{"id":1081,"date":"2021-11-24T07:11:51","date_gmt":"2021-11-24T13:11:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.messysuitcase.com\/?p=1081"},"modified":"2021-12-01T15:39:39","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T21:39:39","slug":"vieques-pt2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/index.php\/2021\/11\/24\/vieques-pt2\/","title":{"rendered":"Isla Vieques (Part 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The US Navy and Vieques<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When Bob and I lived in Puerto Rico in the 1990s, the US Navy owned a large chunk of Vieques. It had bought 22,000 acres, or about two-thirds of the island, from the native inhabitants in the 1940s, and used 8,000 acres on the western end of the island as a naval ammunition depot until 2001, when the property was returned to the island. You can read the history here<\/a>, including Vieques residents\u2019 health effects from the Naval presence and protests to force the Navy to leave the island. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But long story short, despite negative effects, the long US Navy presence meant that huge swaths of the island were never developed. So today it is the Vieques National Wildlife Refuge,<\/a> considered one of the most ecologically diverse refuges in the Caribbean and the largest wildlife refuge in the region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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https:\/\/www.fws.gov\/refuge\/Vieques\/map.html<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It has beautiful, undeveloped beaches and stellar snorkeling, and a few hiking trails.  (Unfortunately, a large chunk of the land is not open to the public because of the danger from possible encounters with unexploded ordnance, which the Navy is slowly cleaning up.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beach Hopping & Snorkeling<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Snorkeling and p<\/a>ristine beaches are the island\u2019s main draws, and we came with our own gear, prepared to take advantage of both. With only 2\u00bd days to explore, we could barely taste the multitude of beaches started with Chiva Beach (formerly the Naval Base\u2019s Blue Beach), which had a bit of dried sargassum along its shoreline but was still lovely, with clear turquoise water and reefs just a short swim out. There were a number, but we did the best we could! The Vieques Insider website<\/a> was a great resource for the best places to pull on our fins and masks and wade into the water. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are the highlights:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pelicans were everywhere<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Chiva Beach: <\/strong>We passed a number of individual entrances to the beach, numbered, with parking for just one or two cars at each. We finally chose #10 and settled ourselves in the shade among the mangroves, when a huge iguana pooped spectacularly from a branch behind us. How often do you get to witness that? A little lizard also watched us curiously, and many majestic pelicans flew by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I snorkeled there and saw some lovely coral and a multitude of undersea life. On my way back into shore, I found myself in the magical middle of an enormous school of dancing silverfish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n