How do you get to this little island 8 miles off the coast of Puerto Rico? Well, you have two options, and we tried both. One is the ferry from Fajardo to Vieques. It is a 1.5 hour ride and the ferry leaves multiple times per day. If you are staying in San Juan as we did, you will have to arrange transportation from San Juan to Fajardo. We hired Padin Transportation, and the women Ilca who handles all the plans is really great via email and phone! The van that was sent for us was large, clean, smoke free, and the driver Jose Padin did a great job of getting us to Fajardo. It is about an hour drive. The ferry is a whole different story. Ryan said he was expecting a nice little terminal … maybe something like the Hyannis to Martha’s Vineyard route …. not so much. I think the dog with fleas that peed on the floor in front of us, killed that idea! It was not completely awful though … and for $2.00 each way, it is a deal that can not be matched! The actual boat is a two decker, with an enclosed area downstairs and an open air area upstairs. It was a stormy, slightly rough sea day, so the downstairs people at least stayed dry on the way over, but man were they packed in like sardines! Not to mention they were sharing their seats with chickens and boxes of cats! We were upstairs which would be lovely on a calm, warm day. Unfortunately, the ride was pretty rough, and we were all soaked with sea spray by the time the trip was over. An hour and a half of rough seas and spraying water can really do a number on you!
The take off was thrilling and the view was incredible because you could see St. Thomas, Culebra, Vieques, and the main land of Puerto Rico! We were only 2,000 feet in the air, and the highest peeks in Puerto Rico are 3,000 feet, so you were flying so close to the mountains and could see everything on the ground really well.
