the highest population densities and, I believe, the highest concentration of cars per capita in the world). I have to disagree about Vieques biobay being overhyped. It might be true that, from a boat, in open seas, one can see bioluminescence in many places, but Vieques is one of a few places where you can see intense bioluminescence that's easily accesible from land (not on the open sea). In the right conditions, it's absolutely stunning and most people love it. Granted, I was there several years ago, when Vieques was an unknown destination to all except Puerto Ricans. Maybe Vieques's increasing popularity is already having a detrimental effect on the biobay.

Anyway, what were the things/places that you did enjoy? Where else did you stay and how was the drive from Fajardo to Ponce? Is the new highway open most of the way, as I thought it was? I'd appreciate any additional feedback so that I can factor in people's recent experiences when I make future recommendations.

DeborahB

Wow - Vieques has no good beaches? Thats a little harsh and I'd have to say I strongly disagree. Even if we were there in bad weather conditions it was still beautiful! Oh well, beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.

Xgao did you get to go into the hollowed out portion of the boat to fully experience biobay? I'm suspecting that with a 2 year old you may not have done that.

I would also agree with PRNative about biolumenescent (sp?) waters. If I recall correctly the IA guide told us that they were in all the waters. Even off the coast of NY. However it takes the right conditions for them to be seen the way they can be in Vieques. Very few places in the world have those right conditions. Now would I say biobay is the only reason you should go to Vieques, well no. But if you like nice beaches, friendly people, a safe place to visit, a beautiful island with beautiful beaches and your looking to explore someplace new then yes - go!

Now I will agree with you about San Juan. I knew it was big but I was not expecting it to be that big! It came as a shock to me too!

By the way PRNative - sorry we didn't get to try out driving in PR. We were just too pooped to try it out. Perhaps another time!

xgao

As I stated at the beginning of my message, the trip was still a good one despite some disappointments. We never expect it to be as good as some of our other trips to Europe and Asia. However, we thought it would be more like our experience in Hawaii. It turned out to be a little bit less. Anyway, to learn about a place and its people (good or bad) are the main joys and purposes of traveling. Given the constraint that we have (having a 2 year old), this is as good as we can get for now. So no complains from this stand point. Thanks for all the infos that I get from this board.

We did enjoy old San Juan and El Yunque very much. My son even did an 1 hour hiking with us (It was more of a 30 minutes hike for adults though since we had to go very slowly as I hold his hand tight. And I carried him on my shoulder while he was sleeping on the way back).

We had some good time at the beaches as well. Acutally my 2 year old enjoyed beaches with higher tides more than those with quiet ones since the former gives bigger and louder splashes.

The drive from Fajardo to Ponce wasn't bad at all. Highway 53 is not complete yet. Therefore we had to take 53, then 30, and finally 52.

xgao

I think the driver's comments on vieques were a bit harsh too. It is still a beautifull island to visit for people that enjoy seclusive beaches.

I didn't swim in the biobay since I had to watch the little one. My husband did, but I don't think he went underneath the boat.

Another interesting observation: PR doesn't appear to be an unsafe place. However, why there are so many police/police cars around?

DeborahB

Ahhh, my regret - we didn't get to do El Yunque or Old San Juan. There wasn't enough time and we were too tired plus sea sick!