Geographically akin to the Virgin Islands, but territorially part of Puerto Rico, Culebra is quickly and easily reached via ferry or plane from San Juan. With exactly one town (called Dewey only on maps, but never in name) and nearly deserted on the weekdays, this is the place to get away from your vacation.

Quick Tips:

Hike over the hill from Flamenco (the giant, pristine but most popular beach) to Carlos Rosario for some secluded, world-class snorkeling.

Visit Mamacita's on a Saturday night to hear a conga party and come back the next night to hear the locals sing songs.

Best Way To Get Around:

If you're staying in town, or even visiting from a remote location, just park your car and walk. The town is exactly three streets, so you can reach just about anything on foot.

We rented the villa as a couple, but if two couples were to split it (or a family), the villa would be considered inexpensive by Caribbean standards.

The basics: The villa is composed of two structures, with a deck/pool between them. The main structure contains the large living area with kitchen, deck, and laundry facilities. The second structure contains two one-bedroom units with private baths that feature wide-open, ocean-view showers!

The lobster monfongitos were quite nice--tiny cups of refried plantains and pork skins, stuffed with a lobster mixture. The churasco, a flattened flank steak, was well done with a nice mojo-type, creole-inspired flavor to it.

Carlos, the guy with dreads and nice clothes, is a grumpy, grumpy waiter.

LAS DELICIAS: specializes in lobster dishes and is a bit out of the way, but worth it for a meal or two. The owners are super-friendly and the restaurant is totally family-friendly.

OASIS: great pizzeria right on the main street in the town. Get some beers here and a lovely seafood pizza with squid, conch, octopus, and other fruits of the sea for a great deal.

EL CAOBO (or "Tina's"): find this place (just ask around) for excellent "locals' food," meaning fried fish, pork chops, and other Puerto Rican specialties. It's an extremely casual and very laid-back family-run business in the heart of "real" Culebra.

EL PATIO BAKERY: serves some decent pastries, but skip the sandwiches. The coffee isn't terrible, and it's very cheap. But see my Cafe Isola entry for better sandwich and coffee options.

Accessing this beach requires that you hike through some ranch land, so look out for cows and/or goats. Additionally, it can get a little shady trying to find the road. We ended up on somebody's property who didn't like us too much, but was nice enough. We finally found the road and drove to the end. Park by the trailer house and head down the dirt road. You'll wind through some scrubby brush, and after a while, you'll see a really old well on the right-hand side. Keep going to emerge on the beach. You will almost certainly be the only people on this beach.

We did the hike in tennis shoes and were just fine.

This beach is prime leatherback sea turtle nesting ground and is protected, so don't even think about litering or tromping around like a bunch of morons. Frisbee and the sort is out of the question.

Some people surf here and at Resaca, but swimming is NOT recommended. These two beaches are not protected by any reefs and the water can be very rough and dangerous undertows are always present.

Resaca: Access via the helipad. Ask locals for directions and wear some hiking boots as this is a fairly strenuous hike.

And just about everyone we asked sang the same song, or rather, lamented to the same tune: The Dinghy Dock is closed. They also had the same stern warning: Mamacita's, the only other real dining option in town, had recently undergone a management change and was, "not as good."

Mamacitia's is a guesthouse, restaurant, bar and, most controversially, a laundromat. It sits directly on the channel that connects Ensenada Honda to the Lagoon where the ferries dock, so one can pull a boat right up to the patio, hop out, and enjoy some food and beverage--a pretty good setup.

Once inside, the drinks were generally strong and the food was serviceable and typical: fish, chicken, pork, tostones, and the usual. The service and the attitude was laid-back all the way, with pets roaming the dining dock and people lingering with a drink by the water.

But something was amiss. We were in a tourist shop, and some expat types began a conversation. "Can you believe," they said, "what they've done to Mamacita's? I mean, a laundromat!" We were paying for our items, and I wanted to linger to see what the controversy was all about, but couldn't figure out a way to do it without seeming obvious and didn't want to just ask them, which would have been easiest.

We shrugged it off. After over a week on Culebra, we had determined that Mamacita's was the best basic option, given that the Dinghy Dock was closed. The fish sandwich was solid. The drinks were reasonably priced. The other restaurants, in fact, all of the restaurants, were just "okay." But as far as "okay" went, Mamacita's excelled.

What's more, Mamacita's was actually a lot of fun. No jaded honkey bartender pounding coozy-wrapped bud cans here: just enthusiastic young Puerto Ricans and other youngsters enjoying the good vibes of paradise. Throw in a steel drum player here, a conga player there. Instead of guitar-based singalongs, these Puerto Rican youngsters would beat out rhythms on the congas while chanting call-and-response lyrics: guys versus girls.

We had the most fun at Mamacita's. We even witnessed an impromptu conga-fueled singalong one night. Everyone was smiling, dancing, laughing, and having a good time, beating anything within reach to the time of the drums.

But still, the bad vibing by the townie expats continued. At another guest house, the owner tried to warn us not to go to Mamacita's. "They just don't cater to the local community. The Dinghy Dock is going to re-open. The owner of the building is going to re-open the restaurant after the previous people stopped leasing the space. It's going to be done right, this time."

Our verdict: ignore everybody. Mamacita's is the best thing going on Culebra.

Once there, strap on your gear and swim about 50 yards out to the channel marker (usually a white milk jug), turn right and you'll be swimming along some pristine coral reef. I saw trigger fish, yellowtail (?), eels, starfish, sea horses and all sorts of amazing sites. I also got washed into a reef on my return swim, so be careful. Slow and steady wins the race. I was rushing and not looking where I was going. Thankfully, I hit a rock, not any coral, but it still scared the crap out of me.

This is NOT TO BE MISSED.

Since Culebra is a tiny island, with a tiny airport, everything must arrive by ferry--even the garbage trucks. It's really unbelievable to see.

Families reunite after a day of WalMart-ing on the big island, visitors pour in searching for some respite from the hot ferry ride over, and all sorts of people come simply to watch what's happening. Somebody is sure to put on some LOUD music out of the back of their pickup, and people are sure to cruise by.

In town, you'll find a couple grocery stores at the main intersection, some assorted dive and tourist shops, eXcetera, which is the office/copy/phone call location, some guest houses and a few restaurants. Check my restaurant reviews for more about that.

Culebra has a couple of churches, which act as hubs for activity. You can hear steel drum bands rehearsing, choir practice, whatever, as you stroll by.

Town is tiny and totally walkable. Most of the best restaurants are located outside of town, so transportation is almost a necessity, plus having transportation opens up a lot of possibilities to you.

Of the two dive shops, we trusted the equipment at Culebra Divers on the ferry dock the most, but the other dive shop on the main strip into town, they have some excellent food options such as frozen steaks, seafood and even a few gourmet cheeses and hams.

The post office is a U.S. post office, run efficiently and in a friendly manner. Postage is the same as if you were domestic to the United States, which is nice.

The party scene is centered around a few locations: Club Seabourne for dinner and drinks, Mamacita's for live music and local flavor, and Oasis Pizza for some late night shenanigans and a hipsterish expat scene.