The days of swimming in “Bio Bay” are over, but you can still tour Mosquito Bay by electric pontoon boat or kayak to witness the bioluminescence of single-celled organisms called Pyrodimium bahamense.

There are plenty of restaurants and gift shops within walking distance of the dinghy dock and fresh water is available although you’ll have to lug it down the road. The shipwrecks and constant admonitions to lock up our dinghies gave the town a strong pirate vibe. In Esperanza you’ll have to pay $25 per night for a mooring ball, but when you spot the wreckage of several other sailboats, you’ll be glad you did. Vieques, populated by around 14,000 people and several hundred wild horses, provides great harbors along the west and south sides of the island. Many Puerto Ricans bring their own boats to Palomino for the weekend, so expect the mooring field and anchorage to be crowded and loud Friday and Saturday nights. Boaters can walk the beach and buy drinks at the resort bars, but they only accept credit cards. Palomino is owned and operated by El Conquistador, a Waldorf Astoria Resort, and they ferry guests back and forth to the beach on large catamarans from 9 a.m. Then head to Isla Palomino for a more protected mooring to spend the night. Enjoy the ship store, deli and laundry facilities, but watch out for the golf carts moving at breakneck speeds up and down the piers and give yourself plenty of time if you’re going to eat at the waterfront restaurant.Ĭayo Icacos is just a short hop from Puerto Rico where you can pick up a mooring ball for a day of snorkeling or a trip to the beach. Puerto del Rey is a sight in itself as the largest full-service marina in the Caribbean with more than 1,000 wet slips and 14 acres of dry storage. The vans even gave us time to provision at a grocery store before continuing on to Fajardo. San Juan Luis Muñoz International Airport is more than an hour away from Marina Puerto Del Rey, but the charter companies can arrange ground transport by van for $15 per person. However, it wouldn’t hurt to brush up on your Spanish before the trip. Considered part of the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the islands became a United States province after the Spanish-American war in 1898. While they may sound foreign, US citizens won’t need a passport to charter in the Spanish Virgin Islands.

Dinghy dock culebra hurricane aftermath