What to see, eat, and do in Culebra, Puerto Rico

🍴Eat: Start your morning at Culebra Coffee with an açaí bowl and avocado toast. From there it’s easy to get a taxi to Flamenco Beach. Go straight to the stall that says Comida Creole across from the rental gear stand. Get whatever Empanadilla is not in the window and it will be made fresh. My favorite was the lobster and the shrimp was a close second. When you’re ready to go hop back in a taxi and head to Mamacita’s in Dewey to watch boats go by in the canal while you chow down on grouper fingers and feed the tarpon.

🛏 Stay: If you’re going with a group stay at the lovely Oceania Villas located within 1.1 miles of Malena Bay Beach and 1.2 miles of Punta Soldado Beach. If it’s just you or you and a plus one stay at Club Seaborne the sister property of Oceania Villas. Club Seaborne is a boutique hotel with a pool that’s perfect for an afternoon swim and a bar and restaurant.

🏖 Do: Beach, please! Flamenco Beach is a wide, white sand beach that just happens to have tankers on it. Not so long ago the U.S. military used the beach for aerial target practice and when the base got pushed to neighboring Vieques the tanks were left behind. While we were there it stormed so the water was a bit rough but normally it’s as calm as a swimming pool.

There are two ways to get to Culebra from the mainland. You can take a quick flight or a ferry. To get to the ferry port it’s about an hour drive and the Uber pricing can vary from $40-$90 depending on the day and time. There is also no taxi stand when you come back from Culebra so you have to either try to request an Uber and hope that someone is dropping off at the same time or hop in a cab that’s dropping people off. Keep in mind that Culebra is not a party island so things tend to get quiet pretty early and you should be prepared to entertain yourself if you’re a night owl.

I highly recommend getting a Jeep or at the very least a golf cart. There are a couple of rental car companies that you can contact before arriving to make a reservation. Bikes are fine for certain areas but it’s a pretty hilly island so something with a motor is your best bet. I booked my trip so late that there was a waitlist for rental cars so I had to rely on taxis which was fine but not time or cost efficient. You basically have to get the number of a driver and call them when you’re ready. This can add 20 minutes of wait time to each trip so if you go this route always call as you’re getting ready so you won’t have to wait. Also, bring lots of cash, there is only one ATM on the island and most places I visited were cash only.

Overall, I enjoyed my time in Culebra. I’ll probably go to Vieques before I would go back to Culebra just to explore a new destination. The size of the island make it easy to navigate and the beaches are some of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen.