DEliTOUR: Vieques

Vieques - have you heard of it? No? Neither had we. Well, PR has two bigger islands, Vieques and Culebra, and also a few islets. It turns out they all have great reef for snorkelling, one has a 2000 strong monkey research population, a few are wilderness, Culebra is famous for its world-class beaches including Flamingo beach, but we were heading for Vieques, known for its laid back vibe, world class beaches and the world´s most bio-luminescent bay.

We got to the ferry terminal and there was a huge queue. You see we were in PR during summer holiday ("summer xmas") and everyone was going Culebra. You have never seen so many ordinarily sized people carrying so many outrageously sized cool boxes. We had seen crowds on the beaches aroud Loiza and at Palmas Del Mar but there was a mass exodus to Culebra. Luckily 2 hours before departure the Vieques queue was tiny. We got tickets, brekkie and we were on our way on the cheap public ferry - actually the cheapest thing in PR - and it is a passport to paradise.

On Vieques we went across to Esperanza, the laid back ex-pat water side hangout. Snorkelling off the beach and jetty we saw tens of thousands of sardines, some big fish and plenty of littluns. And when we swam out to the island in the bay we saw a handful of big moon jellyfish and great marine life on the coral. We stayed at Bananas guest house, ate comfort food and took the walk to the massive curve of Sun Bay beach; next bay along.

And that night we had our real treat, the Mosquito Bay, a shallow bay, almost a saltwater lagoon that is filled with microscopic organisms. Turns out that these little fellas light up like xmas, like fireflies, when disturbed. Apparently it is a defense mechanism though I can´t see why the little fella going off is going to put me, a whale, or even any little fishie, off my supper or dipping my paddle. In fact strikes me that they are just enjoying themsleves.

They say that full moon should be avoided for bio-luminescence watching. We had no moon. Not only was the moon hiding somewhere in the earth´s shadow. But we also had the clearest night, more stars than we have ever seen in the sky. And we were in a double kayak, in pitch darkness, paddling out into the middle of this great bay.

After a few paddle strokes the fun started. You could see the water around the paddles glow. Once we got closer to the hotspots in the lake you could see the whole area around each canoe glowing a vibrant turquoise. And as we lifted our paddles out of the water with each stroke you could see bright sequins falling from them, lighting up, going out, dripping back into the water.

The water was incredibly warm. We had life jackets, slipped into the water and started playing about. You could lift your hands out of the water, hold them to the stars, and have your hands dripping with stars of their own. It was terrific. Some of you may know that I have something of a penchant for glowing sea life, even having penned a (still incomplete) suite of music on the subject. For me, this was a life long fantasy.

On a darker note our time in PR was coming to an end and meant that we were uinable to visit the town of Ponce. I therefore do not have the money shot of myself posing in Ponce. I feel ashamed and that I have let my father down.

We spent our last night in PR in luxury at the Mariott Isla Verde on the beach with the pool, great room and short hop to the airport. We were gutted to leave Puerto Rico. We would also recommend it to anybody.