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The Ceiba to Vieques flight was my shortest commercial flight ever. It lasted only ten minutes, and the plane didn’t have much in the way of passengers, having only 9 passengers along. I sat right behind the pilot, making me feel like I was his co-pilot. less than 10,000 inhabitants. The beaches are just gorgeous. The island is about 21 miles long by 5 miles at its widest point and it is located between Puerto Rico and St. Thomas, just 6 miles from the south-east coast of Puerto Rico. Vieques has less than 10,000 inhabitants and not very many visitors.

We quickly arrived at Vieques Airport. I suggested that we rent a jeep for the day instead of depending on a taxi all day, and Jorge agreed with me. It would probably cost us over $200 dollars, given my usually wild assignment! He called several rental car offices but all of them were sold out. No luck for us so far! A taxi charged $5 per person from the airport to Esperanza, where we checked into a small villa. Jorge jumped up and down, excited that he had finally found a place that could rent us a jeep! We took the taxi, once again, to the rental place. Seeing the jeep for the first time, we looked at each other and thought “OH NO!” The jeep looked like a wreck! However, it still ran well. We rushed over to a nearby town, Isabel II, to check out the local lobster and conch market.

A cool fisherman explained a little bit about conch to me. Conch is only in season for nine months every year and he expounded further on that point, noting that there is a lot of conch out there. He then suggested that we check a nearby grocery store because a local deaf native was working there. We were anxious about meeting him, but he wasn’t there. We missed our chance! So we had to return to Esperanza and found the restaurant we were planning to stop at. Our lunch consisted of conch turnovers and homemade guacamole over fried plantains. The food was like heaven, and I can tell you there’s definitely no need to have salsa or chips for that guacamole! If you’re ever on the island, you must stop by the Bili restaurant!

After lunch, it was time to drive out and see one of the best beaches in the world. We entered Sombe (Sun Bay) and saw so many wild horses, reminding me of Maryland’s Assateague State Park. I quickly stopped my jeep to catch a view of one unique sign reading “illegal crab.” It certainly made me think of “anti-crab theory”! We kept on going to Media Luna (Half Moon Beach) which had just opened to the public, back in 2003. It’s a really unspoiled beach. I felt funny because I could count the people at the beach. If it was any other famous beach, I’d have no way of counting the people. There were less than 20 people on the mile-long beach! I looked up at the sky and saw a bright half-moon. Wow, what a coincidence!

I was tempted to stay there for more than an hour, but I needed to check the other parts of the island. The water was so perfect! We drove on to another famous beach, Bahia de la Chiva (Blue Beach). It was so beautiful, but I liked Media Luna just a little bit better due to its’ quieter waves. I left some footprints, so it would enable me to call it DeafNation beach! The time came for us to return to Esperanza so we could go on an eco-tour of the world’s brightest glowing bay. Before we went on the tour, I told Jorge that I really wanted to eat conch turnovers one last time. He said that he was still full from the heavy lunch, and suggested that I should buy a package of conch turnovers and bring them home. So I went ahead and had them. I felt wonderful afterwards, and felt ready for the last adventure of the day. We jumped on an old school bus, to Mosquito Bay. It was then that I learned a little bit about Biobay. Biobay’s unique glow comes from the countless numbers of tiny micro-organisms in the water, all giving off a blue-green light. It is a rare and special environment that has to be taken care of, and so there are different efforts devoted to both studying it and protecting the organisms and the bay.

I was so anxious to witness the miraculous experience; I quickly dove into the water and felt them tickling my body. I then saw Jorge dive into the water, and a glowing splash came out of the water. I was stunned because that spot had been so dark before Jorge dove into it. It was like a firecracker going off when he broke the surface. There was a half-moon, so the moonlight was sort of dimming the glow. The guides told me to go under the platoon, and I swam beneath it. It was so bright! When I pulled both arms up, I could see lots of sparkles all over me. I climbed onto the top of the platoon, and I kept seeing the sparkles on my body. I have to tell you, Biobay is definitely a must thing to do in your lifetime. It’s the brightest glow in the world, one of the 4 or 5 unique spots left. Mark Vieques Island down on your bucket list!

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