We left San Juan harbor as planned followed closely behind by a ferry ship asking us to hurry it along or move over. Hmmm if only we could go as fast. 

12 hours later we arrived at Isla Polominos off the northeast corner of Puerto Rico near Fajardo, which was a perfect place for a rest.  There were a lot of power boats, anchored to the beach enjoying the clear waters.

After lunch we decided to continue on to Isla Vieques and chose Ensenada Sun Bay as home for a few days.

The beach was awesome with nice palm trees for shade and that Caribbean soft sand.

We wandered the beach down into Esperanza to find Internet and a nice cold one and low and behold found the final round of the masters at an open air bar called Lazy Jacks. Well we couldn’t resist settling in for the afternoon.

The south coast was very pretty with lots to do.

Esperanza is a small friendly town, busy in the evenings with numerous restaurants and bars along the main street. The Malacon (boardwalk) stretches along the main foreshore where the restaurants all are and you see all sorts walking along it.

We found our own private beach at Bahia de la Chiva, for the day later finding out that it had just been closed for 6 weeks to sweep for old military ordinance. Wondered why a guy in a uniform was watching us closely as we came ashore.

Sweep for ordinance….you ask why. For many years the US navy undertook gunnery practice in the area hence there are areas that are still blocked off. Needless to say a beautiful beach.

The are a couple of bioluminescent bays in the area so we headed along the rocky south coastline into Puerto Ferro for a night but didn’t see any sparkly blue lights just a nice sheltered quiet bay with Mangrove channels.

Lighthouse at Entrance into Puerto Ferro

The weather to St Croix is not looking too good over the next few days so we have decided to stay put & relax till things calm down for our sail. To be honest not a bad place to be….

We unfortunately had to motor from Culebra to San Juan as it was soooo calm, adding the screetcher (our dedicated downwind sail) only gave us an extra 0.5-1.0KN over the engines alone.   

Rounding the Northwestern most point lays El Castillo San Felipe del Morro a sixteenth century forte that in its day was used to protect the city. Coming through the harbor you pass along side Old San Juan city and the walls and see the beautiful colors of the buildings. This gave us a different perspective over our previous shore based visit to San Juan in 2012.

We stayed at the San Juan Bay marina for a week and every day got up and went for a kayak ride into Laguna del Condado a popular place for water sports.

We ended up buying folding bikes in Condado after the first day as it took us too long to get anywhere by bus and we walked into a folding bike store along the way. We decided it would get us to a lot of places we wouldn’t otherwise go and would be a great addition to the boat. We have ridden them every day since buying them.

We went on a great ride through Parque Central over some bridges to Parque Lineal through to Plaza Las Americas for some air conditioning and a wander.  While on the ride we found some wild Iguanas hanging out in the trees and swimming in the Mangrove Rivers.

We also cruised around Condado beach area and into old San Juan. We stopped for a refreshing Pina Colada at an open air market.  The city/beach life style reminded Brett of Vancouver. 

Time to move on and head to Isla Vieques so are provisioning up to leave Friday night.

We left St Thomas, US VIs at 3:00am and had a nice downwind sail arriving at 8:15 am. Dewey, Culebra is a small really laid back town and you got that feeling walking around the streets. The houses and buildings were brightly colored which added to the ambience of the place.

The first night we stayed inside the reef at the entrance to Ensenada Honda. The water was amazing and there were some interesting other boats in the area. Time for some snorkeling along the reef and to spot turtles.

The next day we sailed around the corner to Isla Culebrita a wildlife refuge where we found paradise.

We stayed for the day and went snorkeling with the turtles a hike to the lighthouse (the oldest on the Caribbean) and lastly for a wander on the white sandy beach.  It was really hot and the views were amazing from the top of the lighthouse.

We could have stayed for a week but time did not allow and we wanted Johan, Marlene and Marco to see old San Juan before they left the Caribbean.   Next time……..

Old San Juan - Sentry Box along the wall

Old San Juan is very picturesque enclosed within 3 miles of city walls with an oceanfront esplanade to wander and enjoy the history and the weather, which incidentally is a lot hotter than Calgary. There are 5 huge gates that allow access into the city. Back between the 1500s – 1800s access to the city was controlled via the gates.     

Brett at Paseo de la Princesa the start of the esplanade

The ocean esplanade is well maintained and a great walk. Make sure you have good shoes and water because it’s hot out there. There are 2 large fortresses along the city wall, that took over 250 years to build, and were built to protect San Juans harbour.

Kids with their kites in the park. Castillo San Felipe del Morro is in the background

Castillo San Felipe del Morro

Different areas within the city have different styled balconies and columns which define the year they were built

  

 

Cobbled streets lined with beautiful homes; Govt house is at the far end

 

 

He was a good listener.....

 

 

 

 

 I found a new friend in one of the many plazas around the city.         

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The locals play dominos and chess in the many parks around the city.

 

 

 

 

 

A little sunburnt but maybe the Rum is having an effect too!

  

  

 

 

While in San Juan you cannot miss the Rum and  yes we found a great bartender to help us sample!!

 

 

Candado Beach - an interesting walk...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stayed at a hotel along Condado Beach and walked to Old San Juan. Of course Brett found a cool bar right on the beach which had awesome views (not just of the sunbathers). Its touristy closer to Old San Juan and very busy and is gorgeous all the way down to Ocean Park. You can walk along in front of all the hotels and locals homes.

 

 

Brett looking out to the Carribean

 

 

 

LOVED SAN JUAN AND YES WE WOULD RETURN! If only we had had more time to get out of main San Juan.