Playa culebra puerto rico: Spend the Day at Flamenco Beach on Culebra

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April 27, 2023
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The 9 Most Amazing Things to do in Culebra, Puerto Rico

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Home to the famous Flamenco Beach, this small island off the east coast of Puerto Rico is surrounded by turquoise water, white sand beaches, coral reefs, and palm trees. Escape to this island for a few days surrounded by nature and beauty. Below, we share our favorite things to do in Culebra and everything you need to know to visit this tropical paradise.

Are you planning to visit Culebra as part of your Puerto Rican Vacation? Check out the Perfect 7 Day Puerto Rico Itinerary.

Table of Contents

1 Quick Look at the Best Things to do in Culebra
2 Map of the Best Things to do in Culebra
3 Visiting Culebra: Things to Know
4 How to Get to Culebra
5 How to Get Around Culebra
6 Things to Do on Culebra
- 6.1 Visit Flamenco Beach
- 6. 2 Tamarindo Beach
- 6.3 Zoni Beach
- 6.4 Day Trip to Culebrita
- 6.5 Rent Kayaks and Paddle Around Luis Pena Cay
- 6.6 Culebra’s History at Museo El Polvorin
- 6.7 Go Hiking
- 6.8 Get Underwater: Scuba Diving and Snorkelling
- 6.9 Check out Melones Beach for Sunset
7 Where to Stay in Culebra
8 Culebra or Vieques

Quick Look at the Best Things to do in Culebra

For a quick look at things to do in Culebra, check out the list below. You can find more details on each activity when you scroll down.

Visit Flamenco Beach
Swim with turtles at Tamarindo Beach
Visit Zoni Beach
Take a day trip to Culebrita
Rent Kayaks
Culebra’s History at Museo El Polvorin
Go Hiking
Snorkel or Scuba Dive
Watch the sunset at Melones Beach

Things to do in Culebra: Visit the Tank on Flamenco Beach

Map of the Best Things to do in Culebra

Scroll down for more details on the best things to do in Culebra

Visiting Culebra: Things to Know

Culebra is a small, mostly flat island with a small town, harbor, and airport. The most important thing you will want to decide is how to get to Culebra and where to stay on Culebra. You can see more about both these topics below. Here are some answers to common questions to help you plan your stay on Culebra.

How big is Culebra? Culebra is about 7 miles long and 2 miles wide, making it easy to get around by car, golf cart or even foot.
Can you buy groceries on Culebra? There are several small grocery stores on the island to get essentials such as Colmado Carniceria Milka
Is there an ATM on Culebra? You can find an ATM at Banco Popular near the ferry dock
How many days do you need to explore Culebra? You can visit Culebra as a day trip, but 2-3 days is probably the best option.

Things to do in Culebra: Arriving on the Culebra ferry from Ceiba

How to Get to Culebra

Getting to Culebra can be difficult. You can see a complete guide about getting to Culebra by ferry (or tips on flying too)

The least expensive option is to take the ferry (only a few dollars/person). This is also the most unreliable option as the ferry may not run, or you might not be able to get tickets, or you could get bumped by a local resident. The ferry runs several times a day from Ceiba and takes about 45 minutes. If you are traveling by ferry, try to book your tickets online and arrive at the ferry terminal 1-2 hours before your ride.

If you can’t get your tickets online (they only sell about 20% online in advance) then you can go to the ferry terminal on the day and get them. If you are trying to go out just for the day (especially on a weekend) you might not get tickets. If you are going out overnight, you are most likely to get tickets for a ferry later in the day. You can not bring your car on the ferry, but there is a place to park your car very close to the ferry dock. You will also have to pay additional fees for your luggage.

A more reliable option is to fly to Culebra. You can get a flight from San Juan to Culebra on a small propellor plane that seats 4-8 people. Tickets are usually $50-$100 plus a luggage fee and take about 15 minutes. The flight itself is very scenic although often bumpy.

The final way to get to Culebra is by private boat. This works well if you are trying to visit Culebra for the day and want to do a snorkel tour. This option is easy and reliable.

How to Get Around Culebra

Once you’re on the island, you will want to figure out how to get around Culebra. Since the island is small you can walk around town to most places and you can even walk across the island to Flamenco or Tamarindo Beach. We walked to Flamenco Beach from town and it was a pretty easy walk.

If you are looking to go across the island or just want to get around easier, you may want to rent a jeep or a golf cart, or you can take a taxi ride.

There are several places to rent jeeps or golf carts, but they do sell out, so make sure you book early. When we visited they were all sold out. A few places to rent include:

Carlos Jeep Rental
Jerry’s Jeep Rental
UTV Rental

Another option for getting around is to use a taxi service. There are taxis that run across the island and stop and pick up at many locations – you can easily get around to all the best things to do on culebra via taxi. You can find information and phone numbers for the taxis on signs all around the island. Typical costs are about $5 to get a ride by taxi.

Things to Do on Culebra

Below are some of the best things to do in Culebra, Puerto Rico including some details about how to get to each place and what to expect.

Things to do in Culebra: Flamenco Beach

Visit Flamenco Beach

Flamenco Beach is probably the most popular place to visit on Culebra and should be at the top of your list for things to do in Culebra. The white sand beach forms a large, half moon with crashing waves, palm trees, snorkeling, basic facilities and even an old tank with graffiti. This beach is consistently ranked as one of the best beaches in the world for good reason! We spent an entire day on the beach.

How to Visit Flamenco Beach: If you are already on Culebra, then you can simply drive and park at Flamenco Beach (or take a taxi/walk). The road to get there is easy to drive and you can pay to park right next to the beach. There are basic facilities here including rentals for beach supplies such as umbrellas, bathrooms, showers, and a food truck for snacks and drinks.

When you get to the beach, you can sit anywhere along the long stretch of sand. The best flamenco beach snorkeling is at the far end of the beach to the right. We started our day here and you can head straight out from the end of the beach where it ends at the rocks and then follow along the coast.

You can find the colorful tank if you walk down the beach to the left. About midday you can expect some tour boats to come into the island fro Puerto Rico, but overall there is plenty of space for everyone on this beautiful beach!

For many people, visiting Flamenco Beach is the whole reason they come to Culebra. If you are just coming to Culebra for the day to visit Flamenco Beach, you will likely come on the Culebra ferry or a plane (note there is no Flamenco Beach ferry). You can also take a day trip tour from Puerto Rico.

What to do on Culebra? Check out Flamenco Beach: Food truck at Flamenco Beach

Tamarindo Beach

Tamarindo Beach is also close to town and an easy walk or taxi ride. The best reason to visit this beach is for snorkelling. It is also much quieter compared to Flamenco Beach. The beach does not have the same beautiful sand, but the view of the small islands offshore and the sea turtles make up for it!

When we visited, our primary purpose was to go snorkelling. In just a few minutes, we saw 4 sea turtles and a sting ray. If you head off the beach and go right, you can find lots of coral and fish as well.

Things to do in Culebra: Tamarindo Beach

Zoni Beach

This beach is beautiful and popular, but much quieter compared to Flamenco Beach. The beach is on the northeastern part of Culebra Island and takes about 15-20 minutes to get there by car. The drive alone is worth going across the island. There are no real facilities at Zoni Beach or snorkelling, but there waves, quiet and sand make up for it.

Note that this beach is a turtle nesting area and you should respect all signage to ensure that the turtle nesting areas are not disturbed.

Day Trip to Culebrita

If you’re here for more than one day and looking for things to do Culebra, you should strongly consider a day trip out to Culebrita. This beautiful and uninhabited island off the eastern coast on Culebra is a nature lovers paradise. You can lounge of the beach, snorkel and walk up to the ruin of an old lighthouse.

To get to Culebrita you will need to go by tour or water taxi such as this tour. This tour operates for people who are already staying on Culebra and includes some basic supplies. Like all beaches, pack you sunscreen and bug spray!

Rent Kayaks and Paddle Around Luis Pena Cay

This beautiful, uninhabited island is on Culebra’s west coast. You can get a water taxi to the island or even better, rent kayaks for an easy paddle out to the island. From here you can swim, snorkel or hike. There are several options on the island for boat rentals, but to kayak our to Luis Pena Cay, your best option is to rent kayaks right from Tamarindo Beach.

You can see some contacts on boat rentals in general here.

Culebra’s History at Museo El Polvorin

This is a small museum but makes a great stop to explore the islands natural history are you drive to Zoni Beach.

Go Hiking

There are a number of hiking trails around the island and you can also enjoy walking on the roads. The mountain has gentle hills but nothing too tall. You can find excellent walking trails to Brava Beach, Resaca Beach and Carlos Rosario. When we walk to Flamenco Beach, we also took the dirt road that leads around the east part of the lagoon and while it wasn’t a hiking trail, we enjoyed this part of the walk.

Things to do in Culebra: Snorkelling at the far end of Flamenco Beach

Get Underwater: Scuba Diving and Snorkelling

Many of the beaches on Culebra have amazing snorkeling (some of the best snorkelling in Puerto Rico is on Culebra or Vieques and this is definitely one of the best things to do in Culebra. The best snorkelling on Culebra Island is on: Flamenco Beach, Culebrita Island, Luis Pena Channel Natural Reserve, Melones Beach, and Tamarindo Beach.

There are also many amazing diving opportunities on Culebra including over 50 dive sites down to 75 feet.

Check out Melones Beach for Sunset

Just a short walk from the ferry, Melone’s Beach is the perfect place to watch the sunset. It’s also an easy place to snorkel and you can walk right from here into town to grab some food. Like it’s neighbor Tamarindo, this beach is a prime spot to see sea turtles. If you are staying near the ferry dock, this is the easiest and closest beach to walk to.

In addition to these amazing things to do in Culebra, if you’re here for a while, you can also go fishing, bike riding, birding, paddlboarding and simple enjoy a jeep ride or walk around town.

Things to do in Culebra: Watch the Sunset

Where to Stay in Culebra

Culebra is remarkedly not built up, and there are no true resorts on the island. Expect a very casual and laid back feel on the island without a lot of fancy or large lodging options. The best Culebra, Puerto Rico Hotels are small, beautiful and simple.

We booked out travel to Culebra later than normal and had limited options of places to stay and decided to book an AirBNB right in town. We liked this option since it was easiest to get to some of the restaurants in the evening. We stayed very close to Flamenco Coffee which was a bonus! From here it is an easy walk to both the airport and the ferry.

You can also stay at one of the few small hotels on the island. Below are a few places to stay on the island that got good reviews but weren’t available during our visit:

Island Charm Culebra – good views and close to town with options for a family
Club Seaborne Hotel – Options for couples and families with beautiful grounds
Posada La Hamaca – Options to sleep up to 5 people with lovely views

Culebra or Vieques

One question you might have when you are planning your trip is which is best Vieques or Culebra? In many ways the two islands are similar – both have gorgeous beaches and snorkelling. Vieques is a bigger island which means there is more to explore, although you will definitely want a car.

The biggest difference between the 2 islands is the 2 main attractions. Most people want to go to Culebra to visit Flamenco Beach, while on Vieques, one of the biggest draws is the biolumiscent bay where you can kayak at night. The best island to visit is based on what you want to do. We researched both islands, and ultimately decided to go to Culebra since we knew we would be visiting Parguara Biolumiescent Bay later in our trip.

Things to do in Culebra

Looking for more fun things to do in Puerto Rico?

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7 Day Puerto Rico Itinerary
Things to do in Culebra
Exploring El Yunque National Forest
The Best Things to do in Old San Juan
How to Explore Canon Blanco

3 DAY CULEBRA, PUERTO RICO TRAVEL ITINERARY

Culebra is a beautiful little island that is a municipality of Puerto Rico. It is one of the most popular day trips and is less than an hour ferry ride away from the main island of Puerto Rico.

Culebra is home to one of the most beautiful beaches in the world and has an endless supply of white sand beaches with crystal clear water. Although breathtakingly beautiful, Culebra was once used as a bombing range for the US military, which you will see remnants of in certain areas. Make sure to bring snacks and extra food as most of the businesses were only open for several hours throughout the day.

I recommend 2-3 days on Culebra so you can fully take in the island without having to rush. However, for those short on time, a day trip is also enough as long as you plan in advance. Below are some of the best things to do in Culebra, especially if you’re an ocean lover.

MUST HAVE TRAVEL ESSENTIALS TO MAKE YOUR TRAVEL LIFE EASIER

culebra travel vlog below:

Table of Contents

DAY 1: how to get to Culebra from San Juan + where to stay

There are two options to get there, either by boat or by plane.

Budget option: take a ferry from Ceiba to Culebra

To get to Culebra you will need to take an Uber, taxi or your rental car to Ceiba on the East side of the island. An uber from San Juan to Ceiba will be around $60 for the hour and a half ride, the taxi will most likely cost $70-100 and a rental car will just depend on the rate of the day plus the $11 per day parking.

From San Juan my friends and I took an uber which we split between the 3 of us which turned out to be $20 each, and got dropped off at the Ceiba Ferry & Airport Taxi Company.

Waiting for the ferry

I would highly suggest buying your tickets a week ahead of time or even a month if you’re trying to go at a specific or busy time. You can buy your tickets online through the City Experiences App which will cost $2.25 one way for an adults and $1 for seniors and children under 13 or choose to do it in person at the ticketing counter at the ferry.

More expensive but more convenient option for those short on time: take a flight from San Juan directly to Culebra

You can take a flight from San Juan and fly directly to Culebra for $100 one way on a 35 minute flight. I have heard the views from this flight are spectacular and also a fun experience for those who haven’t been on small inter-island planes before.

If you do have time, I suggest taking the ferry to reduce emissions, save money, and get a feel for how the locals travel!

GETTING TO YOUR STAY FROM THE FERRY PORT

There are taxis available aka golf carts and vans that can take you to your accommodation that are waiting for passengers as they exit the ferry. The island is small enough to walk but it will definitely take at least 30-an hour to get to some places on the island so if you have the extra cash support the local taxi service!

For those who like to plan ahead, you can contact Kiko’s Transportation Service and set up a taxi ride through them-their phone number is (321)-335-8523 and email is [email protected].

WHERE TO STAY ON CULEBRA

Budget option: camping at Flamenco Beach! you can rent tents for $15-20, read more here.

Treat yourself option: getting a 180 degree view of the island from above!

We treated ourselves to a nice airbnb since we were able to split it 3 ways, so instead of paying $193 per night we each had to pay $65 per night! It came with a kitchen, two bedrooms, and a beautiful porch to watch the sunrise and take in these views. Here is the link to the Airbnb we stayed at 🙂

DAY 2: ADVENTURE DAY~ going to beautiful beaches + snorkeling with turtles

BEST WAY TO GET AROUND CULEBRA: walk, bike, jeep or golf cart

Like I mentioned earlier, it is possible to walk around Culebra although if you’re trying to go to multiple places it will definitely take you hours to walk from place to place so I suggest getting a form of transportation.

From Carlos Jeep Rental, you can rent either golf cart or Jeep. We chose to get a golf cart since it was less of a hassle- if you’re trying to go to more secluded beaches like Playa Zoni I would suggest a Jeep. *we planned this very last minute but we ended up just walking to Carlos Jeep Rental and asking if they had any golf carts left, which despite what their website said-they had some available!* Travelers under 25 will be charged an underage fee and you will need to make sure you fill up the vehicle before returning it.

THE BEST THINGS TO DO IN CULEBRA:

ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BEACHES IN THE WORLD

taken on GoPro

Flamenco Beach has been rewarded by several magazines the title of “one of the most beautiful beaches in the world” with its white sand, crystal clear water and green mountains in the background. The entrance fee is $2 per person and if you have a golf cart / vehicle you pay an additional $5 which go into the maintenance of the beaches facilities (bathrooms, showers, etc).

TANKS AT THE BEACH

If you walk down the left side of the beach you will actually find tanks that have been left over from the US Navy from when they used this island for bombing practice. Long story short, the locals protested against the military and the military ended up leaving, but also left behind their tanks too. Now you can visit this little piece of history right on the shores of Flamenco Beach.

Find out more about the history here.

GO SNORKELING WITH TURTLES

The best place to go snorkeling with turtles in Culebra is Playa Tamarindo. Here my friend and I were able to swim with at least 5 turtles and observe the shallow reef. Please make sure to not chase turtles, step on the reef and make sure your sunscreen is reef safe before entering the ocean.

travel tip: if you are traveling somewhere with an ocean get yourself a snorkeling mask and bring it on every adventure, it will save you a lot of money that you would otherwise use to rent and not have as much freedom! Also, the best way to capture underwater content is with the GoPro!

BEST PLACE TO WATCH SUNSET

The best place to watch sunset on Culebra is at Playa Melones. It is rocky rather than sandy, but it has the perfect view of the sun slowly make its way towards the horizon and behind a little island.

DAY 3- relaxation day before heading back

This will be your day to truly stop and enjoy the peaceful beauty Culebra has to offer. We chose to spend the day at Playa Flamenco but you can take things to do on day 2’s adventure day list and spread them out throughout your time or try to fit everything into one day if you’re only doing a daytrip!

From Flamenco Beach there are taxi services, if you get more than 5 people you only have to pay $5 per person, but there will be many people leaving that popular beach so it shouldn’t be a problem!

summary of our travel budget for 3 days:

*split between 3 people*

$2 one way ferry ticket ($4 each)
Airbnb split between 3 friends = $130 for 2 nights each
golf cart rental was $31 each ($94 total)
Flamenco Beach $3.60 each ($2 per entry + $5 for parking)
golf cart gas refill $3.