Vieques Trip Review
 

I look out my window right now and it is sleeting on top of the snow received last night. ( big SIGH)
Thought I would provide info about our trip last week to Vieques. This is a lovely " niche" Island. If you seek wonderful quiet beaches, splendid isolation and do not require pampering, scheduled entertainment, golf, etc.this is the place.
My wife and I arrived last Saturday staying until Friday. Every day was another beach with something different to offer. This began over the valentines weekend which is considered big ( thankfully not to my wife) and we were told would the beaches would be crowded. The most people seen in one day at one time was 25. This was on a beach about 1 mile long. Usually there were under 10 people and one day we were alone. Understand this was at the "official " beaches. There are many spots to go without names and you will be alone.
In order to visit most of these , requires a jeep type vehicle. The road/trails are rutted but isolation has it's price. Rent one in advance if you go.
Restaurants were generally good, but honestly we missed a couple we wanted to try because of the staggered days off . Those we tried were the moderately priced and had the same sort of menu. There is not alot of locations on the island for genuine Puerto Rican cuisine. Good bars in either town for relaxing. THese are not " to be seen at " bars but are the comfortable relaxed type. I really like sitting at a couple of these when " passo finos" rode through. I probably misspelled that but essentially it's young men on their horses, oft times with a girl friend on board, riding through. This was not some tourist show, but a custom. Sort of like cruising in your car in small town America.
I also liked just about everyone I met that were visiting as well. It fell to about 50% were there the first time and 50% were repeat visitors. For some reason, the majority were from the New York Area. (We are Chicago area) It seemed all appreciated the laid back isolation and did not need to be waited on or pampered. If that's what you need , this is not the place for you.
The island , I think, recognizes it is being discovered and I hope determines it can be a a successfull isolated "nich" island. Unfortunately I hear it is building a casino. In my opinion if they decide to pave the beach street/trails they will lose their identity. That may sound corny and selfish but that's my story and I'm sticking with it.
El Yunque on the main land is a wonderfull National Park, not to be missed. We only had 1/2 day and this does not do the Rain forest justice.

THere is much to yet see and my wife and I do not have the resources for many return visits. This would be one of those locations.

Thanks for the report - we are headed there for the first time in two weeks - can't wait! Bummer to hear that they are building a casino - that is exactly the kind of stuff we try to stay away from and why we settled on Vieques - hopefully they will come to their senses and see that! Which restaurants did you eat at and where did you stay?

We stayed at Crow's Nest. Wonderfull exterior, dated rooms though clean and large. Had a small living room, kitchenette, sleeping area. Never needed the a/c. About $120 per night and had comp. breakfast of cereal/bagels/ juice/coffee.
Helpfull staff.
Loaner chairs/umbrella/cooler
Places we ate: Island Steak House (at Crow's nest), Trade Winds, Chez Chack, Chef Michaels( lunch & gourmet deli stuff) , Traverna Espanola, Bananas, Tiki Hut ( breakfast/lunch), Patio( Lunch), .
Missed: Meda Luna and M Bar, & Inn of the Blue Horizon because it burned(restaurant) when we were on Island.
( check days when closed, as they vary) Meals above for dinner ranged from 45- 85 for 2 people and a couple of drinks.

MFletch,
When were you in Vieques? Just curious because you said the restaurant at Inn at Blue Horizon burned. We were there just two weeks ago.

We got back last night after a week stay. Missed by a week. Would you return?

How bad was the fire? We are staying at the Hacienda Tamarindo right next door and had planned going there a couple of time since it was close.

I don't know how bad, however the owner of Crow's next expected them to be closed for a while.Hopefully they will be back up when you go. I have heard Tamirindo is lovely.
We regret not getting there or Media Luna for dinner.I was told that was the best place to see sunset while eating.

Thanks for the information about your trip. Would the Crows Nest be a possibility for my family of 10 (6 adults,4 children, ages 11-17) ? Do you know if there are vans available? Also, did you take the ferry or fly from PR? Thanks in advance. Owa

To be honest, there were very little kids or families.Mostly couples. My wife and I commented on this during our stay. Most kids were under 4. I think this is due to a lack of entertainment spots. There is NO fast food, video, movies, rides, etc. Shopping is limited. If your kids are not into beaches or making their own entertainment..........
I did not see vans for rent though the taxis on the island are vans. To go to the beaches you need 4-wheel drive. They run 45-60 per day.
Crow's nest has I think 14 rooms. No kids there when we visited.
We took Ferry from Fajrdo. Two dollars per person each way. It was $65 from San Juan air to Fajrdo for the 2 of us plus tip. About 3 hours total.
Flight is faster ,much more $$ and I think the plane only holds 8 people, but not sure . About 25 min.

MFletch,
Yes, we would definitely return. We also spent a week on Culebra and would also go back there. And now that you mention it, we saw very few children. We, too, missed out on dinner at Media Luna. We also missed Bayaonda - closed for a private super bowl party. Bummer. Would you return?

We absolutely would return. We have not traveled as much as we would like and there is still more to see. Would not return to Cancun and probably not Caymens, but would head back to Vieques. We would add time to tour El Yunque much more than the 1/2 day we alotted.