Taking the Ferries to Culebra or Vieques: 5 Things You Need to Know Now

The beautiful islands of Culebra and Vieques sit off the eastern coast of Puerto Rico and offer tranquility and crystal clear waters, and one of the best ways to get there is to take the ferries to Culebra or Vieques. I am sharing everything we learned about taking the Culebra ferry (the same generally applies to the Vieques ferry) and some of the mistakes to avoid.

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Is it Worth it to Take the Ferries to Culebra and Vieques?

The quick answer is YES! Head to Culebra if you want the visit the world-famous Flamenco beach or want to swim with sea turtles. Book a stay in Vieques and take a kayak in the bioluminescent bay.

Visiting both these islands is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but getting there isn’t easy. The information below will hopefully help you decide whether to take the ferry or to hop on a short plane ride to get out to the islands and if you decide to take one of the ferries to Culebra or Vieques, exactly how to ensure you get there without any problems.

The Truth About Taking the Ferries to Culebra or Vieques

Before I get into the details of exactly how to take the ferry there are a few things to note.

First, there are lots of stories of people trying to take the Culebra or Vieques ferry and not making it to the island. This is partly because ferry tickets sell out and also that they prioritize island residents. You will have the most difficult time getting on the ferry if you are trying to get out to the islands for just the day as you will need tickets on an early morning ferry and book a return trip on a later ferry. These are the most common ferries to sell out. When we tried to go to Culebra, these tickets were completely sold out. For this reason, if you are considering a day trip to Culebra, you may want to book a tour and not rely on the ferry.

It’s also important to note that the ferries to Culebra and Vieques leave from Ceiba. There is no Fajardo ferry to Culebra. There was a ferry from Fajardo to Culebra for many years, but the ferry dock has moved to Ceiba (there is also no ferry from Fajardo to Vieques). There is also no direct Flamenco Beach ferry. To get to Flamenco Beach, you will take the Culebra Ferry from Ceiba and then take a taxi or rent a car on Culebra. The same thing goes for visiting Vieques.

Another important thing to note is that you can’t take a car on the ferries (or it’s very difficult). If you are trying to visit Culebra from San Juan, this means you will need to get to Ceiba, take the ferry, then rent another car once you are on the island (or you can walk or take a taxi).

1. How to Get Culebra Ferry Tickets or Vieques Ferry Tickets

Tickets go on sale online a few weeks in advance. You can buy tickets and see the Culebra ferry schedule on the Puerto Rico ferry website. Only about 20% of the tickets are available online in advance. This means that if you don’t get tickets online there may still be tickets available. You will need to go in person on the day of your trip to buy tickets. It is possible that you won’t be able to get tickets and they will sell out, especially on the weekends or if you are trying to get specific ferry tickets.

We were unable to get tickets online for a Saturday. Since we were planning on spending 2 nights on the island, we didn’t need to get an early morning ferry. We arrived at the ferry terminal around 8:00 and all the ferries were sold out until 4:00. If you are staying out overnight, make sure to tell the ticket person this as she originally told me there were no tickets at all, but this changed when she knew we were spending the night on the island.

Once we had our tickets, we went off for the day to one of the nearby beaches. When we came back around 2:30 to get on the ferry, there were people just arriving who were unable to get to the islands. Don’t wait until the end of the day and assume there will be tickets. You should also purchase your return trip as well.

It’s also important to note that local residents have priority for buying tickets which is why they have this slightly complicated system in place. If you are bringing luggage, you will also need to pay for the luggage (this includes sleeping bags, coolers, rolling bags, etc). We took out backpacks and were not charged for these.

To summarize buying tickets, here are the most important things to remember:

• Try to buy your tickets online
• If you don’t get tickets online, arrive early and don’t assume you will get a ticket
• Avoid going to Culebra for the day on a weekend – if possible, plan to spend a night or two on the island.

2. How to get on the Ferry – Culebra and Vieques

If you are coming from San Juan to Vieques or Culebra, you will likely be driving. There is a parking lot right near the ferry with a shuttle (it’s also a short walk). Parking is just a few dollars/day.

Once you have your tickets, there is also a system for boarding the ferry. You will want to arrive at least an hour before your ferry departs. At this time, they will check your tickets and they let you into a covered waiting area. The waiting area is divided up into sections and they will board in this order.

• Pregnant women, senior citizens (60 years and over); persons with disabilities and veterans.
• Residenct of the islands of the municipality
• Passengers with tickets

It is possible that you can have advance tickets AND YOU COULD STILL GET BUMPED off the ferry if there are local residents. This means if you wait and don’t arrive early, you may still not get a spot on the ferry.

About 30 minutes before departure, they will board the ferry. Once we were on the ferry, there was plenty of space.

3. Actually Taking the Vieques or Culebra Island Ferry

So how long do the Puerto Rico ferries to Culebra and Vieques actually take? They are both under an hour. You can get to Culebra in about 45 minutes and the ferry Vieques to Ceiba takes about 30 minutes.

Depending on the weather conditions, the ride can either be smooth or if it’s been rough offshore, you can expect a bumpy ride. Since the ferries are tall, the best places to sit if it might be bumpy are on the lower level (you will rock less) or on the open-top decks where you can have some fresh air. On our ferry ride, several people got sea sick and it was mostly people sitting inside on the middle layer.

The cargo ferries are also larger so they likely experience a little less rocking. If it is too rough, they will obviously cancel the ferry, so make sure you provide the correct contact information.

Despite being rough, we enjoyed our ferry rides and even saw some whale spouts in the distance.

4. How to get to Culebra, Puerto Rico if you can’t get Ferry Tickets

If you can’t get on the ferries to Culebra or Vieques or don’t want to deal with the uncertainty, there are several other options. You can find flights to Culebra and Vieques from San Juan. The flight is about 30 minutes and costs between $50-$120. If you add up the cost of the ferry, parking, and car rental, this may be the easiest option for not much more. Since we were traveling as a family of 5 and already had a car, flying really didn’t make any sense. It is sometimes possible to get a flight from Ceiba to Culebra. Check Air Flamenco, Vieques Air Link or Cape Air.

Another option for spending time on Vieques or Culebra is to do a day trip through a tour company. We saw several medium-sized boats bring groups out to the islands for the day. When you add up the car rental, ferry tickets (or flight) and lodging for a night or two, it may be easier and cheaper to book one of these tours.

5. A Few Other Things to Know.

The ferry terminals have bathrooms, port-o-potties, and a small restaurant with food and drinks. The terminals on both sides are in good shape, and the ferries were clean, efficient, and felt safe.

It is also important to note that the feeling of uncertainty about getting to the islands doesn’t seem to happen on the return trip. You should still plan to get to the ferry early, although 45 minutes seemed like plenty on the day we traveled.

The ferries to Culebra and Vieques are a great, inexpensive option and if you are able to navigate the system and get there early, you should be fine to enjoy your time on the islands!

Wondering what to do in Culebra? Check out our article about Things to do in Culebra.

For more ideas of what to do in Puerto Rico, check out:

• 11 Things to do in Puerto Rico
• 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