Culebrita

Location: Culebrita Island, Culebra

Getting there: Take the ferry from Ceiba to Culebra Island. From Culebra, you’ll need to hire a water taxi or organize a tour to get to Culebrita Island. I highly recommend Gammy’s Water Tours. The boat ride takes about 25 minutes. You’ll have 5 hours on the island and it will cost $60.00 per person. The boat driver will explain how to get to the snorkeling spots.

What to look for: It’s called Tortuga Beach for a reason, you’re likely to spot a sea turtle munching on seagrass in the bay. There is excellent snorkeling if you walk to the other side of the island (10 min walk). There is a great vareity of coral and fish here – some of the best in Puerto Rico. It’s the only place I have seen a good amount of healthy staghorn coral. There is a good chance of seeing nurse sharks here, I swam all over the place on my first visit and didn’t spot one, but found one pretty quick on my second trip. This may be the best snorkeling in Puerto Rico.

Heads up: When snorkeling in the bay, keep an eye out for incoming boats. When hiking through the forested area of the island there were a lot of mosquitos the first time I went. I had to run and was still bitten a dozen times but had no issues the second time. There are a lot of hermit crabs on and near the trail, be careful not to step on them. Leave all shells you find as this is a nature reserve and the hermit crabs need them.

For more information see Keys & Islands.