HAVING a BLAST in the SPANISH VIRGIN ISLANDS

Boat/US Magazine, March, 2001 by Becky Squires

Just six nautical miles to the east of Puerto Rico lies another world, the Spanish Virgin Islands, which some consider the most beautiful cruising grounds in the Caribbean. Made up of the islands of Culebra and Vieques and their surrounding islets and cays, this area is bedecked with white sand beaches, Sapphire Gin-colored water, hills to climb and reefs to explore. Best of all, if you live east of the Mississippi, you can leave home in the morning, fly to San Juan, and be at your first anchorage before sunset.

Although the Spanish Virgins lie just 15-20 miles from the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, they are far less crowded. Even though they're part of the United States, they have none of the commercialism of the U.S. Virgin Islands, nor the crowds of charter boats that fight for moorings in the British Virgin Islands.

For those who are looking for a boating vacation where gunkholing is the order of the day and star-gazing de rigueur for the night, the Spanish Virgin Islands are perfect. Old hands describe them as "the BVIs 35 years ago."

Why are these islands still so pristine and unspoiled? Blame it on the Marines -- and the U.S. Navy -- which for years have used both Culebra and Vieques for weapons testing. While the Navy stopped its Culebra operations in the mid-1970s, it still occasionally shells eastern Vieques. And, while no pleasure boat or boater has ever been harmed during these operations (there's plenty of notice when one is taking place), it definitely has put a damper on the boats-for-hire business there.

Without taking sides in the dispute, it's fair to say that whatever harm the Navy operations may have done to relations between Puerto Rico and the United States, it has also kept land developers from buying up all the best property on Vieques and building condos.

Like many other Caribbean destinations, you can easily spend a week in one or two anchorages and be perfectly happy. Unlike many others, though, you have many excellent anchorages to choose from. Because of the prevailing winds and currents, it's best to sail clockwise around the islands, visiting further-away Culebra first and then Vieques. Although there are many permutations on this theme, here's one suggested itinerary for a week.

FIRST DAY: Fly to San Juan early in the morning and take a taxi to Fajardo, where you'll pick up your boat. After checkout and studying charts -- Imray Iolare's are recommended -- take off across Vieques Sound for Isla Palominos. Be sure you have your trolling lines out; Vieques Sound is full of bonito, tuna and dolphin. Once you drop the hook, barbeque the fish you caught (or the steaks you didn't), take a bag of bread to feed the fish as you snorkel around the northern reef, and see how many constellations you can identify in the night sky.

DAY 2: Sail east to Cayo Luis Pena, just off the island of Culebra, and anchor in the bay on its northwest side. Pretend you're on "Survivor" and dive for lobsters under the coral overhangs -- Puerto Rico's season is year-round. If you're not yet ready to stop for the night, take the boat a bit further east into Encenada Honda, Culebra, and anchor just off the town dock.

DAY 3: Explore Culebra, which isn't very difficult to do. Because the U.S. government has one of its most diverse National Wildlife Refuges on Culebra, land developers haven't made much of a toehold there, either. There are three roads, each of them leading to a beach, and 2,000 people on the 11-square-mile island. Most people live in Dewey, the town all the locals call "Culebra," and everyone is friendly, laid-back and unaffected. Stop in for an introductory beer at the Dinghy Dock.

Hike across the is land to Playa Flamenco, one of the most spectacular beaches anywhere in the Caribbean, and see how many of the 85 kinds of birds that nest on Culebra you can identify. At night, treat yourself to dinner at one of the small restaurants on the narrow canal between Dewey and Ensenada Honda, which you can reach by dinghy. If you need to buy more groceries, Dewey's the place to do it, especially on the days the produce truck gets ferried over from the mainland. This is a good p lace to get fuel.

DAY 4: If you're getting blase about the unremitting sunshine, take a dinghy ride through the mangrove swamps off Ensenada Honda and imagine how they looked filled with hundreds of boats that fled the Virgin Islands to take shelter there during Hurricane Lenny in 1999. Then take your boat to anchor in either Dakity Harbor or Bahia de Almadovar just to the east and spend the rest of the day snorkeling and swimming. You're very likely to spot some turtles paddling about. By this time you should be well into "island time." Revel in it. Watch the sunset and the lights of St. Thomas as they come on 15 miles to the east, and congratulate yourself for being a whole world away from civilization.

DAY 5: If there's not a northern swell running, boat on up to tiny Culebrita and anchor off its northern shore, a 400-foot crescent of that ubiquitous white sand that's everywhere in the Spanish Virgins.