We chartered from St. Thomas to Vieques and Culebra in PR from May 21-June 2. I you find this interesting. I only found two outfits that allow charters to the SVI; Island Yachts and CYOA. We chartered a 37' Island Packet "Fifalde" from Island Yachts in Redhook. Their boat and service was just about perfect (you have to supply your own PR charts).
Plan on about 50 minutes from the airport to Redhook in the communal taxi.
The first day we left Redhook and anchored in Honeymoon Bay. It was a little rolly as we had light winds and seas from the S-SE.
Next day we sailed to Culebrita, about 17 nautical, and picked up a mooring in Tortuga Bay on Culebrita. A nice U shaped sand beach and a bubbling pool, which your not suppose to visit but several did. Even though USVI and PR are both US you do need to clear customs in PR only because the USVI is a free trade zone. We did this by calling customs at (787) 742-3531.
Next morning we sailed to to the East side of Vieques. Be sure to head well east as you cannot see just how far east the island is until you are close. We tried to make a lunch stop at Bahia Salina Del Sur on the South side but we were run off by a guy in a pickup. There were signs on the beach saying off limits, in red lettering with a diagonal black bomb across them (I thought they only meant the beach). From there to Fero bay we saw more signs all along the way so I don't think you are allowed to anchor anywhere east of Mosquito Bay until they finish clearing the old bombs out! Next we tried to anchor in Fero Bay (which is still East of Mosquito Bay) but could not make it past the 3.5' bar across the entrance. We did see one sign there but we also saw a cat anchored and a few guys fishing so who knows? Anyway, we went to Ensenada Sun Bay and grabbed a ball for the night.
I should say that our main aim on Vieques was to see the bioluminescent, Mosquito Bay and I was not to be denied! So the next day we went back and took a ball just outside the bay. We spent a very rolly night as it is somewhat exposed but we did manage to dingy into Mosquito and it was well worth it to see the water glow as you splashed and motored through it. We were pretty excited and found this at least as good as the first time we saw the Baths. So go see it but bring bug spray! There is a no wake sign as you enter the bay but I saw other powered boats enter so I think it is ok to take a dingy with a motor in there. We enjoyed watching several pelicans fishing of the rock cliffs just behind us and a flotilla of sea kayaks came out of the entrance and surrounded us before having a swim and picnic before heading back in just and dusk fell.
The next day we passed through Esperanza. It looked like an interesting little town but we didn't stop. The harbor was very shallow but we managed to get through without touching and headed directly West to Arenas on the West end of the Island. Punta Arenas has a huge beach with alot of mooring balls. It had several small signs on the beach, usually bad news, but on close examination they were there to welcome you to the reserve! You can see the lights of PR from there at night but it was a little hazy on our night.
The next day we decided to skip the coast of PR, since it was a 3 day weekend and I hadn't notified customs yet (don't ask why), and head back to Culebra. Extending NW from Vieques is a shoal that is about two miles out. Since it was calm we cheated and cut through it to save time; we never saw less than 8 feet but I wouldn't do it if there was any wave action. We motorsailed the whole way and had very small seas except for the 5-7 foot sweels from the NE the last half of the trip. We moored in a bay on the SW edge of Cayo de Louis Pena for the night. We found some very good snorkeling near the middle of the Northere side of the anchorage. There were several other anchorages I would have liked to try but we were not able to due to the swell.
The next day we made a day stop on the West side of Dewey to get some groceries (and I finally called customs). We found one free ball on the North side and there were a few boats anchored on the South side but the ferry dock is close so it was not a great place to stay the night. There is a canal that you can dingy through to the other side of town. The one and only fuel station is in there but you can't get a large boat in. We found a town dock just on the other end, to your port side, of the canal and tied the dingy to the North side, I think the spanish writing on the other side of the dock said not to tie up it there. We found two smallish but well stocked stores neither of which is is very far to walk. One was up the hill and to the right (50 yards) note, they didn't sell beer and they are not always open. The other store was South across the bridge (over the canal) and take a right at the fire station (100 yards). Dewey was a fun place with a few bars and small motels.
The next day we sailed SE around Culebra to Ensenada Dakity. This is a great anchorage with reef protection. It was Memorial Day and the San Juan/PR Navy was out in force! There must have been 80 boats in there with 15 or so rafted together in several clusters. It was not noisy and I was impressed with the way the Puerto Ricans handeled their boats (better than most of us charter's). We saw a sailboat ground on the other side of the reef and the next PR cruiser threw them a line and pulled them off. For us nothing beats being anchored behind a reef! Cool night, no bugs and very calm.
Next day we decided we wanted to try another reef anchorage and went to Bayo De Almodovar. This was a a smaller anchorage but it had a few mangrove islands and you could see the lights of St. Thomas if you picked the right spot. Although not colorful we did see quite a few interesting things while snorkeling near the mangroves and also near a pole marking a shoal at the entrance to the mooring field.
The next day we motorsailed East to St. Thomas stopping at Buck Island for a quick snorkel before anchoring in Christmas cove. We briefly stopped in Cruz Bay and spent the last night in Francis Bay, one of my favorites. (BTW, pay for mooring at the small power boat with a flag in the bay, not obvious).
Summary: we found the islands of Vieques and Culebra uncrowded and very nice. There were free mooring balls available everywhere we went, nice! The snorkeling was so-so but we did find a few good spots and the water was beautiful. Due to the light winds we didn't have to fight our way back East to return to St. Thomas, which we were expecting. In fact the wind was always S-SE and never above 13 knots. I don't think we saw any other charter boats but we did see several "cruisers" most everywhere we went.
If you like the solitude and cooking aboard I think you'll like the Spanish Virgin Islands!
