Breath-taking Playa!
Written: May 04 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: One fot the most beautiful beaches in the world.
Cons: crowded.
The Bottom Line: If you are like everyone I know, and like beautiful beaches, and snorkeling too...Culebra is not one to be missed.
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| gosox5's Full Review: Culebra |
What can I say…the day I spent on the Puerto Rican island of Culebra, I felt as though I was in heaven. Playa Flamenco, the major beach on the island, very much lived up to its acclaim as the second most beautiful beach in North America (the world?)…only trailing some place called Maui.
First, to get to this picturesque island, you need to take a ferry ride of about one hour from the port of Fajardo, Puerto Rico. On the island of Culebra, you arrive in a small town that consists of the ferry dock, tourist-trap shops, food, drink, ice cream vendors, and a scuba/snorkeling shop. (We’ll get to the snorkeling in a minute).
Not that the view from the port isn’t beautiful, but it requires about a ten minute taxi or van ride to get from the dock to Playa Flamenco. When you pull over the hill, and are greeted with the breath-taking vista for the first time, it is an awesome feeling. The beach is about two miles long, a curving stretch of extremely fine, light colored sand that felt great on my feet that had been used to a colder that normal early spring in New England.
Playa Flamenco is a great beach for swimming. The beach slowly grows deeper as you go out, so you can go about one hundred yards before you can no longer stand (unless you are short). The waves are fun, but not so huge as to be uncomfortable or dangerous.
I will warn that there is a hardly noticeable, yet quite strong undertow at the Playa Flamenco. In about fifteen minutes, my friends and I were pulled out about fifty feet from the chest deep water where we started. Please, be careful, especially if you are traveling with children or weak swimmers.
So, you by some chance have grown sick of swimming at a gorgeous beach, what else is there to do? My suggestion: go snorkeling on an impressive coral reef. Located about fifteen walking minutes away from Flamenco are several smaller, rockier beaches that are the starting point to a great snorkeling outing.
For about an hour, my group and I swam slowly around the area, admiring the beautiful coral varieties and snapping underwater pictures of the many species of tropical fish that dart among and around the coral.
There are other spots on Culebra, but if you only have one day to spend there, I recommend that you spend it around Playa Flamenco. Enjoy the view, sip a pina colada, go snorkeling, and buy some cheap souvenirs- you won’t regret a trip to the island of Culebra.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
Best Time to Travel Here: Mar - May
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Epinions.com ID:
gosox5
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Member: Andrew
Location: DC metro area
Reviews written: 30
Trusted by: 27 members
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