Get an early start on Day Two: there's a lot to see. Grab a map from your hotel (you'll need it!) and look out for yellow markers that identify the island's sights and monuments.
Itinerary
- If your hotel doesn't offer breakfast, head to Isabel II, Vieques' main town, and stop at El Patio (787-741-6381) for hearty 'Rican fare. Nearby, Panadería La Viequense (787-741-8213) offers local pastries and is the best place to stock up on sandwiches for a picnic lunch.
- After breakfast, drive out to the western side of the island along Route 200. Eventually, you'll reach the Kiani Lagoon, a small boardwalk through dense mangroves. Continue along the trail past the lagoon and you'll reach Punta Arenas and Green Beach.
- Head back along Route 200, and veer left to get to Mosquito Pier, a long fishing pier that was an aborted attempt by the Navy to link Vieques to the mainland.
- Return to Route 200 and look for the paved, unmarked road leading up into the mountains. This military trail takes you into a wild, Mad-Max landscape filled with abandoned ammunition storage bunkers that have been covered over by grass and vegetation. It's a desolate, bizarre, and fascinating place.
- At the end of the road, turn left and head east towards Esperanza. Along the way, you'll pass Playa Grande beach. If you head east instead of west (you'll have to walk it), you can try to find your way to the hidden Playa Grande Sugar Plantation ruins, which were abandoned after the Navy took control of the island.
- Past Esperanza and Sun Bay along Route 997, you'll see a road leading off to the left, to a cluster of giant boulders that look mysterious and almost alien. This is the site of an archaeological dig that unearthed a 4,000-year-old skeleton that the locals call the Puerto Ferro Man.
- Explore the island at your leisure, and then get ready for a special night out.
