I am going to Culebra next week and hoping to have a get to know the place week. I want to rent a bicycle and hopefully meet some local sailors who can show me the small islands nearby. This could be the place for my semi retirement, never see snow again, come on down and visit me, winter home. Anyone else think I'm crazy? Any recommendations on where to stay? All I have are plane reservations!

To get to know the place it is best to stay right downtown. Posada La Hamaca is a modest place next to the Draw Bridge at Dewey. (809) 742-3516 Mamacitas Guest House is another choice overlooking the canal in town. (809) 742-0090 Mamacitas is where you will want to eat most of your meals. <BR> <BR>There are three places that rent bicycles and 6 places involved in boating or water sports. Unless you intend to rent a car -- downtown is the best place for you or as an alternate Club Seabourne is not too far out of town (809) 742-3169 -- this is more up scale with an excellent restaurant. <BR> <BR>The phone numbers are old so I don't know if they are still good. Run a search on the Web for Culebra, I am certain that you will find more info. I know one artist from Maine that has spent winters in Culebra for several years. Living costs are reasonable and most everybody speaks some English.

Thanks, Louis, for the Culebra info. I'll report when I get back. The web site I found mentioned lots of reasonable downtown places and I should be able to see the bay or the sea to the west. Can't wait to check it out.

The area code has changed from 809 to 787.

Freddy -- check out http://www.culebra.org if you have not already done so. I think you will find most all of the info you need. I also see that the area code is now 787 and all of the rest of the numbers should be good. Since there are not a lot of rooms there, I would suggest that you reserve a place to stay for the first night at least or else you might sleep on the beach.