Spanish Virgin Islands (Puerto Rican Virgin Islands)

Key facts

• Region: The non-sovereign, dependent nations of the Americas
• Sovereignty: Unincorporated territory of the United States, administered as part of Puerto Rico — also called the Puerto Rican Virgin Islands, and the Passage Islands historically
• Capital: none of its own; governed from San Juan. The main settlements are Isabel Segunda and Esperanza on Vieques, and Dewey on Culebra
• Currency: United States dollar (USD)
• Languages: Spanish and English
• Main airport: VQS — Antonio Rivera Rodríguez Airport, Vieques (Culebra uses CPX — Benjamín Rivera Noriega Airport)
• Best time to visit: December to April for the driest weather; the islands are warm year-round and sit on the northern edge of the hurricane belt, so late summer carries the usual risk

Overview

The Spanish Virgin Islands are Vieques and Culebra, with a scatter of smaller islets such as Icacos, Palominos and Lobos, lying about 21 km east of the Puerto Rican mainland. They are United States territory administered as part of Puerto Rico, and they are quiet in a way the rest of the Caribbean is not: the United States Navy used most of Vieques as a live-firing range until 2003, and what it left behind is now the Vieques National Wildlife Refuge, kilometres of beach and scrub with almost nothing built on it. Culebra is smaller and flatter still. The anchorage at Mosquito Bay on Vieques holds the brightest bioluminescent bay in the world — Guinness lists it, at up to 700,000 dinoflagellates per gallon of water.

Airports

Antonio Rivera Rodríguez Airport (VQS) serves Vieques with small aircraft from San Juan, a flight of about 25 minutes. Benjamín Rivera Noriega Airport (CPX) does the same for Culebra, and there is a short inter-island hop between the two. Neither takes international traffic: you arrive from mainland Puerto Rico, or connect through San Juan (SJU). A car ferry also runs from Ceiba, on Puerto Rico's east coast, to both islands, which is how most vehicles cross.

Main cities

Vieques has two centres: Isabel Segunda, the larger administrative town on the north coast with the ferry dock and the lighthouse, and Esperanza, a smaller strip on the south coast with guesthouses and restaurants along the waterfront. On Culebra everything gathers around Dewey, where the ferry lands, with the island's few shops, bars and dive operators within a couple of streets.

Places to go

On Vieques: Mosquito Bay for the bioluminescence, Sun Bay for the easiest swimming beach, Playa Caracas (Red Beach) and Bahía de la Chiva (Blue Beach) inside the wildlife refuge, and the ruins of the old naval facilities at Punta Mulas. On Culebra: Flamenco Beach, on almost every list of the best beaches in the Caribbean, plus the Culebra National Wildlife Refuge and the Luis Peña Channel Nature Reserve, both protected for seabirds and coral. Snorkelling and diving are the main activity on both islands; the reefs are unusually intact simply because so few people live here.

Getting there

Cheapest cached round-trip fare into Vieques, refreshed every 6 hours:

Where to stay

Practical information

Frequently asked