Things to do in Culebra
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Dinghy Dock
If you can brave the gauntlet of cigarette-smoking expats that requisition the steps nightly, you’ll find the DD to be something of a culinary revelation. Unusually for Puerto Rico, there’s an all-you-can-eat salad bar to quell your early hunger pangs, and you can chomp on your lettuce and cucumber while watching the kitchen staff throw morsels of food to the giant tarpon that swim right up to the deck. Fish is the obvious specialty here – fresh catches such as swordfish and snapper done in creole sauces. The busy bar is a frenzy of expats nursing Medalla beers and acts as the unofficial island grapevine. If you haven’t heard it here first, it’s not worth hearing.…
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CORALations
Two of Culebra's most isolated beaches - Resaca and Brava - are nesting sites for the endangered leatherback sea turtle, the largest living sea turtle in the world. The nesting season runs April through early June and each year small groups of volunteers are recruited by the US Fish & Wildlife Refuge to oversee the delicate egg-laying process.
Volunteers meet at sunset before traveling out to the beaches where they are required to count eggs, measure turtles, and document the event for environmental records. At the same time, participants are able to witness one of nature's most transfixing and timeless events in stunning close-up. Volunteer postings are understandably li…
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Culebra National Wildlife Refuge
More than 1500 acres of Culebra's 7000 acres constitute the Culebra National Wildlife Refuge, which US President Theodore Roosevelt signed into law almost 100 years ago, and which is protected by the Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales (DRNA; Department of Natural Resources & Environment). Most of this land lies along the Península Flamenco, and from Monte Resaca east to the sea, and includes all of the coastline as well as more than 20 offshore cays, with the exception of Cayo Norte. The US Fish & Wildlife Service administers these lands.
Monte Resaca, Isla Culebrita and Cayo Luis Peña are open to the public from sunrise to sunset daily, and all have some f…
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Isla Culebrita
If you need a reason to rent a kayak or hire a water taxi, Isla Culebrita is it. This small island, just a mile east of Playa Zoni, is part of the wildlife refuge. With its abandoned lighthouse, six beaches, tide pools, reefs and nesting areas for seabirds, Isla Culebrita has changed little in the past 500 years. The north beaches, such as the long crescent of Playa Tortuga, are popular nesting grounds for sea turtle, and you may see these animals swimming near the reefs just offshore.
Bring a lot of water, sunscreen, a shirt and a hat if you head for Isla Culebrita, because there is little shade here. The Isla is also home to a ruined lighthouse earmarked for extensive r…
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Juanita Bananas
This revolutionary restaurant gives new meaning to the words ‘fresh’ and ‘sustainable.’ Sporting its very own greenhouse and garden, almost all of the fruit, vegetables and herbs listed on the menu will have traveled only a few hundred yards before hitting your plate. The seafood is also local and fished using sustainable methods. Specialties include tasty soups, fruity desserts and the famous sofrito sauce (garlic, onions and pepper browned in olive oil and capped with achiote – annato seeds). The restaurant is situated on a small rise about half a mile from Dewey. Reservations are necessary.
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Barbara Rosa
You are the waiter at this diminutive restaurant/bistro. You’re also in Barbara’s house – her front verandah to be more exact, so tread carefully. When you’ve decided what you want, take the menu into the front room and holler through the kitchen hatch at the busy Barbara as she scurries around the kitchen. Hey presto, 15 minutes later out comes fish and chips, a juicy burger or a plate of homemade crab cakes. It’s rather quaint, once you get your head round the system. Barbara’s is situated on the road north out of Dewey toward the airport.
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Cayo Luis Peña
Less visited than Isla Culebrita, Cayo Luis Peña is the island of peaks, rocks, forests and coves you'll pass just a few minutes before the ferry lands you at Culebra's dock. This island is another part of the wildlife refuge, and it has a collection of small sheltered beaches. Luis Peña is a short kayak or water-taxi trip from town; it has good beaches and snorkeling all around the island.
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Pandeli
Ideal if you’re twiddling your thumbs waiting for the 6:30am ferry to Fajardo (the Pandeli opens at an eye-popping 5:30am), this deli/café sells pastries, pancakes, salads, sandwiches and coffee. Come 8am and it’s inundated with school kids and stray travelers using the internet. A good place to take breakfast and lunch and catch up on the local gossip.
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El Batey
Not a large place, but seemingly big enough to accommodate the majority of Culebra’s population at weekends, when locals swing by to shake a leg to reggaeton with a bit of salsa and meringue mixed in. During the week the place is esteemed for its cheap burgers, cold beers and pool tables. It’s situated on the road north out of Dewey toward the airport.
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Culebra Bike Shop
Culebra Bike Shop is sometimes open, sometimes not. If no one answers your hollering, try yer man, Steve, on the phone. Still no luck, look him up in the Dinghy Dock next door. If you do manage to pin him down, Steve rents decent mountain bikes like Diamondbacks for approximately $25 a day, with discounts for longer rents.
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Culebra Dive Shop
The Culebra Dive Shop in Dewey offers similar services and prices, and are generally open during normal business hours. You can rent snorkel gear for about $10 to $12 or arrange a day trip for adult/child $50/35. The same vendors also offer dive instruction and trips. One-/two-tank dives cost around $65/90.
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Culebra Boats
Culebra Boats rents fast inflatable dinghies with motors to get around Ensenada Honda. Alternatively you can join Captain Luis and his crew for the water taxi out to Culebrita. Longer day excursions with kayaking and a lobster lunch are also available. Pick up and drop off is from the Club Seaborne dock.
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Museum of Ildefenso
The little Museum of Ildefenso is tucked behind the office of the Department of Natural Resources, and has some historical pictures of the island and lots of Taíno artifacts. Beware: the hours – like everything in Culebra – are rather sporadic.
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Tanama Glass Bottom Boat
Culebra's only glass-bottomed boat, the Tanama Glass Bottom Boat offers some really fantastic two-hour harbor cruises in and around the various reefs, snorkeling trips with equipment included, and trips out to Culebrita. The boat can generally be found at the Dinghy Dock.
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Ocean Safaris
Ocean Safaris kayak trips have been featured in a number of magazine articles on Culebra - and for good reason. You can get instruction and a half-day guided tour to places such as Isla Culebrita or Cayo Luis Peña, or it also rents out kayaks for a half-/full day.
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Happy Landings
Planted at the end of the airstrip, Happy Landings is a drinks-only dive these days (it used to serve food). Though hardly a font of pulsating nightlife, it may be worth sticking your head around the door to see if anything spontaneous is happening.
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Heather’s
In the center of town, across from the town hall, Heather’s is a popular hangout at night and a great pizza parlor. It gets popular in the high season so expect a wait.
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Superette Mayra
At Superette Mayra you’ll find all of the basic food supplies along with other nonedible essentials such as washing powder, diapers and toilet rolls.
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Culebra Divers
Across from the ferry dock, this is one of the island's two main dive operators. Both offer similar services and prices, and are generally open during normal business hours.
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Dick & Cathy
Dick & Cathy will rent you wheels. Call them, tell them where you are, and they'll swiftly deliver it to you in their old-fashioned VW van - just like that!
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Panadería El Patio
Positioned strategically at the end of the airport runway, El Patio offers fresh, warm pan criollo (a bit like French bread), coffee and sandwiches.
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Chris Goldmark
The real fish hawk on the island is Chris Goldmark. He can take you out to the flats for some superb bonefishing, or offshore for the big stuff.
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Butiki
A local art shop run by an American expat that sells paintings, jewelry, masks, T-shirts and plenty more. Almost everything is island-made.
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Galería de Regalos
A colorful gift-and-clothes shop that sells priceless República de Culebra T-shirts and plenty of other unique knickknacks.
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Culebra Water Toys
Culebra Water Toys can help out with both kayaking and windsurfing - the latter is a popular activity in Ensenada Honda.
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