3 days on Vieques, Puerto Rico, where the water glows

Sun Bay Beach near Esperanza on Vieques.

VIEQUES, Puerto Rico – I pulled my paddle through the water and watched as a thousand streaks of light followed.

Then I dipped my hand in, swirled it around and stared, mesmerized, as the bay glowed.

The bioluminescence bay here, the brightest in the world, is reason enough to make the trip to this small island off the main island of Puerto Rico.

But Vieques offers more, including some of the best beaches you’ll find anywhere, horses that roam free and a low-key vibe that you’ll want to bottle and bring home.

Black sand beach (or Playa Negra) on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico.

There’s one other reason I added a few days on Vieques to my recent trip to Puerto Rico: the island’s fascinating and complicated history, including its use for decades as a U.S. Navy training ground.

The military facility closed in 2001, after widespread protests and opposition from the Puerto Rican people. But a significant portion of the island remains off-limits while the cleanup continues.

A sign on a residential fence in Esperanza on the island of Vieques.

Exploring Vieques

Vieques (pronounced Vee-ek-ez) is located about 8 miles off the east coast of mainland Puerto Rico, one of two inhabited sister islands – the other is Culebra – easily accessible by ferry or small plane.

Roughly 21 miles long by 3 miles wide, Vieques has a hilly interior and two main towns along its coasts. Isabel Segunda, on the north shore, serves as the island’s commercial center; Esperanza, on the south coast, is more tourist-oriented.

The island has a year-round population of about 9,000, with another 1,500 snowbirds who spend the winter months here.

There are also hundreds of free-range horses here that I simply couldn’t stop photographing.

Mosquito Bay, just east of Esperanza, is Vieques’ best-known attraction, a body of water filled with dinoflagellates, the microscopic organism that illuminates when agitated.

Puerto Rico has three bioluminescent bays – and there are a several others around the world – but Mosquito Bay glows the brightest, thanks to its unique ecosystem.

Horses stroll the Malecon in Esperanza, on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico.

Access to the bay is by guided tour only. Most visitors take a kayak tour, although one vendor (Isla Nena) also offers an electric-powered motorboat option.

The best time to visit is during a new moon, when the sky is darkest. I scheduled our January trip to coincide with the new moon to maximize our chances for a peak experience.

My husband and I had done a bioluminescence tour once before, aboard a motorboat in Jamaica, but a bright moon and the noisy vehicles dulled the effect. This time, the experience was different.

We booked a tour with Black Beard Sports, which took eight of us onto the water at night in clear-bottom kayaks. After just a few minutes of paddling, the water underneath us started to glow.

About 10 minutes in, we stopped our boats to play in the bay.

Guide Yadiel Matos encouraged us to sweep our paddles through the water like light sabers, and wiggle our fingers beneath the surface to make the bay shine. I scooped up handfuls of water and watched glowing streaks spill down my legs.

On the beach near Esperanza in Vieques, Puerto Rico.

Matos explained what makes Mosquito Bay shine so brightly: the rare combination of the water’s salinity, a narrow channel that restricts flow to the sea, and a dense ring of mangrove trees that both filters the water and feeds the organisms.

Hurricane Maria in 2017 disrupted the ecosystem and temporarily dimmed the glow. But the bay recovered and today is brighter than ever.

It was an extraordinary 60 minutes. Don’t miss it.

Gorgeous Caracas Beach in Vieques, Puerto Rico.

Beaching and more

Vieques is just as beautiful by day.

Our driver from the airport told us there are more than 100 beaches on Vieques – way more than we could see in 2 ½ days. But we saw a lot.

Swinging at sunset on the waterfront in Esperanza, Vieques.

Among our favorites:

• Playa Negra, or black sand beach, the product of a long-extinct volcano, reached via an easy 15-minute hike along a riverbed just west of Esperanza.
• Caracas Beach, my favorite, with soft, white sand and calm, turquoise water, perfect for floating.
• Crescent-shaped Sun Bay Beach, within walking distance of Esperanza and where we watched wild horses graze beneath palm trees.

A sign -- "We are Vieques" -- greets arrivals near the ferry terminal in Isabel Segunda, the largest town on Vieques.

The horses, we were told, aren’t truly wild – they are owned by islanders. But they roam freely and are a common sight across the island.

We also walked a long stretch of La Chiva Beach, on the far eastern end of the island, where signs warn visitors about the possible presence of unexploded ordnance in adjacent areas.

Much of the eastern third of the island – now part of the Vieques National Wildlife Refuge — remains off limits due to ongoing risk and cleanup efforts. It’s one of a handful of places in the United States that is both a wildlife refuge and a federal EPA Superfund site.

The U.S. Navy operated on Vieques for more than 60 years, from the late 1930s until the early 2000s. The death of a civilian Navy employee, killed by an errant bomb during training exercises, ignited protests that ultimately forced the base’s closure.

A map near La Chiva Beach shows how much of Vieques -- the area in red -- is still off-limits due to safety and health concerns related to military activity on the island in the 20th century.

Several residents told me they have grown concerned in recent months as the U.S. military has increased its presence in Puerto Rico amid regional tensions involving Venezuela, Cuba and others.

A horse grazes near Sun Bay Beach in Vieques, Puerto Rico. The island is home to hundreds of free-ranging horses.

The U.S. military recently reopened its long-closed Roosevelt Roads base in Ceiba, located on the main island near the ferry terminal for Vieques.

Despite the island’s long history with the Navy, signs of Vieques’ military past aren’t obvious.

The distillery produces five varieties of rum, including orange- and coffee-infused versions, and serves excellent rum-based cocktails alongside some of the best Puerto Rican food I had during my stay.

The distillery is located not far from the ruins of the former Playa Grande Sugar Mill, which operated here before the Navy arrived.

Other historical sites on Vieques include Punta Mulas Lighthouse, on the north shore, which dates back to 1896; and the Fortin Conde de Mirasol, erected in 1840 above Isabel Segunda, the last military structure built by the Spanish in the new world. Today it houses a small history museum, which has been closed for more than a year due to roof damage.

Other activities on the island include horseback riding tours, mountain bike trails and snorkeling excursions.

Still, the most remarkable experience on Vieques happens after sunset, when Mosquito Bay comes alive with light.

If you go: Vieques, Puerto Rico

Getting there: We flew to Vieques aboard an eight-passenger prop plane with Vieques Air Link from San Juan’s secondary airport, Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport. The 30-minute flight cost $109 each way and doubled as a sightseeing tour, with sweeping views of the Puerto Rican coast.

Passengers are weighed before boarding and are limited to a 25-pound carry-on; heavier bags are charged $2 per pound. Information: viequesairlink.com

Another option is the ferry from Ceiba on mainland Puerto Rico. Tickets are $2, but often sell out online in advance (the ferry holds back tickets for in-person purchases, but they too sell out). For information: puertoricoferry.com

Getting around: To fully explore the island, you’ll want a rental car. Only island residents can bring vehicles from the mainland on the ferry, so many visitors end up leaving a rental car parked at the ferry and rent another vehicle on Vieques.

We rented a Kia Soul from Maritza’s Car Rental for $75 per day. Roads on Vieques were quite bad in some areas – particularly the parts owned by the federal government. A vehicle with decent clearance was helpful.

Where to stay: We spent three nights at the lovely Malecon House, with eight overnight rooms across the street from the water in Esperanza. We paid $275 per night.

Where to eat: In addition to dining and drinking at Crab Island Rum Distillery, we ate at El Quenepo, Rancho Choli, Tin Box and Duffy’s Esperanza.

Bio-bay tours: Multiple operators operate night-time tours of Mosquito Bay. We paid $70 per person for a tour with Black Beard Sports. The experience runs about two hours, with 60 minutes on the water.

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