Vieques #4: The Beaches

Intro

Intro:

My favorite thing about Vieques: The beaches.

There are at least 36 marked beaches, according to ViequesBeachMap.com, plus dozens of more unmarked beaches. Every beach we visited was lovely--Calm, relaxing, no vendors trying to sell you stuff, clean, warm sand, clear water, etc.

The coolest thing, though, for me, was the variety: Many beaches with white sand, one with black sand, some open and sprawling with picnic gazebos, others isolated, secluded, and more private at the end of a windy road in a cove, etc.

Naturally, "beach hopping" is a great activity if you are going to visit and spend a few days on Vieques.

Map

Check out the map below that shows the marked beaches of Vieques.

Credit: ViequesBeachMap.com

(This site has a really nice "beach list" that lists every single marked beach on the island, along with pictures, what its good for (swimming, snorkeling, water sports, walking, fishing, family friendliness, etc.), sand color, water quality, and other ratings.)

Sea Glass Beach

The first beach we visited was Sea Glass Beach, located centrally on the northern coast of the island, very close to Isabel II, the island's biggest "town" and administrative center. You can kind of see why it has its name from the water in the pictures below.

Sun Bay Beach

This one is nice because although it's easily accessible from Esperanza, the island's second city, (and party city, too), it has the white sand and clear water that many tourists seek and is not very crowded. Ally and I were the only people on the entire beach this afternoon.

Playa Caracas

Playa Caracas was the most popular beach that we visited. This was surprising because it seems somewhat secluded, or at least further from the island's residential areas than others, but there was a big parking lot and you can see in some pictures the picnic areas with gazebos, so it must have been set up to be a popular beach for gatherings, parties, etc. Still, though, lots of white sand and clear water!

Playa La Chiva

From the pictures, this one looks like the most beautiful beach that we visited. The relatively clear sky probably helped. The last picture with Ally in the water is cool because you can see the contrast in colors: The white sand with brown seaweed before the different layers/colors of ocean water.

La Playa Negra > A: El Camino

La Playa Negra, or Black Sand Beach, is so cool and unique. It's not great for swimming--the water is normally pretty rough--but great for a walk so that you can see the beach's dark black sand.

I divided the photos for this beach into two sections. First, we have "el camino," or "the walk," because the beach is secluded and only accessible by a trek through the woods. It's a nice hike, though. You can see some of the wildlife that we encountered along the way, including crabs, some type of "crawler," and a horse that chased us for a bit. (The island is famous for the wild horses that roam it.)