S/V Geru: Puerto Rico - An Island of Contrasts

25 January 2009

Puerto Rico was one pleasant surprise after another. We knew little about this US territory before we arrived. The surprises started as soon as we saw the island. Puerto Rico is very hilly with lush vegitation and many houses and towns dotting the hillsides - a completely different vista than the Bahamian ones we'd grown accustomed to for so many weeks. Because Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States, we had to clear in with US customs. The agents were really friendly, even offering us advice on what to see during our visit to Puerto Rico - this is not typical coming from US customs agents!

After clearing in in Mayaguez we moved to Boqueron on the south coast. Boqueron was a wonderful introduction to Puerto Rico for us. It is a vacation town filled with Puerto Ricans on holiday. When we were there, a lot of the Puerto Rican vacationers we met were actually living on the US mainland and had come "back home" for a visit over the christmas holidays. Every evening loud music wafted over the bay to our boat. Boqueron is where was saw the first of many contrasts. In town in the evenings, people were out in the streets partying, but there were families with kids everywhere in the mix so you felt very safe. An equivalent after-dark street party in Canada or on the US mainland would have felt very different. The locals we met were all very friendly and helpful and often suggested places for us to visit, just like we had seen earlier at customs.

From Boqueron we hopped along the south coast to Salinas. The town of Salinas with its protected mangrove-lined bay is a favourite cruisers' stop as services such as groceries, marine stores, and laundry are nearby and you can safely leave your boat for inland tours by car as the anchorage is very protected. The water was pretty murky, but this was made up for by several manatees swimming next to our boat every day.

We rented a car for two days in order to see Puerto Rico by land. On our first day we went to see the Arecibo Radio Observatory, which is the largest radio telescope in the world. It was featured in the 007 movie 'Golden Eye' and in the movie 'Contact'. The drive to Arecibo was fairly long. Initially, we were on a great four-lane divided highway, as good or better than any in North America. This quickly changed to a two-lane highway that went through towns and was stop-and-go. It was a great way to see Puerto Rican life, but not to get somewhere quickly. Finally, after four hours (we'd expected a two-hour trip!) we made it to the town of Arecibo where we had to turn off the "main" road. On our third attempt (due to poor signage) we found the road up to the observatory. The radio telescope was HUGE and very impressive. There were some informational displays to explain its workings and history.

Because it had taken us so long to drive around the island to get to Arecibo, we decided we would take the more "direct" route back across the island. The trip back was indeed faster, but the roads were rather interesting. The hilly central region of Puerto Rico is a Karst landscape, which is characterized by deep, almost crater-like valleys surrounded by large steep hills, all arranged in a random pattern. The roads wind through and around this landscape. Because they often go along steep hillsides, they are narrow - just wide enough for two cars with a cliff up on one side and down on the other. There wasn't a lot of traffic, but the little that was there was going fast, making for a hair-raising drive around tight blind corners! The scenery was stunning, just so hilly and very lush and green. As we left the center of the island and got closer to the south coast, the vistas changed dramatically to gently rolling and arid hills with sweeping views of the ocean.

On our second day with the rental car, we visited the El Yunque rainforest, which is the only tropical rainforest in the United States park system. We had another great drive there through the hills and up into the rainforest. This time we knew what to expect from the roads, so it was an enjoyable drive seeing the local homes and countryside. In El Yunque, we visited one of its famous waterfalls, which was right next to the main park road. Unfortunately we didn't have time to hike in to see the larger falls, but the one we saw was pretty neat. We then drove on to an overlook tower, which allowed for a spectacular view of the cloud forest in the park and views out to the Atlantic Ocean. Our drive back took us close to Puerto Rico's capital, San Juan. We had visited San Juan a few years ago on our cruise ship vacation, so this time we opted to stop at the Bacaradi Rum plant, which is situated across the harbour from Old San Juan, for a tour. Now we know the history of a 'Cuba Libre' and that, officially, it must be made with Coke (not Pepsi or any other cola) and Bacardi Rum (no other brand)!

During our time in Salinas we met up with two other boats which were also travelling east. Cathy and Derek of 'Idyll Island' are a couple from Vancouver Island who have been sailing in the Caribbean for the last year or so. We had initially met them briefly earlier in Ponce, but we got to know them in Salinas. The second boat was 'Charlotte' with Kirsten, Peter and their 6-year old son Alden from Seattle. We ended up travelling for a few days with Charlotte as their plans matched ours.

From Salinas, we hopped farther along the Puerto Rican coast. Once past the mainland, we headed to the island of Vieques in the Spanish Virgin Islands (which belong to Puerto Rico). As we arrived in Sun Bay, we were hailed on the radio by Charlotte as they were already anchored there and saw us coming in. They had left Salinas the day before us, and we hadn't expected to catch up to them. Charlotte and Geru were the only boats in the huge round bay with a mile-long beach.

We spent two days exploring the nearby town of Esperanza and enjoying the beach. The highlight of our stay at Sun Bay was a nighttime dinghy ride with Kirsten, Peter, and Alden. One bay over from Sun Bay is Mosquito Lagoon, which holds the 'Guinness Book of World Records' record as the most bioluminescent in the world! The trip over in the dinghy was an adventure as we were going through swells of 4-5 feet in the dark. As we motored into the lagoon, we didn't see much until we shut off the engine and swished our hands around in the water - the motion caused the water to light up in a bright glow. Kirsten jumped in for a swim and looked rather eerie with this glow surrounding her entire body as she moved around. When we left the bay, we could see fish darting away from the dinghy leaving underwater zig-zag trails of light.

From Sun Bay we moved to Ensenada Honda, another even larger bay. For those of you that know the BVIs, it was the size of North Sound in Virgin Gorda - about two miles across. We shared it with just Charlotte and one other boat. The bay is surrounded by mangrove swap and completely uninhabited. There were no signs of civilization except for a brightly painted red and white observation tower on top of a hill which used to serve as a base for military training exercises. The main reason that the Spanish Virgins are so undeveloped and have these beautiful pristine anchorages is that the US Navy used the islands for live firing manoeuvres for decades. They have only recently stopped this practice and are still clearing unexploded ordnances from various places. Ensenada Honda has been officially cleared, but our electronic charts still showed a pattern of little explosive symbols all over it!

From Vieques, we motorsailed over to the island of Culebra (still in the Spanish Virgins), where we found ourselves back in the cruising crowd. We spent a few days anchored by the town of Dewey. We met several cruisers there who arrived but never left. We could see why - it was a very pleasant, layed-back town on a small island, but yet it is only a short ferry ride (for a dollar!) away from the major town of Fajardo on the mainland of Puerto Rico. One of the main attractions of Culebra is Flamenco Beach, which is supposed to be one of the nicest beaches in the Caribbean. We took a minivan bus over with Charlotte and we all agreed it was a gorgeous beach but it had too many people on it! We have gotten used to very isolated beaches. Nevertheless, we spent a wonderful day there talking and playing in the sand. There is actually an old rusty tank there, sitting right on the beach around the corner from the main bay!

Puerto Rico has been one of the highlights of our trip so far.