La Chiva Beach

Location: Vieques Island, Vieques National Wildlife Refuge

Getting there: Take the ferry from Ceiba to Vieques Island. When you arrive on Vieques, you’ll need to rent a UTV or golf cart for $60.00 – $160.00 and drive 20 minutes to get there. Enter the Vieques National Wildlife Refuge and drive down a dusty, unpaved road. You’ll see roads to the right marked 1 – 23. The entrances to La Chiva are numbers 4 – 18. The sandy point in the middle of what looks to be a giant “W” (pictured above) is shallow a long ways out, park at or near #9 to be close. You’re more likely to find seaweed and other debris at numbers 10 – 15.

Things to do: Walk the beach – This beach is 1.5 miles long. It’ll be a bright and hot walk, but absolutely beautiful. Snorkel – There is a rocky key right off the coast you can swim to, or park close to here and snorkel Chiva Bay. It is supposedly one of the best spots in the reserve to snorkel. Relax in the shallows – This is the main attraction as the water is calm, clear, and bottom is all (off)white sand.

Heads up: Some of the numbered spots have covered picnic tables like #11. Some spots have shade, some don’t. Some areas are more rocky or might have more seaweed. You might need to drive around to find the best spot.

For more information, see Vieques Itinerary and Keys & Islands.