Traveling to Puerto Rico's Isla de Vieques

We wanted to see both "Spanish Virgin Islands" even though we only had six nights in Puerto Rico. We went to Culebra on a day trip and flew to and back from Culebra on the same day. For Vieques, however, we needed to stay a night so that we could participate in the late evening kayaking activity on the Mosquito Bay bioluminescent tour.

We flew from Ceiba (RVR) to Vieques with Vieques Air Link just as we had done on the previous day to fly to Culebra (CPX). Our flights to Vieques and back were $40 each way for the advertised 10 minute long flight (flights to Culebra and back were $45 each way for that 15 minute long flight).

I have described Ceiba's airport (José Aponte de la Torre Airport) in greater detail in my post on traveling to Culebra.

I loved flying out of and back to this small, calm, and uncrowded aiport.

The Ceiba airport was a bit busier today with about ten of us total (five in our party) waiting for upcoming flights. Google Maps told me this is about "as busy as it gets."

I also enjoyed flying so low again, this time to Vieques.

The airport on Vieques (Antonio Rivera Rodríguez Airport) is also small.

We were not allowed to go upstairs, presumably because of COVID-19.

There are no food or beverage options directly in the small terminal of the airport, but Isla Nena Cafe is situated just outside the main front door of the terminal on an elevated level accessed by a small set of stairs.

Signs at the Vieques airport made it clear why it was so important to follow COVID-19 prevention protocols.

There were no public transportation options immediately available, but there was a listing of telephone numbers of local porteadores publicos on the left side and inside of door that opened to the curved street.

When it was time to fly out of Vieques the next morning to return to the Puerto Rico mainland, we checked in at the Vieques Air Link desk which is in a more modern and well air conditioned separate building next to the main terminal. There is a nice shaded courtyard that passengers can sit in while waiting the 45 minutes for their flight.

The next photograph shows the airplane we rode back from Vieques to Ceiba on the runway.

This photograph shows us taking off from the Vieques airport.

We rode this small airplane a total of four times (to Culebra and back and then to Vieques and back) and being in a different seat on each flight changed the perspective.

You can see Vieques's Mosquito Pier in this photograph.

Flying to Culebra or Vieques is definitely a fun adventure.

Although flying to Vieques cost more than riding the ferry, the flights were very rewarding. Perhaps even more importantly, tourists were not allowed to ride the ferry to Vieques until just the week before we went to Puerto Rico and we didn't want to miss out on Vieques if the ferry was not available to us. Riding the airplane to and from Vieques also allowed us more time to enjoy that remarkable island despite the little amount of time we had budgeted for our Vieques visit.