I have been wanting to do a Puerto Rico post for some time but was a bit flummoxed on where to start. There are so many beautiful beaches and views that I could not decide if I wanted to choose one, or just highlight some of my favourites. In the end, the former won out, as I looked through my many pictures and realised that if there was anywhere in Puerto Rico that stands out, it is Sun Bay.
A bit of background – my father moved to Vieques when I was a tween, and until I moved to Scotland, I would spend several weeks there every year, usually around Christmas, my March break, and a week or two in the summer – sometimes a bit longer. My father very much used Sun Bay as a kind of wild gym, going there almost every day to walk and swim, and I always joined him. I have to admit that I have not visited this beach now in more than ten years, but I knew it very well. I gather that there have been many changes since I was last there, some caused by man and some by weather. I can attest that it is not only stunningly beautiful, but also the perfect spot for a long walk or swim.
Sun Bay is, as it sounds, a beautiful crescent-shaped beach facing south, with plenty of gorgeous sand and lined with palms and sea grapes. The palms often take a beating during hurricanes and you can never be sure how many will be there. The beach is deep enough that you can usually find a place in the shade or in the sun, and all within a few steps of the usually clear water. There used to be a swimming area marked out, with a line of buoys stretching along the length of the beach that made it very easy to swim along and stay in deep water; this also protects swimmers from boats of course. Behind the beach is a relatively well-kept road that allows you to drive the length of the shore and back to find the perfect spot for you, or continue on to Media Luna, the next beach along that was well-known for having good surf.
This road is also where I had my first-ever driving lesson, on a quiet day one January, and the parking lots adjacent to the beach were where I first practiced manoeuvring into spots and learning how hard to step on the brake and gas.
While Sun Bay is a great place for swimming it is not necessarily for snorkelling; there used to be a spot to the far left that you could swim out to, but it was not as well-developed as most of the beaches on the former Navy Base. Also, it was quite a decent swim just to get there and the waves were often strong enough to make any real enjoyment of the fish quite difficult. Even in swimming closer to the beach, though, I have seen a variety of creatures over the years including turtles, an enormous ray, barracuda, and of course plenty of fish. Out of the water, one can often spy groups of wild horses that roam the island, but seem often to congregate near the beach.
My fondest memories of the beach are the hours we would spend here alternately sitting in the sun, swimming, and taking long walks from one end of the beach to the other. As one walks towards the right – facing the water – or to the west, one finds that there are spots where the rock shelves have emerged from the sand. If ambitious, one can also cross the spit of land and look back towards Esperanza, and the often impressive boats moored there – often a mix of yachts and sailboats.
These long walks often included deep discussions of the state of the world, my life, my future, and any number of other topics; then when we had fixed our lives, or the world – in theory at least – we could cool off by diving into the waves. Or, depending upon the time of year, at least dive in – in summer months and early autumn, the sea is often so warm that it feels like bath water.
I hope that in time I will be able to dig out my older pictures of other beaches – Vieques has no shortage of stunning beaches, and many of them were prevented from development by the long occupation of the island by the US Navy. In the early years of my visiting, a good portion of the island was still being used for bombing and other training, and the impact on the local population was extreme – and a discussion for another time.
I understand that in recent years, Vieques has become an increasingly popular place for visitors, as gradually access to the island has improved and recovery from various storms has been achieved – Hurricane Maria in 2017 was particularly damaging, as it was for so much of Puerto Rico. If you do manage to visit, Sun Bay is an absolute must!
The Wandering Medievalist 