Sue -also briefly considered the same thing - cheap, short getaway that wouldnt compromise the budget for later trip to STJ. Didnt go, but had pulled and saved some articles on it including this:
Vieques unspoiled - Tourists discover pristine world of island the Navy once bombed
Steve Stephens
Posted on Oct. 10, 2004 at http://www.columbusdispatch.com
The tiny Puerto Rican island has an infamous past that might have saved it -- so far -- from the worst ravages of crass tourism.
Journalistic integrity forces me to report that the island served, until recently, as a U.S. Navy bombing range. I also must report that the island is a true paradise, at least for those seeking solitude, world-class food and accommodations, and sugary-white-sand beaches that make Maui's look like overbooked gravel quarries.
And the more people who discover the island's charm, hospitality and -- oh -- those beaches, the less likely I am to have acres of sand and surf to myself when I return. And I will return.
My new favorite place in the world is a Vieques beach so beautiful, so secluded, that I vowed to the locals who let me in on the secret to keep its exact coordinates to myself.
I recently spent a glorious day on that beach, frolicking with my best girl in the surf before lounging contentedly in the deep shade of a short, wide coconut palm. Our only company -- besides a flotilla of dive-bombing pelicans -- was one other couple, with their own spot well down the half-mile arc of white sand that sloped ever so gently into the Caribbean .
Truth be told, there are many other beaches just as beautiful as my secret beach (which should not be confused with Secret Beach , which isn't any more.)
Lovely beaches dot the island's southern shore like freckles on a beautiful woman. And many more have yet to be opened to the public.
The Navy left the island in early 2003 after massive demonstrations that became a cause celebre for media-savvy protesters. Because of the military presence, most of the island was protected from development. And the former Navy land now has been designated a national wildlife refuge.
''The Navy land is mostly pristine, except for those 900 acres,'' he said. ''We've got nesting turtles and a wonderful variety of fish and birds.''
Vail, with his wife, Linda, has operated the Hasienda Tamarindo for nine years. The Vails were longtime New Englanders and had owned a chain of restaurants.
The small, comfortable hotel, with a panoramic view of the Caribbean and an ancient tamarind tree growing through the center courtyard, was ''my fifth midlife crisis, and the only one my wife would go along with,'' Mr. Vail said.
When the couple decided to sell the restaurants and buy a Caribbean hotel, they researched the region intensively. Other locations were ruled out because of high prices, unfriendly business conditions, overcrowding or the lack of the pristine beaches the Vails love. And Vieques was ''the only place we could find more laid back than Vermont .''
''There are so many beautiful beaches here you always have plenty of room,'' he said. ''And they're opening more of the sea coast as they clean up'' the former Navy land.
And now the rest of the world is discovering that the island is much more than a former bombing range. Other refugees from the U.S. mainland have opened more fine hotels, inns and restaurants.
Our meals at the Blue Macaw, Bili's, and Pasa Fino at the Wyndham -- the island's only resort -- were world-class. But the island still retains a quiet, rural charm. And the sandwiches we bought at a tiny panadaria in the picturesque town of Esperanza proved as satisfying as any restaurant spread, especially when eaten under the coconut tree at our top-secret beach.
But everywhere we dined we had glorious ocean views. Esparanza's narrow main street and its lovely seaside promenade, the Malecon, were all that separated us from the Caribbean as we ate alfresco at Bili's, located in the heart of the tiny town.
We watched as an eclectic representation of the old and new Vieques passed by: couples, both locals and tourists, walking hand in hand; old pickup trucks with drivers who winked at pretty girls; horses, with riders and without; bicycles of all sizes and conditions; and many rental sport-utility vehicles.
A four-wheel-drive is the rental vehicle of choice on Vieques because the best beaches are well off the paved roads. But the gravel lanes that crisscross the island, though potholed, are passable. Just don't expect to travel much over 10 mph.
The other town on the island, Isabella Segunda, is home to most of the island's inhabitants as well as several fine restaurants and inns and the 150-year-old Fort Conde de Mirasol, the last Spanish fort built in the Western Hemisphere and now a museum.
Vieques is also home to the world's finest bioluminecent bay. A fortuitous combination of ingredients -- clean water, the unusual topography of the bay and a lack of light pollution -- have contributed to the growth of a tremendous colony of microscopic, luminous sea plankton.
A kayak trip in the bay on a dark night is nothing short of magical. Any motion causes millions of the creatures to briefly glow. Every fish leaves a comet-like trail as it streaks by. Every stroke of the kayak paddle brings a pulse of bluish, living light.
And diving into the bay on a moonless night is, for want of a better description, like swimming in the Milky Way.
With its '' Bio Bay ,'' incredible beaches, and quiet first-class accommodations, it's only a matter of time before the sleepy island of Vieques becomes much less sleepy.
GETTING THERE
From San Juan , flights are scheduled daily to Vieques on the small commuter prop planes of Vieques Air Link and Air Sunshine. Flying the tiny low-flying planes is perfectly safe but seems like an adventure to travelers more used to 737s.
Call Vieques Air Link toll-free at 1-888-901-9247.
Call Sunshine Air toll-free at 1-800-327-8900.
Air-taxi services and charter flights are also available from San Juan International or the Vieques airport.
Flights are also available from Fajardo, a town on the east coast of the main island of Puerto Rico . A ferry also travels between Fajardo and Vieques daily.
GETTING AROUND
A four-wheel-drive vehicle is highly recommended for Vieques travelers, especially for those hoping to explore isolated beaches.
Several local rental-car companies have the vehicles available. Many hotels and inns also will arrange rental cars for guests.
LEARNING MORE
Information on Vieques travel and tourism -- with links to hotels, rental car agencies, airlines and tourism sites -- is available at
www.vieques-island.com.
also this edited stuff from the NYTimes:
FRUGAL traveling doesn't get much better than this: a deserted Caribbean beach, and back roads that wind through forests where wild horses run free and egrets glide above the mangroves edging the water.
Esperanza is a tiny settlement that fronts the ocean, it is centered on a commercial strip - mostly restaurants - that's about a 10-minute walk from end to end. Along part of the strip, there's a concrete promenade, the Malecón, for strolling. I ambled along, noticing that the other strollers seemed to be equally divided between local Puerto Ricans and sun-leathered gringos.
At sunset I stopped at Banana's, one of the strip's open-air bar-restaurants, for a rum punch. There I met snowbirds from Canada and New England who told me they've been coming to Vieques for years and years. I met a retired man from Connecticut who recently bought a house on the island, and who told me that there was a sizable community of younger retirees, lured by the reasonable real estate prices and laid-back, undeveloped atmosphere.
Once I'd adjusted to the heat and the slow pace, I began leaving my aerie at La Finca more often, assigning myself the serious task of choosing my favorite among the island's many restaurants. The winners: La Sirena, a classic French bistro in Esperanza run by François Feynerol, who used to own Dix et Sept in Greenwich Village; Posada Vistamar, where you'd never know the Caribbean cuisine was being cooked by a Bostonian; and Taverna Española, a cheap and cheerful homestyle seafood place in Isabel Segunda.
One evening I signed up to paddle a kayak through Vieques's natural wonder, the Bioluminescent Bay. The narrow-necked bay is home to a concentrated population of a microorganism that glows in the dark when disturbed; every dip of the paddle, every startled stingray illuminates a neon trail. As I jumped into the warm water in the darkness, my body was surrounded by an eerie glow, my cupped hands filled with miniature sparkles.
Another day I went scuba diving. I didn't expect reefs so close to the populous mainland, and within shouting distance of a testing range, to be especially lush, and they weren't, but I did see barracudas, enormous lobsters, fan corals and thousands of tiny iridescent fish. I saw most of the same corals and fish simply snorkeling offshore at Green Beach, the string of sandy coves where I returned, day after day, to the same deserted crescent of sand (but only between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., while the sand flies took their break).
From my spot on Green Beach, at 10:30 every morning, I watched a gray warship slowly cross the horizon, heading toward Puerto Rico. The Navy has said that its exercises in early February would be the last regularly scheduled shellings of the island, so I may have been witnessing the end of an era in Vieques.
And I wondered if its future would look like the sight I passed daily on my way to Isabel Segunda, east of the entrance to Green Beach: a gated property of compact cottages spread along a seaside rise, like so many elsewhere in the Caribbean.
This 156-room resort, called Martineau Bay, had been under construction for several years, and on Feb. 24, it opened as part of the Wyndham chain. It is Vieques's first luxury resort, with room prices topping $300 a night.
Changes, certainly, were coming to Vieques.
Visitor Information
I spent $134 a day for 10 days on Vieques, covering food, hotel, Jeep rental and activities like diving and nature tours.
Transportation
My round-trip ticket from Kennedy to San Juan on American Airlines cost $338.49.
Vieques Air Link, (888) 901-9247,
www.vieques-island.com/val, runs small single-prop planes from San Juan to Vieques. The trip, 30 minutes each way, costs $135 round trip.
A Jeep Wrangler from Maritza's Car Rental, (787) 741-0078, Web site
www.islavieques.com/maritzas.html, cost $50 a day, with tax. Filling the tank several times cost $40 total.
Activities
Blue Caribe Dive Center, (787) 741-2522, a PADI-certified shop in Esperanza, is the only dive shop on the island. A two-tank dive plus equipment rental was $90; the company runs a nighttime kayak tour to the Bioluminescent Bay for $23.
Island Adventures, (787) 741-0720, runs nightly excursions to the bay from just west of Esperanza on a pontoon boat for $23.
