White sand
A horseshoe bay.
Breezy Baldwin — CC BY 2.0 · Carolyn Sugg — CC BY-SA 2.0 · OliverZena (Alessandro Cai) — Public domain · Breezy Baldwin — CC BY 2.0
One of the Caribbean's finest beaches, a horseshoe of soft white sand curving about a kilometre and a half around Flamenco Bay on the small island of Culebra, sheltered by reefs so its water is shallow, calm and clear turquoise, with green hills and a lagoon behind. Its oddest sight is a pair of old rusting tanks on the sand and in the water, left from the era when the US Navy used the island for bombing practice until the 1970s; islanders have covered them in colourful paint, and everyone photographs them. The beach is a public park with lifeguards, toilets, food stalls and a campground among the trees, and there is snorkelling by the rocks at both ends among fish and coral. Visitors reach it by taxi or minibus from Culebra harbour in about ten minutes. It gets busy at weekends and in summer with mainland visitors; weekdays are quieter. Ferries run to the island from Ceiba in eastern Puerto Rico and small planes from San Juan; ferries fill up on holidays, so book early. Do not touch or stand on coral, do not feed or approach animals, and use reef-safe sunscreen. The sun is strong all year, so carry water, a hat and sunscreen.
A horseshoe bay.
From the Navy era.
By the rocks.
North-west of Culebra island
By ferry from Ceiba or small plane from San Juan to Culebra, then a ten-minute taxi to the beach.