About 15 years back, I stumbled upon this travel mag with a list of Must-See Locations worldwide. While I expected the usual iconic spots, one really caught my eye – the Bio-luminescence Bay in Vieques, Puerto Rico. “Now, that’s something new,” I thought. The article got me all hyped up to visit someday, but I had no clue when or how.
Fast forward to November 2020. Post Covid, everyone was itching for some new and thrilling experiences. Whether it’s a new passion or a new romance, people were eager to start “living” again. And for me, “living” means traveling, no doubt. After checking out other Caribbean Islands, I suddenly remembered that old article. I did a quick Google search and found out Vieques was just off the coast of Puerto Rico. That’s when I decided it was time to give it a shot.
I snagged some direct flights from JFK (NYC) to San Juan, Puerto Rico and then hoofed it to a little plane for Vieques. We went with the plane to save time, but there’s a ferry if you’re not big on flying. Also, the ferry used to be just for locals due to covid, but not anymore. The flight to Vieques was only 20 minutes.
Upon touchdown, I gave a ring to our car rental folks over at Vieques Car Rental. Pro tip: Sort out your wheels before hitting the island, be it a cab or a rental. The airport was deserted, just my family and me waiting for ourcar. As we cruised away from the airport, we caught sight of the famous wild horses. The kids were thrilled. I didn’t mind either, we spotted them all over the place, but they kept to themselves.
We found this awesome place on VRBO called Las Piedras. It was just perfect – not too crowded, but not too isolated either. Before heading to the house, we stopped by Isabella Segunda to grab some groceries. It was super easy to find everything we needed on Calle Munoz Rivera, and there were tons of restaurants around too.
The house itself was incredible, with 5 bedrooms and our own private pool overlooking the beach. It was exactly what we needed after the craziness of 2020. Check it out below!
We spent all our time chilling at Sun Bay Beach, La Chiva Beach (Vieques National Wildlife Refuge), and just splashing around at the beach near our place and in the pool. Sun Bay beach had so many wild horses, it was awesome for the kids to swim and check out the wildlife. The Vieques National Wildlife Refuge used to belong to the US government, but now it’s all about Vieques. There are loads of beaches there, perfect for a chilled-out picnic.
We went out to eat a few times, but tried to avoid it because of Covid. We went to Coqui Fire Cafe one night – you have to book in advance. The food and vibe were awesome, and don’t miss out on trying all the hot sauces they offer. The next morning, we hit up Rising Roost in Isabella Segunda. The food was spot on, and they had a killer coffee and juice selection. After our Rising Roost breakfast, we took a stroll at Sea Glass Beach, a perfect spot to hunt for sea glass.
Finally, it was that evening – time for our Bio-Bay adventure in Vieques. We went with Taino Aqua Adventures because they had those cool see-through kayaks. I was also checking out this other tour on Viator, called Bioluminescent Bay Kayak Trip from Vieques. We were meeting at the El Blok Hotel at 8pm in Esperanza, the other big town in Vieques. Luckily, a storm had just passed, so the sky cleared up fast. The moon was in the perfect phase for the water to light up with the dark sky. The tour companies don’t schedule trips on full moons for this reason. It felt like I was surrounded by glitter that night. They told us to dip our hands in the water, and it would glow in the dark. Just paddling and looking at the bottom of the boat, we could see lights underneath us. It was pure magic, no doubt. Something you have to see at least once in your life.
When it was time to leave, we had to spend a night in San Juan because of the flight times from Vieques and our JFK flight. We stayed one night in San Juan and did a quick tour of Old San Juan. We went on a cool walking tour of Old San Juan with Tripolin Tours called the Old San Juan Walking Tour. We got to see and learn about Old San Juan and El Morro, the famous fort that Puerto Rico is known for. We caught a sunset tour, so it was a magical evening. Old San Juan is totally walkable, and there are loads of markets in the area. Uber works in San Juan/Old San Juan, but brace yourself for the traffic in the touristy spots. Pro tip: Book an Uber before you actually need it; it might take around 20 minutes to reach you. We tried to walk away from the touristy areas, but it still took a while for the Uber to get to us. (See slideshow)
In the end, we had an awesome vacation and saw something that many people dream of. I’m so glad we went the extra mile with those two flights to get there. You are totally reaping the rewards for all the hard work we put into this trip.
