Sailing From Puerto Rico to St. Thomas in the Caribbean

By Peter11 mins read

We’ve spent the last couple weeks bumming around the east side of Puerto Rico, Culebra, Vieques, and the Virgin Islands. The sailing off the coast of Puerto Rico is superb, and as a testament to this, there are many large marinas in this area that house a large number of sailboats and catamarans. The area between Puerto Rico and Culebra is scattered with shallow reefs that provide excellent grounds for snorkeling. An abundant number of small islands make wonderful day stops, and a few offer overnight anchorages.

Small Islands To Stop In The Caribbean

Puerto Del Rey

Puerto Del Rey Marina was our favorite stop for resupplying. We were able to anchor inside the protected area of the marina’s barrier rocks. It was a short dinghy ride into the marina where they had a safe place to dock up the dinghy. The marina plaza has a laundry facility, rental cars on the premises, a marine store, and a small convenience store with the basics. They also serve up breakfast and lunch for a reasonable price.

The town is to the north of the marina, and an easy walk (about a mile), where there is a grocery store and fast-food restaurants. Burger King was serving up a $2 meal while we were there: a pizza burger, fries, and a coke. I’m not saying the pizza burger was great, but after the walk, it hit the spot.

From Puerto Del Rey, it’s about a 5-mile sail over to Isla Palominos, the “private” island of the El Conquistador hotel. Most of the Puerto Rico boating community seems to show up on the weekend with their BBQ grills and drinks. They also seem to be having more fun than the hotel guests (who are paying $10 a drink at the island bar). The island has a few mooring balls that are marked day use only, though we stayed the night along with several other sailboats. There are some shallow reefs around the island that, among other sea creatures, have a few lobsters if you look hard enough.

Isleta Marina

The anchorage off of Isleta Marina was another overnight stop for us. It’s a fairly calm anchorage nestled behind the island. A ferry runs back and forth to the mainland every thirty minutes or so. Be careful anchoring here. There are some very shallow spots near the marina. Keep an eye out for the strange boat anchoring pattern here; it’s not random. There’s a small restaurant/bar on the island that’s open to the public, the rest of the island belongs to private condominiums. We did hear that there is a laundry facility here that boats can use (along with free wifi inside the laundry mat). We didn’t stay long enough to find out if this was truly the case.

Playa Sardinera

We also anchored off of Playa Sardinera for a night. We were able to dinghy to the back of Villa Marina (or I guess the front) and tie up safely for a walk into town. There are two marine stores near each other and a very small grocery store here. The bakery in the plaza also offers propane exchange, though, this did us no good as we have 10lb tanks.

Just north of the El Conquistador hotel (you can’t miss it, it’s perched on top of the hill) is the entrance to the bio bay in Fajardo. We found room in the bay to anchor one night. It’s a tight space filled mostly with permanently moored boats. This area is lively on the weekends with hoards of kayakers banging around the bay on their way to the mangrove trail that leads to the bioluminescent bay. We didn’t make a stop to the bio bay this trip but have been to the bay before as a tourist.

The bay is amazing and worth a stop. I would recommend waiting until after the tours are done and then paddle in yourself. Try to pick a night with no moon if you really want to see the bioluminescence. As a side note, the channel entrance curves on the way in, and a reef lies to either side. We watched a local drive his powerboat aground several times on his way out of the bay.

Puerto Mosquito

Puerto Mosquito in Vieques was one of our favorite stops. This bioluminescence bay not only has a higher concentration of dinoflagellates but is not as populated and remains less spoiled by the hoards of tourists that currently flock to the bay in Fajardo. The anchorage outside the bay is not an ideal place for an overnight stay, so we made a stop for a few hours, toured the bay, and then moved the boat over to Puerto Ferro.

Puerto Ferro

It smells a little swampish in Puerto Ferro, but it’s calm, and there is a lot of fluorescence here also. The beaches around the southern coast of Vieques are beautiful. There are very few people (if any) in most places. The island is surrounded by a reef line that is worth exploring and beaches that are well worth a visit. It’s not recommended to wander off the beaches, as there is still a possibility of unexploded ordinance from when the island was used as a Navy bombing range. There have been ongoing efforts since the early 2000s to remove the unexploded ordinance.

Culebra

We found Culebra to be the true gem of Puerto Rico. The waters are clear, there are abundant anchorages around the island, and most of the reef here is alive and vibrant. Our true favorite was Cayo De Luis Pena, a little island off of Culebra. The southern anchorage has two mooring balls – so it’s never crowded. Though small, the anchorage was calm. There were plenty of fish to spot, including jacks, hogfish, and some large snapper that hang on the edge of the reef where the grass meets the sand. We also spotted sea turtles cruising around the bay, and groups of spotted rays foraging for food on the bottom.