Vieques Best Beaches: 7 Beaches to Visit on Puerto Rico's Popular Island

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Vieques is a popular island off the coast of Puerto Rico that, like the main island of Puerto Rico, is known for some spectacular beaches!

(Also, the brightest bioluminescent bay in the world!)

And really, it’s hard to go wrong on any Vieques beaches, but I wanted to share with you some of my favorites and what I liked (and didn’t like) about them to help you find the perfect beach for your family to visit!

Wondering how to get to Vieques from the main island? Here’s our guide on taking the Puerto Rico ferry!

Plan Your Trip To Vieques!

Vieques has the brightest bioluminescent bay in the world. We booked this tour and loved it.
Find more Vieques tours here.
We loved this vacation rental with an infinity pool, lots of space, and beautiful views.
Want and easy way to play your trip to Puerto Rico? Check out this Puerto Rico Travel Guide.

Best Beaches on Vieques

Sea Glass Beach (My Favorite Beach!)

Calm water at the beach washing up against sand, trees behind the beach area — Sea Glass Beach

Saying that Sea Glass Beach is my favorite almost seems cliche. Like, someone might look at that statement and think “Oh, she just didn’t go to any of the *good* beaches,” in some kind of snotty way.

But here are the facts: Sea Glass Beach is convenient. It’s beautiful. And the water is super calm and perfect for the whole family.

It also gets it’s name from the sea glass you can find along the shore. I loved hunting sea glass down, but it’s also a little tricky (I think there used to be more and there’s just not a ton left).

If you’re looking for a beach convenient for a day trip to Vieques, this one is perfect because you can walk to this beach from the ferry terminal in less than 10 minutes.

And like I said, the water is so gentle and generally pretty shallow, which makes it perfect of the whole family to enjoy.

Parking is limited, but we didn’t have any issues. And definitely watch the tides on this one. One of our family members went back at high tide and the most enjoyable parts of the beach were covered in water, so you’ll want to go at a lower tide time.

And a fun bonus for kids: You can see the ferry coming in from this beach!

Location: 251 Calle Prudencio Quiñnones #243

Playa Caracas

Sandy beach with turquoise water, dark clouds overhead, boat in the water off the beach — Playa Caracas

A lot of Vieques best beaches are located in the Vieques National Wildlife Refuge on the Southeast side of the island. We actually had a great afternoon just driving through Wildlife Refuge and beach hopping.

Playa Caracas was definitely one of my favorite beaches there though. Not only was it beautiful, but there were lots of amenities too including picnic areas, lots of parking, and a bathroom.

It’s a popular beach (there was a lot going on when we were there), but I still loved it and we loved swimming here. The water was beautiful and, while there were waves, it wasn’t too rough for our almost-10-year-old.

Location: Calle Playa Caracas

Playa La Chiva

Beach with some seaweed washed up on shore, blue water beyond it, low scrub behind the beach — Playa la Chiva

Playa la Chiva is another beach in the Vieques National Wildlife Refuge, just about a 10 minute drive away from Playa Caracas. And just like Playa Caracas, it’s beautiful. (I especially loved the look of the island that’s off the coast.)

The waves were perfect for a little swimming, although there was a lot of seaweed here (that might be a seasonal thing though?).

It was also less crowded than Playa Caracas.

Playa La Chiva spans across a pretty large section of beach, so there are several spots to park. And at Space 10, there are bathrooms.

Location: Just follow the main road in the Wildlife Refuge and follow signs to Playa la Chiva

Playa La Plata

Beach tucked in a cover, lots of seaweed on the shore — Playa la Plata

Playa La Plata is another Wildlife Refuge beach, a 5 minute drive from Playa La Chiva. I didn’t think it was *as* beautiful as the other beaches, but that’s a ridiculous statement to make. It’s still one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve been to. (Although, again, lots of seaweed along the shore. But I’m thinking that’s seasonal.)

This beach wasn’t crowded at all, and felt like a peaceful oasis for soaking in the sun. It’s tucked into a little cove, which almost gives it a secluded feel.

Location: Laguna La Plata Road

Sun Bay Beach

Beach with wide sandy area and palm trees — Sub Bay Beach

Sun Bay Beach gets you out of the Wildlife Refuge beach area. It’s located just east of the town of Esperanza. And there are some significant pros and cons to this beach.

Cons: It costs $4 per vehicle to get in. And the water wasn’t nearly as beautiful as the Wildlife Refuge beaches we had been to earlier in the day. Maybe it changes at different times of the year, but it was pretty brown when we were there (not that crystal blue you get at the other beaches) and I had zero temptation to swim in it.

Pros: It is surrounded by some beautiful shady palm trees. And this is a GREAT beach to see some of the famous free-roaming horses of Vieques. There were SO many horses just hanging out in the fields behind the beach, and some of them were running around having a great time. So I loved that.

It’s a great beach in a convenient location, but I do think the beaches in Vieques National Wildlife Refuge beaches are better.

Location: Entrance located on Hwy 997, just east of the PR-996 intersection

Playa Grande

Long expanse of sandy beach with blue water, some palm trees and low scrub behind the beach

If you want a beach where you can really get away from the world, Playa Grande is it! This beach is located west of Esperanza, kind of on the Southwest corner of the island.

And when we were there NO ONE was there.

This beach isn’t as good as some of the others from swimming because several parts have a rockier entrance to the water. But if you want to soak in the sun with no one around, head to Playa Grande.

Location: Laguna Playa Grande Road

Black Sand Beach

The Black Sand Beach near Playa Grande is a super popular spot in Vieques because it’s so unique.

I’ll be honest: We didn’t go. We stopped there, but we realized we didn’t have the energy to make the short hike down to the Black Sand Beach in the heat. (It’s about a 10 minute hike down to the beach, although I’ve heard it’s beautiful!) So instead, Gerrit flew his drone over there.

It looks like a cool spot, but the black sand part is not actually that big (not like something you’d get in Hawaii). But if seeing a black sand beach is on your bucket list, it might be worth going!

Locatoin: Parking on Barrio la Hueca, across from Oro Gallery

Getting Around Vieques

The best way to get around Vieques (and to all these beaches!) is to rent a car. And you’ll want something with 4-wheel drive because the roads on Vieques (especially in the wildlife preserve) are not exactly smooth.

Also, be careful with Google maps. If you’re going to the beaches in the wildlife preserve, take 997 to the entrance. Google tried to take us a different way at first…and you know those scenes in jungle adventure movies where you’re like, how are they going to get out of this jungle? Well…that was us. It was definitely NOT a road.