Turtle Beach, Culebra

Turtle Beach is located in Culebrita, Culebra. It’s only a few minute drive from one of Culebra most famous beaches: Flamenco. This beach is an amazing place to go if you have children. Not only will they have fun, but they’ll learn too. I’ve found that when a person can see up close an animal like that, they get a new found love and respect for them, making them care more about keeping them safe. Turtle Beach has some of the best snorkeling ever because you’re able to see not only how beautiful it is underwater, you can see and swim with the turtles. There are also stingrays and colorful fish. Snorkeling is $20 per person and they’re totally worth it. I didn’t go too early, but they said the earlier you get there the more chances of actually swimming with the turtles you have.

It’s extremely important that you respect the turtles. Do not give them any of the snack foods you decide to bring and don’t leave any trash because it could get to them. Turtles are usually friendly and don’t mind being touched, but always being gentle because they might get scared.

There are amazing places to eat and I thought many of them had reasonable prices. The food is wonderful and there is a widespread of locations with a variety of menus. Don’t forget to try some of the delicious street food!

Like Vieques, Culebra is an island off Puerto Rico. This means that you need to take the ferry from Ceiba to get there. It’s $4.50 for the round trip per person. The earliest ferry to leave from the big island to Culebra is at 6:30 am last ferry to leave from Culebra to Ceiba is at 1:30pm, except on Sundays when it’s at 5 pm. Same as Vieques, Culebra has a van service that is always around the pier so that when you get off you can just ask them about their price for one trip or for the whole day. Not all the prices are the same all the time, they depend on the person in charge of each van.

This place has been, by far, one of my favorite places I’ve visited. I learned so much and gained a new love for the little turtles. It was so adorable!

Location: Culebrita, Culebra, Puerto Rico

MacCannell, D. (2011). The Ethics of Sightseeing. California: University of California Press

Upcoming Events All Over Puerto Rico!

Here is a list of festivals that are coming up. Visiting festivals is a great way to check out the different culture there are in our tiny island.

Page: Mi Agenda PR

Post Title: Listado de eventos y actividades gratis en Puerto Rico

Link: http://www.miagendapr.com/etags/gratis/page/5/

Sandy Beach, Rincón

Sandy Beach in Rincon is a beautiful spot on the west side of Puerto Rico. It’s a great place to visit, especially if you’re a surfer because that’s what it’s known for. This really isn’t a beach to go and have a swim at; it’s mostly just to go walk around, see people surfing or even catch a competition. However, there are many thing to do around it. Great places to shop and amazing food. There’s even a raw oyster bar you could try (I didn’t dare, but my brother went for it and said they weren’t bad).

Rincón is famous for being a surfer’s haven. However, it wasn’t always considered to be. It wasn’t until 1968 surfing got popularized in the island, after the World Surfing Championship took place here. People started going to Rincón’s beaches because they were considered, and still are, great for surfing because of their 20-feet tall waves. Since then, surfing has spread throughout Puerto Rico and the Caribbean alike. Rincón is even considered to be the surfing capital of the Caribbean and draws surfers from all over to come here looking for great waves to surf.

Location: 7 00677, Km4 Hm 7 Carretera 413 Ramal, Rincon, 00677

PR Surf. (2012). Surfing in Rincón, Puerto Rico. December 3, 2018, from Rincón Vacations website: http://rinconvacations.com/surfing-in-rincon-puerto-rico.html

Interview With a Viequense

In one of my last blog posts I talked about a beautiful place I visited in Vieques, Puerto Rico. However, Vieques has been going through a rough patch since hurricane Maria. That’s why, to better understand the situation viequenses are going through, I decided to interview Luis Monserrate. He is a viequense studying at the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez. He got to see up close how tourism was affected by the hurricane and the negligence by the government.

How long have you been living in Vieques?

L: I’ve been living in Vieques for 18 years, my whole life.

Were you able to witness how Vieques changed after hurricane Maria?

L: Yes, I got to see all the physical destruction and the social neglect from our government.

To my knowledge, Vieques has been somewhat, if not completely, ignored by our government. Would you say that is correct? Why?

L: Most definitely. Vieques has been ignored by government officials since before the hurricane. Vieques still doesn’t have and is suffering a transportation crisis as we speak with the maritime transport being unavailable.

How do you feel about that?

L: It makes me feel mad, mainly because not only is the government abandoning us, but so are our own people that choose not to fight the system.

Did it [the hurricane] have a significant impact on tourism?

L: The hurricane did hurt the island’s aesthetic but it recovered quickly and got it’s tourism back. However, now the whole government issue has made it impossible for tourist to get here because of the whole maritime transportation crisis I mentioned earlier.

Which are, in your opinion, the most visited locations in Vieques?

L: I would have to say Sunbay Beach, Fuerte Conde Mirasol, La Esperanza (beach, neighbourhood), Red Beach and the Ceiba Tree, which is five hundred years old.

What’s your favorite place?

L: My favorite place is La Esperanza. It’s the most gentrified area in Vieques and it has amazing food.

Lastly, what makes Vieques a great place to visit? What makes it unique?

L: The resilient people in Vieques are what make it unique and worth the visit. They’ve gone through so much, yet they are such open and warm toward everybody.

Vieques is a beautiful place we should all visit, because if our government won't help them, we should all try to.

Check Out This Awesome List!

This is a great list with things to do in Puerto Rico! It has different things to do, such as things to eat and places to visit. With only a few things you do from this list you can get an amazing Caribbean experience!

Page: PuertoRico.com.pr

Post Title: 100 Cosas Para Hacer En PR Antes De Morir

Link: http://puertorico.com.pr/100-cosas/

Museum of The Ponce Massacre, Ponce

The Museum of the Ponce Massacre is one of the most interesting museums around for history buffs. It’s the actual place where the massacre happened, which makes the experience even more impactful. The feeling you get when you’re there is really eerie. Personally, my heart felt really heavy because it’s such a tragic moment in the history of my island.

This massacre occurred on March 21, 1937. It is said to be the bloodiest act of repression towards the independent party in the history of Puerto Rico with 19 deaths and over 200 injured. The  history behind this massacre is that the governor at the time, who was imposed by the US government, general Blandon Winship, ordered the killings of the nationalists. This after they got word that they had planned a march in Ponce. The gathering was peaceful, but they had already tilted them as “rebellious, no good doers”. That’s why Winship sent police officers, along with his right hand man, to stop them. One of the victims was a little girl coming out of church, so not all the deaths and injured were part of the march.

One of my few complaints is that there isn’t a guide to explain what you’re looking at. Also, it’s actually a pretty small place and it’s kind of hot which made me feel a little uncomfortable. I would recommend you consider wearing comfortable, airy clothes so you can have a better experience, because let’s be honest, the heat sometimes ruins it.

Photo From: Periodico Claridad

Location: Cuarto, Ponce 00732

Rosado, M. The Ponce Massacre (1937). Recovered December 3, 2018, from Enciclopedia de Puerto Rico Sitio web: https://enciclopediapr.org/en/encyclopedia/the-ponce-massacre-1937/

Playa La Chiva, Vieques

Playa La Chiva in Vieques Puerto Rico is another Puerto Rican, natural beauty. It’s also known as Blue Beach because of how crystal clear the water is! This amazing place is also part of the National Wildlife Refuge. It’s remarkable and truly one of a kind. I’ve been to Vieques many times, but never to La Chiva and I think that is probably one of my biggest mistakes in life. As soon as I got there and saw the beach all I could think is “how is it that I have never been here?”

This beach is so big (a mile and a half long!) that you feel like you have it all to yourself, and on the off season, you probably do. There are so many beautiful sights and Chiva has more than just it’s beautiful view to show for it. Some people have seen sting rays, turtles and even nurse sharks! In this amazing place you can also do snorkeling and the sun is great for a suntan.

There are great places to eat all throughout Vieques, the places around the beaches are usually expensive, but so worth it. The only thing I would recommend when going to Vieques is to bring bug spray! The mosquitoes go crazy when you’re out of the water, so be prepared!

Giving that Vieques is a small island off of Puerto Rico, you need to take the ferry from Fajardo to it. Usually the tickets are $2 dollars, making it $4 per person for the round trip. The trip is about half an hour to an hour, but you have to get there early to purchase the tickets otherwise there might be none left for the day. Another thing you can do is buy them beforehand be it a few days before or online. Once in Vieques, if you don’t rent a car, there are actually a lot of van and bus services that will take you anywhere in the island for the day, but each of them have their own prices. You could stay over there for a weekend or just go for the day and you will still enjoy yourself so much. The last ferry usually leaves at 6:30 in the afternoon, but you can leave Fajardo as early as 9:30 am giving you all day to do and visit different locations.

Something important to know before going to Vieques is that it’s not fully recovered from the hurricane because there has been a lot of negligence from the government and there are places still without electricity. It was really heartbreaking to see that they are still struggling, more than a year after the hurricane. Nonetheless, they still welcome you into their home with a warm smile.

Location: Puerto Ferro, Vieques 00765

CBS News. (2018). Forgotten island: Vieques still running entirely on generators more than a year after Maria hit. December 1, 2018, from CBS News website: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/puerto-rico-island-viques-still-running-entirely-on-generators-more-than-a-year-after-maria-hit-2018-09-22/

Las Pailas, Luquillo

Las Pailas is a natural river in Luquillo. It has a great natural rock slide that can make anyone feel like a little kid. It looks like it might hurt, but it’s extremely fun. Las Pailas also has various natural pools; one of them has a rope you can use to swing into the beautiful waters of this river. It’s really cold, but in this Puerto Rican heat it’s nice and welcoming.

It’s free of cost to enter the river, however the people that live next to it charge around $5 for parking. There’s a house there that sells candy and a variety of beverages, but there really isn’t any place to buy food nearby. I would recommend you bring a little cooler with some snacks and water. Also, please bring a little plastic bag to put all your trash in, it’s a really beautiful place and we should all work to keep it that way. Another recommendation I make is to try not to wear flip flops because the rocks are slippery and there’s a chance of someone falling.

This river is considered by many Luquillenses a treasure of their land. The flora is absolutely breathtaking and it makes the space seem so welcoming. People have even gone to Las Pailas for their wedding pictures (the few that I’ve seen have been so incredibly beautiful!). But that doesn’t mean that if you don’t have a professional camera the pictures won’t look good. It’s also great for selfies!

Always keep in mind that to keep it that way, we have to keep it clean.

Photo By: PuertoRicoDayTrips.com

Location: PR-983, Luquillo, 00773

Trent Dalton, Welcome to Utopia

Check Out This Great Blog Post!

I saw this blog and thought it was pretty amazing. Maria Eugenia, the author, talks about everything from fashion to beauty to travel. This post about a weekend in Puerto Rico is great and I thought it could benefit my readers as it did me.

Author: Maria Eugenia

Blog: The Girl On An Island

Post Title: How To Plan A Last Minute Getaway: Puerto Rico

Link: https://www.thegirlonanisland.com/2018/03/the-last-minute-weekend-getaway-puerto.html

Birth Of The New World Statue, Arecibo

The Birth of The New World Statue, known around Puerto Rico as the Statue of Columbus, is a 360 feet bronze statue located in Arecibo. The ride there is pretty nice and you can appreciate many of our island’s beautiful landscapes. However, there’s not much to do at the Statue’s site because the TerraVista Park, which is said to have restaurants, zipline, kayaks and more by 2020, is still under construction, but you can say you visited a pretty incredible piece of architecture. It’s $3 to enter the lot to see it, so that’s a plus too. With the money you save you can go visit some of the great “chinchorros” (food spots that serve amazing Puerto Rican street food) that are close by.

This statue, work of russian architect Zurab Tsereteli, is currently the tallest in the United States and the fourth tallest in the World. It is surpassed only by Laykyun Sekkya in Myanmar (380 ft), the Spring Temple Statue in China (420 ft) and The Statue of Unity in India (597 ft). It started production in 1991 to commemorate Christopher Columbus’ first voyage. The three sails it features behind him are representative of his three ships: La Nina, La Pinta and Santa Maria. After years of building, the statue finally got to the island in 2016 and officially opened in 2017.

Personally, I believe this was a pretty foolish investment. It cost over 2 million to an island heavily in debt, to transfer the statue over here.  All that money could’ve been used in more efficient ways. What makes matters worse is that we’re honoring a man that forced himself into this island and stole all our gold from us. He slaughtered our men and raped our women. The fact that we accepted this “gift” is so strange to me.

Photo taken from: www.elespanol.com

Location: Islote, Arecibo 00612

Yeats, W.B. (1920). The Second Coming. The Dial, p. 238