Day 9 . Saturday, October 15, 2011

Leaving is certainly a hard thing to do and is a much different emotion than the anticipation of arriving but yet it must be done especially for those of us that have to work for a living. Of course the one good thing about ending a great vacation is that it will soon be time to plan the next adventure.
Today we have a have a late flight off the island so we take it a bit easy this morning and enjoy our last island breakfast and then get our packing done.
A last cruise around the island and then we fill up our rental with gas and check a couple of gift shops that we finally see open in town.
Zaco's Tacos becomes our last meal and we are satisfactorily filled with chicken and carnitas tacos with chips and salsa and one last Margarita!!!!!!

Some of my general observations of Culebra - Having come during the slow period, many restaurants that we would have liked to have tried were closed but we did find places to eat every day and what we did eat was basically good with a few meals being very good to exceptional.
The beaches were varied and each one had its own charm from nice sand, big waves, good snorkeling, one can find any experience that they are looking for.
Our rental place was a bit less than expected but since we didn't spend a lot of time there and the price was right, I can't complain overall.
Dave & I have many other places to explore before we get too old and will likely not end up back on Culebra but as usual we had great relaxing vacation and are glad to be doing this together!

Day 8 - Friday, October 14. 2011

Today is our last full day in Culebra and the last place that was on my must do list is to go to Playa Carlos Rosario. To get there we will have to take a short hike from Flamenco beach through a gated fence that Dave does not believe is OK to pass through. Having done all the planning I have read that it is OK to go through the fence, just stay on the path.
Since I know it will be a hike, we have a good breakfast today for lots of energy and then head out. We get the parking lot at Flamenco and Dave is still apprehensive about sneaking through the gated fence but I convince him that it is fine and will be well worth once we reach the beach. The path is basically a dirt road which makes it easy to follow but it is very hot and there is little breeze through the jungle like trek. It is a good 10 minute hike mostly uphill and then another 5-10 minute walk down. The walk down is a bit steep and we are both hoping this is worth it because we will have to walk but up this hill on the way back.
The first beach area we reach has a sign indicating it is Playa Tamarindo Grande which is not what we are looking for. I'm I little bummed because I feel we have already hiked about 20 minutes and I'm wondering how much further it will be but we did not come for Tamarindo so we continue on and almost as soon as we turn the corner on the path, we see it......... It is beautiful. You can see that there is plenty of reef there but right in the middle of all the reef, there is a beautiful stretch of clear water and sand.
Placing our things on a nice sandy piece of beach we go into the water for a while and it is clear, warm and refreshing after that long hike.
We scope out where we think we will want to snorkel and then gear up and get out there. This reef has much more fish and the size of a lot of them is better that at previous reefs. Like usual Dave sees the interesting subject of the day, a flounder that blends in with the sand so well that unless you know it is there, you will not see it. Luckily it moves as Dave is hovering above so he spots it, pointing it out to me is a bit harder though and we have to wait until it moves again and then...."Oh yeah, look at that".
We pretty much snorkel the whole horseshoe of reef that surrounds the beach and when done we agree that we have had our fill of snorkeling for this trip and we sit and relax on the beach with a couple of Me Dallas.
Eventually it is time to think of the long trek back to the forbidden gate and we get our stuff together and take our time back up the steep hill in the road. Note to self - need to add some stair stepper routines to the workout list....
Back at Flamenco we decide to grab a quick bite since I never want to pass up Puerto Rican hand food. Today stall #6 is open and the lady there is really nice and proud of her food. I get a shrimp pincho(kabob) and a beef empanada, Dave gets a chicken pincho and a chicken empanada......YUM. The shrimp is grilled and is lathered in garlic - I could have eaten a dozen of those!!!!!!!
For dinner we go back to El Batey, one because not many places are open and two because we had good food there. Tonight I have Mofongo and a stuffed plantain while Dave tries the chicken and curly fries. As with their burgers, this food is good as well.
Tonight we head back to the casita to finish off the beer we have an reflect on what was a nice relaxing week on Culebra.

Day 7 - Thursday October 13, 2011

A little background  on how today's activity came to be....... I had read about and wanted to take a water taxi over to the small uninhabited island of Culebrita. It appeared to be a nice secluded location with some good beaches and good snorkeling. There is no one "official" water taxi but I had gathered a couple of numbers and tried calling them on Tuesday. First number, Capt. Luis is on the mainland so won't be able to take us, second number for Capt. Brad is a wrong number to some who does not speak English....... Trying to figure out what to do now, I find a number for Capt. Bill and when I call I get an answering machine to which I don't feel good about so I don't bother leaving a message, well a few minutes later, Bill calls me back. He explains that he doesn't do just a taxi to the island and has a catamaran on which he does a day's tour exploring different areas and we can even try to get some fishing in. Well for all this the price is right and we agree to take a trip with him on Thursday.
Well, today is Thursday so we are excited to see what will come of this day. We only have a small breakfast, take our Dramamine and head out to meet Capt. Bill.
We meet Bill and he brings us to his catamaran which is a beautiful 33' Pez Vela vessel. We are introduced to GiGi, his first mate. She is a small terrier mix dog and is more sea-worthy than a lot of people. Now we are on our way and make some small talk with Bill who we find out is originally from upstate NY but has lived here for 15 years.
We head over to Culebrita and stop on the south side of the island where Dave and I snorkel a bit. Like many places here, there is plenty of reef and because there is so much the fish are more scattered throughout rather than concentrated in one area. This area is also slightly murky and visibility is less in the deeper areas but we still see some interesting things.
Next we head over to Tortuga beach which is a different part of Culebrita. As we head into the cove we begin to see why it is called Tortuga(turtle) as we see plenty of turtles popping up all over  the place. GiGi also spots them and let us know where they are. Bill attaches to a bouy here and almost immediately a very friendly hawksbill turtle comes over to see what we're up to. Bill has us get in the water with her (he has named her Tina) and we swin around with her and are even able to pet shell as she swims by us. She is graceful in the water and considering that she has got to be at least 3 feet head to toe is an amazing thing to see.
Dave and I snorkel around some more and Bill begins to prepare lunch. Again we see a steady diet of the same things but I am happy to see that again there is so much healthy reef.
Bill is finishing our lunch while we dry off and get a bit warm. He has a small area on the side of the catamaran to prepare our lunch but he comes out with quite the feast. There is rice with veggies and sesame terriyaki mahi ........it was one of the best meals we had while here.
After lunch we tried our luck fishing. Bill caught some ballyhoo earleir which are smaller fish that are good for catching the bigger fish like wahoo, kingfish and the like, so he rigs up 3 poles and trolls them behind us and we go out to a little deeper water to see what we can get to bite.
After a few runs through an area in which Bill has had luck before, we don't get anything to bite. It has been a long day and it is time to head in before it gets too late. So, while we don't have any luck with fishing, we have a great day out on the water and Bill does not disappoint.
Tonight's dinner is at Heather's Pizza and we get an equivilent of a meat lovers and we leave there stuffed.
Another successful day of doing nothing special but yet still having a pretty special day.

Day 6 - Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Today is kind of a crap shoot. We have to get some gas because we are down to 1/2 a tank but we know that there is only one gas station and hear that the lines can be long. So we have our breakfast and head out just after 9:00. I figure we can get gas and then walk around town, see what's up and try to support some of the local businesses. On the plus side, the line for gas is not that long but it is a bit quirky. The only gas station has just one pump and the station and pump is located in a corner of the pier which makes getting in and out a small adventure but thankfully that is why we are here. Once our Montero Sport rental is sufficiently full we look around downtown but none of the gift stores or anything are open. We have passed through town many times since our arrival and I've yet to see some places open at all.
Since no businesses seems to want our money, we head back to the rental and get our beach gear together and head back to Zoni beach which we visited on day 1. The water is much rougher today than the first and we do not snorkel here again but we do spend a lot of time between the beach and the water. It is so clear and so warm it's hard to think of just staying on the beach without going in. We also spend a bit of time today watching crabs. They seem to be all around us today mostly digging out their holes and trying hard not to get wet.
For dinner tonight we were going to try El Eden but even though the sign says they are open Wednesday - Saturday that must mean some other Wednesday because they are not open today. Since there are few choices, we go to El Batey who not only is open but now has burgers that they did not have the other day. The burgers are juicy and moist and we eat them up along with some chicken wings and fries.
Back at the casita we wind down with some coffee wondering what tomorrow will bring.

Day 5 - Tuesday, October 11, 2011

I love french toast. I love it more when Dave makes it....and I am going to need all that energy as we tackle Punta Del Soldado today. It is not know for it's soft sandy beach but rather for its snorkeling and because it's on the island and so are we, we are obligated to see what it has to offer. We arrive to a very rocky beach that for its looks makes it hard to want to stay but we find an area in which we can plant our chairs and then go in to explore the reefs which are as close as 10 yards. There is a lot of good healthy reef here and quite a bit of fish though most are small. We head out a little further and find a few jellyfish floating around. We are apprehensive because we don't know if they are poisonous or if we have to worry about getting stung but we forge ahead and soon we are past the jellyfish and are hovering over a second reef which is about 30 yards out. We see many of the usual suspects but I am intrigued by many of the coral formations that we see.
Back on the beach, or what little beach there is we find an area just in the water where we can put our chairs, watch the scene and listen to some good tunes. The water feels so good just splashing at our feet and sometimes higher when the waves are right.
Our second time out snorkeling we head straight out but that seems to be mostly grass so we head to the right towards the point on the west. As we near the start of more reef, there is a small stingray on the bottom just cruising along stopping over a couple of bits of grass to see what's there. During this tour we see a few different things such as a long slender fish which is not a pencil fish and not a barracuda but Dave thinks is some kind of elephant nose something???? We also see a huge porcupinefish, a scrawled filefish (first time for this) and as our tour ends this time, we see a 3 foot nurse shark which I decide to follow and tape for a little while wondering if my following him is making him mad. I decide not to push my luck, take a couple of good pictures of him and then leave him on his way.
A good Medalla after such hard work tastes good and feels like such a nice reward.
Tonight's dinner ends up being at Juanita Bananas as we can't find much else open. We get chicken wings and a couple of chicken sandwiches and aren't expecting much but the sandwiches have this garlic aoli sauce that really makes it and the wings are crispy and come with some kind of sauce that is sweet and tastes really good.
Well, after all this what is to be expected except an early evening so we can get up tomorrow and see what else we can discover.

Day 4 - Monday, October 10, 2011

Ah, today is Columbus Day and Dave & I wonder if in Puerto Rico they observe this holiday? Mainly we wonder because today we decide that we will go to Playa Flamenco which is the most popular beach on Culebra, especially during the weekends and holidays. Oh well, we decide that we will not let a few people deter us from experiencing what is widely known as one of the best Caribbean beaches.
So, after our ceramonial breakfast, we head out towards the beach. Crowd, what crowd? The beach is nearly deserted. We pick the prefect piece of paradise and decide that we will rent an umbrella and two chairs for the meager price of $25.
The beach is huge. It is the perfect cresent of nice soft sand with plenty of room for all that wish to visit. The first thing that Dave & I notice are the waves. They are bigger than what we saw at Zoni two days ago but we will not be intimidated, we head into the water and because we are standing in the wrong spot a few times, we are bowled over (literally) by the forceful waves that will become our source of many laughes today. Dave almost loses his shorts a couple of times, I almost lose my glasses and hat while trying to record the force of the waves, and once Dave does lose his sunglasses for a while but lucky for him they float and finds them as the tide is going out.
We split our time here between our beach chairs and the ocean water, both giving us much needed relief from the other. In the middle of all this fun we also fit in lunch which consists of empanadas, pinchos and beer.....delicious.
There was no snorkeling done here because the water was too rough and we spoke with a few people that went out but they said they only saw small stuff so we did not bother which our legs were especially glad to hear.
As the day wears on many people come to visit this little piece of paradise and we outlast most of them and the beach has only slightly more people when we leave then when we first came.
Dinner tonight was at Dinghy Dock - Dave had the grilled chicken and I had the Churrasco. We sat on the dock and saw some large tarpon hanging around in the water - at least 2-3' long. We also sat at the bar for a while watching the baseball game and it seems there was talk about the place possibly closing for good soon. It was already bad enough that we came during the "slow period" and many things were closed but if staple places like this close, I'm not sure how attractive this island will remain for tourists.
It was quite dark on the way back to the casita and I was joking with Dave to be careful not to hit any chicken, deer, horses, or people that might be in the road and just as I finished my list and we were laughing at that we turned a corner and saw eyes glowing up ahead. Sprinting down the road toward us was a small dog with her three little puppies. It was so cute, the puppies were curious, scared and staying close to mommy. We slowed down to make sure none of them ran in front of the car unexpectedly and mommy starts to bark at us and runs to the front of the car in which her babies follow suit so we sit there and listen to her scold us for even thinking of looking at her babies until she passes on the other side and leads her babies along with her. That was such a cute thing to see just out of the blue.
Back at the casita we hang out with a nightcap and call it a day.

Day 3 - Sunday, October 9, 2011

Today is Playa Melones day but first we have some french toast as only Dave can make it. Once we are full from breakfast we gather everything we need to spend the day at a rather remote beach - Playa Melones. We have water, beer, snacks, towels, camera, sunblock, magazines and snorkel gear...whew, now we are ready!
The beach itself is not as nice as Zoni for hanging out but there is supposed to be some decent snorkeling here so we find a small area of sand, coral and seaweed on the shore just in front of a small area of trees that will provide shade for our cooler. Dave, in his best survivor move uses his snorkel fin to clear out a small space where we can lay out our blankets and sit.
It is only 9:30 but it is hot and so we put on out water shoes since it is very rocky here and get into the water immediately. It seems like there is reef so close so we don our masks and see quite a bit right in front of the shore.
The reef is pretty healthy and there are plenty of sea fans every where and they are quite large in many spots. Plenty of fish too, parrotfish, sergeant majors, yellowtail snapper, grouper and some of the smaller but more colorful fish like wrasse and hamlets.
The rest of our day is spent going in the water and sitting on the beach. As I'm writing this I'm thinking people will think that sounds so boring but actually doing it is really less boring than writing about it.
We do go out snorkeling again later in the day and at first we try to go out a bit further as it looks like there may be more ref out further than where we first went. So we swim out about 60 yards or so but it appears it is just grass out there so we start to head back in towards where we know there is reef when all of a sudden there is a nice spotted eagle ray. So big, graceful and his tail (stinger) is so long. That was the highlight of today for sure.
After a bit more hanging around on our make shift beach for a while longer we dicide to go fond some late lunch. We find Zacos Tacos open and decide to give it a try. Dave gets a couple of chicken tacos and I get a chicken burrito which is quite a meal in itself. This along with a tasty margarita hits the spot and we decide that we will head back to the casita and watch the Pats game.
Back at the rental we greeted but he dalmation mix dog from next door and later from the 3 horses that live on the other side. A couple they play together for a while and then all head further up the hill for some greens.
Tonight we'll end the rest of our day hanging our and trying to decide what adventure we'll try to embark on tomorrow.