Puerto Rico Day 7: Vieques to Culebra

In Puerto Rico, people work when they want to work. With this in mind, we were very worried that we would miss our flight to Culebra because we couldn't find a ride to the airport. Fortunately, Henry got us there and the whole process was easy breasy. This time, we didn't have to pay extra fees for going over 25 lbs per person.
This time back into Culebra we were much better prepared to face this island. We knew our way around well, and after a tough walk from the airport to the pier, we took a publico (taxi) to Flamenco Beach. By the way, there is also like, only one ATM in the town. Yup, you've guessed it, it's by the pier.

Flamenco Beach - View from the plane

camp flamenco

To camp at Flamenco Beach you need to pay a fee, wear a band on your wrist or ankle, and leave the registration tag on your tent. We set up camp and were off to swim in Flamenco Beach for the first time.The water is so swimming friendly. The temperature of the water is warm (maybe about 75 degrees) and the waves are calm and rare.

Brian strikes a pose in front of playa flamenco - America's top model worthy pose

The water is so clear that you can see your feet at all depths. The sand also stays at waist level or so for a long time; again, swimmer friendly. We see people snorkeling around the reef that's pretty close to shore and learn that there are some rainbow and blue fishes that are worth seeing. We race to our tent, grab our snorkeling gear, and adventure around the reef. It's so easy to float when you're snorkeling, I loved it. I saw the bluefish and the rainbow fish people talked about, as well as a several schools of fishes--the most impressive being one with hundreds of tiny fishes about the size of a safety pin. Swimming through them was kind of creepy but I couldn't help but laugh at their faces. That sounded less mean in my head. Really though, some fishes have really funny faces when you look at them up close. Maybe it's their eyes. After we were done with la playa, we showered at the outdoor shower place available for campers.

Nature Showers at playa flamenco

You basically shower overlooking a bunch of greens and trees and know that the ocean is not far away from you. It's a nice nature experience.
It was Mardis Gras that day and maybe that's why there was only one food vendor open on playa Flamenco. We gave her good business, then went into our tent to relax. We came out again at night to look at the stars. It was the most beautiful night sky I had ever seen. Everything was so clear and bright and shiny and ginormous. Unfortunately, the clouds came a few minutes after we started appreciating the night sky and I also got devoured by no-see-ums. A week after the trip these bites would start popping up and multiplying by the hour; it was miserable. But being able to see that night sky was worth it. A very high cost, but worth it. :)

I don't know what it is about cats in Culebra but there are so many everywhere. Can you find all the cats in this picture? There are four.