Vieques vs Culebra – My Candid Comparison for the Indecisive Traveler

👉 Jump to: Which is Better? | Feature Comparison Chart | Final Verdict | FAQs

Vieques vs Culebra, which should you choose? Many travelers find themselves in a tight spot trying to decide which of these two beautiful Puerto Rico destinations they should visit. 

Culebra and Vieques are both outside the main Puerto Rican island, and they both have some of the best things to do in Puerto Rico, so deciding between the two islands is far from easy. 

But worry not! I’m a Puerto Rico local, and I’ll tell you the highlights of each island, so you can decide which to visit for yourself.

Affiliate Disclosure: Travel Lemming is an independent reader-supported blog. You can support us by purchasing via the affiliate links on this page, which may earn us commissions. See our Advertising Policy for further explanation. Thank you!

Which is Better – Vieques or Culebra?

Vieques and Culebra are both Puerto Rican municipal islands offshore mainland Puerto Rico. Both are reachable only by ferry, airplane, or private tours.

Each island has beautiful beaches and pristine nature. Which island you decide to visit depends on your tastes and the kind of vacation you’re looking for.

Of the two Puerto Rican islands, Vieques is more popular with tourists than Culebra. Besides top-notch beaches, Vieques is home to a Puerto Rico bioluminescent bay, a rum factory, a historical fort, and museums.

The town also features two popular neighborhoods, Isabel II and La Esperanza, where you can enjoy local gastronomy and the island’s nightlife.

On the other hand, Culebra is the perfect destination for beach vacations in the Caribbean. While the island doesn’t offer as many activities as Vieques, Culebra’s beaches are often among the top beaches of Puerto Rico.

Culebra is also a better destination for sailing, snorkeling, diving, and turtle-watching. Although often though as an island, Culebra is a small archipelago known for its crystal-clear water visibility.

Advantages of Vieques

• Variety of things to do
• Bioluminescent bay 
• Bigger hotels
• Varied gastronomy
• Nightlife

Advantages of Culebra

• Less crowded 
• Secluded beaches
• Best for snorkeling and diving
• Small inns
• Optimal for beach camping

Vieques is Best For

• Hikers
• History enthusiasts
• Watersports lovers
• Gastronomy travelers
• Surfing 
• Animal lovers (horses run around Vieques)
• Family trips

Culebra is Best For

• Beach bumming
• Snorkeling
• Diving in Puerto Rico
• Turtle watching
• Taking a day trip (see my list of the Culebra day trip tours)
• Beach camping
• Couples 

Culebra vs Vieques – Detailed Comparison

Vieques and Culebra are municipal islands with some of the best diving, swimming, and snorkeling in Puerto Rico.

They’re also both easy to reach from San Juan, have a National Wildlife Refuge, and they’re overall in the same budget range.

In the table below, I compare Culebra vs Vieques in the areas of things to do, cost and budget, how easy it is to get there, public transportation, beaches, gastronomy, hotels, and nightlife:

Feature/Category	Vieques	Culebra	🏆 Winner
Things to Do	Great beaches, a bio bay, historical forts, museums, and a wildlife refuge	Magazine-worthy beaches with high visibility and uncrowded outdoors, museums	Vieques
Cost & Budget	A wider variety of hotels, restaurants, and tours across different price ranges.	With fewer hotels and restaurants available, costs are generally higher.	Vieques
Getting There	30 minutes on ferry, 25 minutes from SJU airport by plane	45 minutes on a ferry, 35 minutes from SJU airport by plane	Vieques
Public Transportation	Carros públicos take you to the main attractions in Vieques	Taxis on call	Vieques
Beaches	Secluded pristine beaches for surfing, snorkeling, hiking, and swimming	Crystal-clear beaches for snorkeling, diving, sunbathing, walking, and camping	Culebra
Gastronomy	Amazing food options from Puerto Rican gastronomy to American food	Restaurants in Dewey town, and a few food trucks around the island	Vieques
Hotels	Variety of hotels from small inns to resorts	Smaller inns with a familiar vibe, mostly budget-friendly	Vieques
Snorkeling	Multiple beaches for snorkeling and diving around reefs, seasonal strong currents	Clear beaches for snorkeling and diving, with reefs, caves, and shipwrecks	Culebra
Surfing	Easy access to beaches with strong surf, you can find other surfers	Only two beaches for surfing, reachable after a long hike	Vieques
Family Friendliness	Family-friendly activities like horseback riding, kayaking, surfing, and hiking	Laid-back romantic atmosphere, with beach-related activities like snorkeling and kayaking	Vieques
Safety	Occasional petty theft in tourist areas	Occasional petty theft in main touristy areas, but safe nightlife	Tie
Nightlife	Lively atmosphere and nightlife with live music in bars and restaurants	While beautiful all around, Culebra’s only nightlife is stargazing	Vieques

Which Has More Things to Do?

🏆 Winner: Vieques

Vieques and Culebra both have mesmerizing natural landscapes and paradisiacal beaches.

Beaches make up many of the best things to do on Culebra. In particular, Culebra is home to Flamenco Beach, which has ranked as one of the top beaches in the world numerous times.

Culebra’s beaches, like Carlos Rosario Beach, Tamarindo Beach, and Melones Beach, offer top-notch snorkeling with sea turtles. You can also sail to Culebra’s offshore islands, including Culebrita and Cayo Luis Peña, to find vibrant and healthy underwater ecosystems.

Vieques, meanwhile, offers more diverse attractions, including the brightest bioluminescent bay in the world. 

Besides great beaches for swimming, snorkeling, and surfing, Vieques’ top attractions include Fortin Conde de Mirasol, a 19th-century sugarcane plantation and lighthouse ruins, military bunkers, and the Crab Island Rum Distillery. Half of the island is also an important wildlife refuge with protected beaches, hiking trails, bays, and coves.

Additionally, Vieques has two popular towns with restaurants and bars: Isabel II, and La Esperanza.

🏆 Winner: Vieques

Which is Cheaper?

🏆 Winner: Vieques

Vieques is generally cheaper than Culebra, thanks to its larger size and wider variety of accommodations, food, and transportation options. 

The broader selection and competition make it easier to find budget-friendly guesthouses or apartment rentals in Vieques, though it’s not impossible to do so in Culebra. In contrast, Culebra has fewer lodging and dining options, which often drives prices up due to limited availability.

🏆 Winner: Vieques

Which is Easier to Get To?

🏆 Winner: Vieques

Whether you’re visiting Culebra or Vieques, you’ll only be able to get to these small islands by ferry or airplane.

The passenger ferry to Culebra takes 45 minutes, fifteen minutes more than it takes for Vieques, and they both depart from Ceiba’s ferry terminal. 

You can fly to both islands from the San Juan airport with Cape Air, Air Flamencon, and Vieques Air Link, but in general, it’s easier and faster to reach Vieques than Culebra.

🏆 Winner: Vieques

How is the Public Transportation?

🏆 Winner: Vieques

Overall, Culebra lacks public transportation, but visitors can call a taxi to move from one side to another, rent a car through Discover Cars, or rent a bike.

If you want to get around without a rental car, Vieques is a better option.

Vieques has carros públicos, which are a type of taxi that waits for visitors in the ferry terminal and that are often shared with multiple travelers.

Fares are usually under $20, and they take you to Vieques’ most popular spots or where you choose to stay in Vieques.

🏆 Winner: Vieques

Where Are the Best Beaches?

🏆 Winner: Culebra

Deciding which has the best beaches is a hard task. If it comes down to clear, calm waters with turtles and coral reefs, then Culebra should be your choice. 

Culebra’s top beaches include Flamenco Beach, Zoni Beach, Playa Tamarindo, and Playa Tortuga, located on Culebrita.

On some Culebra beaches, you can even see turtles swimming on the shore. They are also less crowded and often cleaner.

The top Vieques beaches include a beautiful black sand beach known as Playa Negra, as well as 40 other mesmerizing beaches along its shoreline.

🏆 Winner: Culebra

Which Has the Best Gastronomy?

🏆 Winner: Vieques

Gastronomy in Vieques and Culebra is fairly similar. With many expats living on both islands, you will find plenty of American-style restaurants on the higher side of the budget in Dewey, a tiny town in Culebra, and La Esperanza in Vieques. 

Vieques, being the largest of the two islands and the one that receives the most visitors, has a wider gastronomy offering with both American and Puerto Rican cuisines.

🏆 Winner: Vieques

Where Are the Best Hotels?

🏆 Winner: Vieques

Visitors often complain about the lack of large hotels in Culebra and Vieques.

Since both islands have nature reserves and are considered Puerto Rican paradises, locals oppose urbanization on the island’s shoreline as an effort to keep them as they are. 

But, if you’re looking for a variety of hotels, there are more places to stay in Vieques. You’ll find multiple types of hotels on the north and south of the island with diverse price ranges.

🏆 Winner: Vieques

Where is the Best Spot for Snorkeling?

🏆 Winner: Culebra

The best beaches for snorkeling are, without a doubt, in Culebra. Flamenco Beach, Playa Carlos Rosario, and Tamarindo Grande offer easy access to reefs.

Culebra also has sites with shipwrecks and underwater caves considered Puerto Rico diving gems.

Also, Culebrita is a small cay that belongs to Culebra, famous among visitors for its visibility and many sea turtles.

While Vieques offers some great snorkeling sites, it’s hard to beat Culebra’s clear waters.

🏆 Winner: Culebra

Which Has the Best Beaches for Surfing?

🏆 Winner: Vieques

While Culebra has the top beaches for snorkeling, it’s not the same with beaches for surfing.

Resaca Beach and Brava Beach are the two popular beaches for surfing in Culebra, but you can only reach them after hiking for more than 20 minutes. 

This also means they’re often deserted, and if you surf by yourself, no one will come to your rescue in case of an emergency.

In contrast, Vieques features plenty of spots with easy access for surfing, like Navio Beach, El Gallito Beach, La Chata Beach, and Punta Galindez. However, many depend on specific swells and conditions to be surfable.

Many surfers live on the island, so you’ll see a few catching waves in the early morning.

🏆 Winner: Vieques

Which Offers the Best Family Vacation?

🏆 Winner: Vieques

Vieques and Culebra are both beach destinations, and they’re family-friendly too.

But, Culebra is often seen as a romantic destination for couples, laid-back nature lovers, or newlyweds planning a Puerto Rico honeymoon. Beaches are low-key, relaxing, and uncrowded. Vieques offers a more lively atmosphere and more things to do during a family vacation, including visiting museums, a bioluminescent bay, horseback riding, yoga, kayaking, and diving.

🏆 Winner: Vieques

Which One is Safer?

🏆 Winner: Tied

Both Vieques and Culebra are considered tourist-friendly destinations in Puerto Rico and therefore are as safe as Old San Juan.

Occasional petty theft occurs on both Puerto Rico’s islands, but it’s easily preventable by taking common traveling safety measures. 

Check out my Puerto Rico safety guide to know all about the safety measures to take on the island.

🏆 Winner: Tied

Where is the Best Nightlife?

🏆 Winner: Vieques

Night owls and party lovers are better off in Old San Juan, known for having the best Puerto Rico nightlife. But, if you’re deciding between Culebra and Vieques, then you should visit Vieques.

Vieques features two dynamic neighborhoods with bars and restaurants: Isabel Segunda and La Esperanza, which are the perfect stop after a Vieques biobay tour. 

Depending on the day of the week and the season you’re visiting Puerto Rico, La Esperanza’s restaurants have live music and fill up with lively backpackers who stay in nearby hostels.

🏆 Winner: Vieques

Final Verdict – Vieques or Culebra?

Is Culebra or Vieques better for visiting? The answer will depend on what you’re looking for.

Culebra is the best beach destination on the East Coast and in Puerto Rico. Beaches are crystal clear and uncrowded.

Travelers looking for a tranquil experience alongside the beach without the mega-hotels that disturb the peace in some popular beach destinations should head over to Culebra.

But, Vieques is the island for those who want a combination of beaches, fresh seafood, nature, and history.

Besides boasting one of the few black sand beaches in Puerto Rico, Vieques is home to Mosquito Bay, the world’s brightest bioluminescent bay.

It also has a beautiful Wildlife Refuge full of hiking trails, hidden beaches, fishing sites, and photography-perfect cliff views.  

While Culebra is the best Puerto Rican island for beach bums, Vieques is best for adventure seekers, nature lovers, and families traveling in groups.

FAQs

What is better for solo travelers, Vieques or Culebra?

Overall, Vieques is better than Culebra for solo travelers. It has more things to do, including beaches, nightlife in Esperanza, and nature spots to explore. Vieques also has hostels that attract backpackers. Plus, it offers multiple opportunities for work exchange through platforms like Worldpackers, which is great if you’re traveling on a budget.

What is better for traveling on a budget, Vieques or Culebra?

Vieques is a better alternative for traveling on a budget than Culebra. It’s overall more affordable, with a wider range of hotels, restaurants, and transportation options to fit different budgets.

What is better for a family vacation, Culebra or Vieques?

Both Vieques and Culebra are great family vacation destinations, offering calm beaches perfect for snorkeling, swimming, and diving. But overall, Vieques offers a mix of adventure and relaxation with more things to do, from visiting the famous bioluminescent bay to exploring wildlife reserves. 

***

Now you know everything you need to know about Vieques and Culebra, and you can decide for yourself which one you should visit.  If you’ve already been to these islands, check out my list of other amazing places in Puerto Rico you can visit.