Our Editor’s Insider Guide to a Hidden Caribbean Island

When you land on Vieques, you’re first greeted by the quiet whisper of warm trade winds blowing through the lush, overgrown jungle that is so green your eyes widen. Wild horses roam free, along with chickens, roosters, and iguanas. Vieques is considered one of the most ecologically diverse and largest wildlife refuges in the Caribbean, and more than half of the island is protected land. Which means the 40+ beaches boasting endless shades of blues, wide bays, small coves, white sand, black sand, and more, are completely empty. This isn’t your typical Caribbean vacation—no one is setting up a lounge chair on the beach and bringing you drinks. Vieques is anything but that. There are no resorts, beach clubs, or tourist traps. But that’s the point. Editor @hunter has been visiting Vieques her entire life, and shares her most coveted secret spots and insider recs on the hidden gem of an island.

By Hunter Levitan