Active Pursuits in Vieques
Diving & Other Outdoor Pursuits
For a small island, Vieques offers big opportunities for diving, snorkeling, sailing, and a huge array of other watersports. Natural conditions are incredible, and prices remain a bargain. More and more operators are popping up each year, which should only improve the offerings and the value for customers. Blue Caribe Kayaks, Calle Flamboyan 149 (El Malecón; tel. 787/741-2522), is one of the most experienced and comprehensive watersports outfits on Vieques, with kayaking, snorkeling, scuba-diving, fishing, or swimming in the nighttime waters of Vieques's bioluminescent bays. They've been doing it for more than a decade. Kayak rentals are $10 an hour, $25 for a half-day, and $45 for a full day. Snorkeling equipment (fins, mask, and snorkel) rent for $12 daily. Guided snorkeling tours by kayak transport you for $35 through gin-clear waters, with stunning coral and brilliantly colored tropical fish, en route to an offshore cay with great beaches. These jacks-of-all-watersports also run a half-day spin-casting fishing tour from a kayak, wherein you'll fish for barracuda, grouper, or other reef fish, using segments of squid or octopus as bait. The trip costs $50 per person. Tours last from around 3pm to sundown daily, as well as nighttime trips to the local biobay ($33 per person), one of the world's best bioluminescent bays.
If you want to go diving, the Vieques veteran is Nan-Sea Charters, Calle Flamboyan 149, Vieques (tel. 787/741-2390), which brings an insider's knowledge to your dive experience.
Abe’s Snorkeling & Bio-Bay Tours (tel. 787/741-2134; www.abessnorkeling.com) also offers competitive rates, hands-on inspection of marine critters, and some amusing storytelling, at least if you’re with Abe. The company offers several tours lasting between 2 and 6 hours, ranging in price from $40 to $150. Children 4 and under go for free, while older kids up to 11 years old pay half-price for the expeditions. Ask about full-day island tours, 6 whole hours of fun.
Black Beard Sports, Calle Muñoz Rivera 101, Isabela Segunda, Vieques (tel. 787/741-1892; www.blackbeardsports.com), is a PADI dive center offering introductory dive trips and half-day open-water dives with equipment included for $150. If you have your gear, the open-water dive is $120, $150 with rental gear. They also have class programs ranging from $130 to $400, and varying in skill level and duration. Its downtown location in a restored Puerto Rican casita has a great sporting goods and sportswear shop. They rent dive equipment, snorkels and fins, mountain bikes, kayaks, fishing gear and other stuff, even tents.
A well-rehearsed outfit that’s good at leading newcomers into the island’s most savage landscapes is Vieques Adventure Company (tel. 787/692-9162; www.bikevieques.com). Gary Lowe and members of his staff lead mountain bikers on half-day ($150 per person) tours of obscure trails that are noteworthy for their panoramas and technical difficulties. Use of a mountain bike, usually an aluminum-framed, 28-speed, state-of-the-art model, is included in the price. You can rent one of these bikes, without the services of a trail guide, for $25 per day. The company also rents sea kayaks ($45 daily). Anglers will want to try a kayak fly-fishing tour at a price of $175 per person for a truly unique experience. The company also runs glass bottomed canoe tours of the biobay at night ($50).
