Culebra

Tuesday 11/11/14

We left Fajardo on Sunday after the rain let up and headed to Culebra which is just about half way from Puerto Rico to St. Thomas.  It was a very bumpy ride because we were going directly into the wind so we weren't able to sail at all.  We had never been to Culebra but did spend some time in Vieques.  They are the two Spanish Virgin Islands off of Puerto Rico.  We anchored in Ensenada Honda which is a very popular anchorage and centrally located on the island so it is easy to get to a lot of places.  We decided to rent a golf cart so we could check out the whole island.  it is about six miles long and has some of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen.   We took the dogs with us to some of the beaches which was pretty comical trying to get them on the back of the golf cart.  Then there are some pretty steep hills and of course graceful Max fell off when Wes hit the gas on one of the hills.  He fell on his side then got up without missing a beat and proceeded to trot after us worried he was going to be left behind.  Good thing there wasn’t anyone following us too closely or he would have been a goner.  We snorkeled at Tamarindu Estates Beach and saw several turtles.  They are much tamer here then in any other place we have seen them.  Normally as soon as they see us they take off the other way but these guys stayed right with us and I even thought this one guy was going to kiss my mask he was that close.  From what I understand, Culebra is known for their turtles because so many of them come here to lay their eggs.  They have sections of the beaches roped off to protect the nesting area.   Then in the afternoon we visited Flamenco Beach which is probably the most popular beach on the island and then we stopped at Zoni Beach to check it out.   Today we sailed over to the Carlos Rasario beach and picked up a morning ball.  It’s nice here because the National Parks Reserve has placed mooring balls throughout the island that are free to use.  We snorkeled the reef here and it was amazing.  We saw some fish that we hadn’t seen before, some amazing coral and saw a nurse shark sleeping.  Tomorrow we are going to head over to the far east side of Culebra where there is a small island that has supposedly another very nice snorkeling spot on Tortuga Beach and there is also the oldest lighthouse in the Carribean there called Culebrita’s Lighthouse which we plan on visiting.  

A face only a mother could love

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