My friends Lois and Dennis DuMey came to visit me in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, during my stay at the most amazing AirBnb rental with a courtyard on San Sebastian Street. We took a weekend excursion to Culebra and Culebrita islands 17 miles off the east coast of mainland Puerto Rico. I met Captain Suzy who was sitting next to me on one of my flights into San Juan. Captain Suzanne Acevedo is one of the first licensed female boat captains in Puerto Rico. She charters sailing and diving excursions throughout the Spanish Archipelago Islands. I informed her of our plans to snorkel in Culebra to see the sea turtles. She gave me the contact information for her friend Captain David, an experienced captain and diver who does charters to Culebrita. I saw a sting ray and a sea turtle among other marine life. The color and clarity of the water is magnificent there.
Culebra is a twenty minute flight from San Juan, or there is a ferry out of Fajardo which can take considerably more time. We traveled throughout the island via a golf cart. The golf cart rental was a very reasonable, and it got us everywhere we needed to go. My coworkers, Ana and Bob, and his girlfriend, Janine were able to join us. We had a great time dining out at the Dinghy Dock overlooking the water.
Playa Flamenco Beach was by far the most beautiful and picturesque. Flamenco Beach also has old WW II tanks remnants of when President Theodore Roosevelt established the Culebra Naval Reservation in June of 1903. In 1939, the U.S. Navy began to use the Culebra Archipelago as a gunnery and bombing practice site. This was done in preparation for the United States’ involvement in World War II. In 1971 the people of Culebra began protests, known as the Navy-Culebra protests, for the removal of the U.S. Navy from Culebra. Four years later, in 1975, the use of Culebra as a gunnery range ceased and all operations were moved to Vieques.
Bombs were left in the ocean waters just off the coast of Culebra. Note the painting below of the fishing boat with bombs in the net painted on the school. It reads, “Culebra no olvida,” which means snake does not forget. The Blac Flamingo Coffee has the best coffee and breakfast. They only take cash or Venmo.
You’ve been to some beautiful places!