Top Beaches - PUERTO RICO ( www.travelandsports.com)
- MONA ISLAND- Pájaros and Sardinera. Mona Island is considered the Galápagos Island of the Caribbean. You can not visit Mona during the hunting season (January - April); most tours are offered from May through November. To visit the island you need permits from the Natural Resources and Envirnomental Department. No hotels, restaurants or attractions, just for camping and wildlife observation purposes. If you go, you need to contact a tour operator for a guided safe walk/hike around the island.
- CULEBRA ISLAND - Flamenco, Culebrita Island, Luis Peña, Zoní. The only camping area is located in Flamenco Beach, which at the same time is a Blue Flag Beach. To go to Culebra, you need to take a plane from San Juan or Fajardo Airports or the ferry boat from Fajardo.
- VIEQUES ISLAND- La Chiva (Blue Beach), Sun Bay; other beaches: Caracas (Red Beach), Media Luna, Navío. To go to Vieques you need to take a plane from San Juan or Fajardo Airports or the ferry boat from Fajardo. Vieques is also known for the bioluminiscent bay at Mosquito Bay. View the beaches at www.enchanted-isle.com/beaches/.
- CABO ROJO - Balneario Boquerón ( www.parquesnacionalespr.com)
- LUQUILLO - Balneario de la Monserrate (Luquillo Beach, www.parquesnacionalespr.com)
- LUQUILLO- Northeast Corridor ( www.sierraclub.org/corridor/guide.asp) For a quiet walk along a deserted beach this is the place to go before they build a new hotel here (or maybe not if the Sierra club is able to stop it). Turtles nest on this beach. There are many wild birds - hear some of them in this podcast ( podcast.rainforestinn.com ). You can find helmet shells and huge conch shells. There is an incredible bicycle ride here ( www.rainforestcycling.com ) which you can take with or without a guide. This undiscovered beach can be one of your most relaxing days of exploring.
- PALOMINOS - ISLA DE PALOMINOS (FAJARDO)
- GILLIGAN ISLAND - GUÁNICA
- TIBURONES - AGUADILLA
- QUIQUE BRAVO - RINCóN
- EL ALAMBIQUE - ISLA VERDE
- LOS TUBOS - MANATí
- OCEAN PARK - SANTURCE
- DORADO - DORADO
- SHACKS - ISABELA Shacks Beach, also known as Bajuras, is a fairly quiet little corner of the island, but with many stellar attributes: excellent conditions for snorkeling, windsurfing and surfing are at the top of the list. It's pretty much the northeastern terminus of the surfing wonderland that wraps around the island from Rincon on the western coast. The beach right at Shacks isn't spectacular, but it's nice, with coconut-palm shade and sand, and rocky tidepools to stomp around in beach shoes and see all the little tiny shells and fish. A mile or so to the east is a more classical swimming beach at Jobos, which has one spectacular attribute: a rocky formation that serves as a breakwater for the swimming area also has a blowhole, where waves whoosh up into geyserlike columns when conditions are right. There are several levels of accommodation available at Bajuras and Jobos, from the Villa Tropical guesthouse and apartments to Villa Montana resort to private villas available for as short as a weekend stay.
- SURVIVAL - ISABELA It is a lovely and secluded beach for anyone to spend a few hours away from the daily grind, whether it's work or the hectic pace of many vacations. Survival is just west of Shacks, above, and is best visited as the end of a long beach walk, while staying in one of the several places along the Shacks-Jobos stretch of the coast. The walk, and the beach, end rather dramatically at the foot of a cliff which is the border of the former Ramey Air Force Base, currently U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen. There is tropical almond, coconut and other native greenery in a fairly lush forest down to the beach, although in the past few years, parts of the island, including Survival, have seen the intrusion of kudzu. Another great way to see the beach is on horseback, with trail rides from Tropical Trail Rides right next door to the Villa Montana resort and a short walk from Villa Tropical and a couple of other lodging places. The horses there are wonderful and the guides as well, and it is a great way to see a secluded place safely and comfortably.
