Bombs, Bunkers, and Bio Bays

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Vieques, Puerto Rico….

What is there to say about a place that few know about; except that the US Navy has bombed the living crap out of the east side of the island for over 40 years; used the western side of the island for a munitions depot, and forced the local residents to live in a small area between the two areas?

Hmmm…

Vieques is a sleepy little island just off the eastern end of PR, about 6 miles southeast of Fajardo. The island is very beautiful, but most of it is on lock down due to the restricted areas that the military and Fish & Wildlife Administration has setup. There are a plethora of pristine beaches to explore, hundreds of empty bunkers built into the western landscape and of course, diving. The locals are friendly enough, but the island is already very Americanized.

There is plenty of shore diving and snorkeling to do. The diving is OK, but nothing too spectacular. There are giant sea fans and sea whips, but lacking in hard corals. Visibility averages 30-50 feet, but is 80-100 feet on good days. (We weren’t there on one of the “good days”). The Navy Pier shore dive was interesting in the fact that it had the largest lizard fish I have ever seen (1 ½ -2 feet), and lots of them…maybe there’s something in the water.

We flew around the island to see the target area. You could see bombed out half tracks, tanks, shells, bomb casings and the wreck of the USS Killen in the shallows off the SE side of the island. The military is currently “cleaning up" the island by finding and exploding the malfunctioned ordinances.

The highlight of the trip was the Bioluminescent Bay or Bio Bay. The Bio Bay contains one of the highest known concentrations of Bioluminescent organisms in the world. In regular seawater there are about 500 per gallon of water. In the Bio Bay there are 700,000 per gallon of water. What this means is you get a psychedelic light show the second you touch the water. You can see fish light up the water as they dart around below the kayak and when you swim in the twilight you whole body lights up in a bluish-white light. Words cannot describe this liquid light show. If you ever have a chance to take a night tour of a Bio Bay, don’t give it a second though, go experience it for yourself.

Read more about Bio Bays here: http://www.golden-heron.com/biobay.html

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Photos

Esperanza
The fishing Village of Esperanza

Looking North
At the lighthouse looking to the mainland

Playa Plata
"Silver Beach"

Navy Target Range
Notice how flat it is compared to the rest of the island?

South Side
(Lt to Rt) Sombre (Sun Bay), Media Luna Beach, and Mosquito Bay (the Bio Bay).

Comments

[bas]

luck b*&#$%$^d
hey squeeky boy, how comes you get to the sun again! and i'm stuck in cold wet azerbaijan!!!

[Jessica]

Hey, so nice to hear about your informative travels. I may be heading your way in the very near future.