Culebra

We sailed from Esperanza Vieques to Ensenada Honda, Culebra (it’s-a-not-a-honda. it’s-a-Beta! – I made that joke too many times to count – we have a beta engine.) and immediately stormed The Dinghy Dock, a bar and restaurant where you could go from dinghy to dock to barstool & beer using only three steps on land. The barkeep asked us our order and the 7 of us looked at each other unsure of the best way to enjoy todays happy hour. (dramatic and patriotic drumroll please…). It was then, our brilliant and bold friend Nate stepped up to the bar counter and fearlessly spoke the words; ‘I’ll have a rum and passion juice drink, please.’ And there you have it, the most refreshing and rejuvenating happy hour caribbean drink ever to be ordered was requested (and politely at that). From hence forth, we’ve named the drink, ‘The Nate’.

Our friends camped out on Flamenco beach and we gave them our handheld VHF to communicate with, they came up with their own hailing name; a mix between Beer & Flamingo – Beermingo. A perfect mix if you ask me, it was kinda fun hailing them on channel 72 ‘Beermingo, Beermingo, Gaia.’ And knowing some stranger was probably also listening in to the shenanigans. By the way, Beermingo, if you’re reading this: ‘the blue monkey is over the full moon – Over.’

The island is best explored via golf cart which we made great use of by traversing one end of the island to the other multiple times. Zoni and Flamenco beach boasts to be of the most picturesque in the world…. and it’s true. After snorkeling, playing soccer, and running around with the beach crowds, I think most of us preferred Zoni since it was void of all other people. In further exploration of Culebra, we picked up a mooring ball in Carlos Rosarion Beach and found the snorkeling to be phenomenal. Good snorkeling is a constant search for us. The real treat from Culebra is technically not on Culebra itself but a tiny island near Culebra called Culebrita. There’s a perfect beach which was overtaken by mosquitos. But if you’re able to swim or run faster than the mosquitos you need to explore the pools of Culebrita. All of us happen to be big fans of mother nature and rock climbing so climbing up and down the boulders that create natural eddies and all sizes and manners of pools was A LOT of fun.Read more