When planning a vacation, I look for places with a mix of adventure and relaxation. Vieques definitely offers both. Whether you’re swimming at an empty beach, searching for the Navio cave, or kayaking on the Bio Bay, there’s always something new to experience. After a long day of exploring, 360 Vieques is the kind of place you return to and think, “it’s good to be home.” My family and I loved our time here, and we plan on coming back.
You will make lifelong memories in Vieques, but you need to have a plan. Just getting to the island requires multiple modes of transportation. (Once you reach Puerto Rico, you need a taxi to a different airport or ferry. That ride will take you from mainland P.R. to the island of Vieques. From there, you need another car ride to the house.)
It’s worth the effort. I’ll write this review as if it was the one I personally needed a month ago. Check out the other 5-star reviews first, then come back here once you’ve started planning your visit.
Staying at 360 Vieques:
1. Don’t worry about the house. It’s beautiful, private, and it has just about everything you need. You can additionally rent out the top level. Regardless, no one else is with you during your stay.
2. Yes, the pool really looks like that. Yes, the view also really looks like that. Yes, somehow it looks even better in person.
3. Filippa and Jenny are great communicators and they’re always willing to help. Filippa is courteous, she responds promptly, and she gave me an exceptionally detailed list of restaurants around Vieques. On the island, we were introduced to Jenny. It feels pointless trying to describe her through words because I know they won’t measure up. Jenny truly made us feel welcome and any worries I had about the trip vanished once we met her. Jenny is the island’s MVP.
4. There is no AC, but you don’t need one — you’re on top of a mountain. I went to bed with a sweater on every night. So did everyone else. (Side note, the shower water turned cold at one point, but it eventually went back to warm.)
5. There’s no wifi, but it’s still the U.S., so our phones worked well enough. We lost service inside from time to time, but it wasn’t any cause for concern. (Contact your phone provider just in case.) We only had one news channel working on the TV, but there’s a solid collection of books and DVDs in case it rains. (Don't watch “Sideways” with your family lol.)
Staying on the Island:
1. There are animals everywhere, it’s incredible! Horses, roosters, frogs, iguanas, colorful sea fish, turtles, and so many more. Obviously, be careful when approaching an animal. I had trouble feeding the horses with apple slices, because they supposedly like pizza more. Later on, I turned on a shower at Sun Bay Beach and accidentally created a new drinking source lol. We were surrounded by horses in less than a minute, and they were all very friendly. Much like the Bio Bay, this was a completely unique and surreal experience that I will remember fondly.
2. So. Many. Beaches. They all have distinguishing features, ranging from the size of the sand grains to the waves. More specifically, the sand at Playa Negra is pitch black and literally magnetic. (Make sure to leave the beaches at the listed closing time to avoid getting locked in.) Needless to say, the Bio Bay near Mosquito Beach must be seen at night. It looks like you're paddling over shooting stars, it’s genuinely unbelievable.
3. All the restaurants are fantastic. Bananas and El Quenepo were tied as our first place favorite. (Also, look for the lemonade stand next to Sun Bay Beach. The people from Marshmallow Candy & Coffee run it. It’s so good.)
4. If you want more of a city feel, visit Isabel II (in the North) or Esperanza (in the South). There’s a fun nightlife along Esperanza Malecon (the boardwalk). Both areas have bars, restaurants, shops, etc.
5. Don’t underestimate the Vieques Insider Magazine. It’s an invaluable source with important phone numbers, popular venues, and other basic info about the island. We used the magazine’s map as a reference guide the entire week, and we learned a lot of interesting trivia. Did you know “Lord of the Flies” (1963) was filmed here?
Planning Your Stay:
1. If I could go back in time, I would have checked the lunar calendar (for the Bio Bay) and booked things in this order: the car rental first, the house rental second, the airline tickets third, and the Bio Bay tour last.
2. Try to find a car immediately. You can’t bring one on the ferry, you can only rent one on the actual island of Vieques. We checked a month ahead of time and everything was sold out.
3. Having a Jeep gives you access to almost the entire island. Anything else will probably be insufficient. (Golf carts take too long, biking in 80 degree weather isn’t fun for anyone, and potholes near the more secluded beaches are too much for a Sedan.) Expect some narrow roads.
4. Taxis are underrated. We used “Vieques Taxi” for the first few days and we adored our driver Maritza. She was kind, patient, and she gave us vital information about the island. (She even waited for us when we got our groceries!) Plus, Maritza unintentionally planned our entire vacation with us during our rides together. It was $25 one-way for 4 people with whatever we put in the trunk. A round trip taxi ride is still cheaper than a car rental per day, even after tip. We always called at least 15-30 minutes in advance and had no problems. Give your driver a pickup time in case your phone loses service.
5. We found a car later, but this is not the norm. There was one random spot available at a lesser known rental, and only Jenny (of course) was able to help us find it. (Once your car is at half a tank, find a gas station and fill up. We were told that gas can run out here, but it’s a small island anyway. We only had to fill up two times, so this shouldn’t be an issue.)
Getting to the House:
1. Fly to Vieques. Don’t rely on the ferry. We used Vieques Air Link or “VAL,” and it was about $40 per person one-way. Refer to the VAL website for rules on luggage size, boarding, etc. There are multiple airports in Puerto Rico that VAL uses. If you can find a flight from San Juan airport, you can avoid the extra taxi ride.
2. We reluctantly scheduled our VAL flight three hours early because nothing else was available. It ended up being the exact amount of time we needed. (Our JetBlue flight got delayed and the taxi to Ceiba airport took one hour.)
3. There’s a taxi stand that’s conveniently located outside Terminal A at San Juan airport. Our driver was Rainer; he was extremely polite and drove safely. The ride from San Juan airport to Ceiba airport costed $80 for all 4 of us.
4. I know the $2 ferry ride from Ceiba to Vieques looks tempting. Avoid it. From what I’ve read, it’s harder getting a ticket to Vieques than it is getting one back to Ceiba. Only 20% of tickets are meant for non-residents, and they’re all online or on the app. There are 80% of tickets remaining that can be purchased in-person, but I have read countless horror stories about this. I am the kind of person who refuses to chance getting stranded. If you couldn’t get a ticket online and the ride is full, you will get left behind. Apparently, weekends are the worst time to travel. Ferry tickets for the week go on sale about two weeks ahead of time, on a Sunday night (11PM EST | 12AM AST). Monitor the Puerto Rico Ferry website in case that changes. From my experience, online tickets sold out within an hour.
5. If you have to take the ferry but couldn’t get a ticket online, it might still work out. I saw some stories about people who made it to Vieques just fine. Showing up early is crucial in this case. (My family took the ferry from Vieques to Ceiba on a Sunday morning and everything went smoothly. We wouldn’t have risked it without our pre-purchased tickets, though.)
Safety Precautions:
1. As of this time (March 2022), there is no hospital on the island due to the hurricane in 2017. However, there is a medical clinic. If the worst case scenario played out and someone needed a hospital, they do have a way to airlift you to the mainland. For the record, we saw plenty of families, kids, elderly tourists, and disabled tourists. Our experience on the island felt totally safe and carefree. We weren’t jumping off cliffs or anything, so just use your best judgment lol.
2. Mainland Puerto Rico and its smaller islands are all worth a visit. Play it safe and avoid notoriously dangerous places (like La Perla near San Juan).
3. Yes, there was a death reported at Black Sand Beach (Playa Negra) back in 2020. That being said, we still saw plenty of people there last week. It was mostly other tourists and families with little kids. We went there early on a Wednesday and it was packed. We felt safe, and we will definitely visit this beach again when we return.
4. Covid protections are still in place. You will need to fill out a Travel Declaration Form online before flying. It won’t take long. If you’re vaccinated, you’ll be done in a minute. Masks are required.
5. Jenny was always just a call away and we were never concerned for our safety. I’m only including this information because leaving it out would have seemed sketchy to me. Furthermore, we saw more animals than human beings during our stay. Your biggest issue will probably be a mosquito bite or sunburn.
Okay. That’s everything you could possibly need. If I could plan this, you can plan this. You will never forget your visit, I promise. Once you reach the top of 360 Vieques and look out at that view, you’ll know I mean.