Culebra - General Info
Description:
Lying north of Vieques (the other island in the group known as the Spanish Virgin Islands), Culebra lies equidistant between the main island of Puerto Rico and the western-most island of the British Virgin Islands, Charlotte Amalie.
Culebra is a popular weekend tourist destination, especially known for its crystal clear water. There is a small cruising community who live there year round. Vieques to the south is even quieter than Culebra. This is probably one of the easiest places to clear into the US.
Many of the small islands around Isla Culebra are nature reserves and restrictions must be observed.
Ensenada Honda is the largest inlet on the island of Culebra and this bay is a well known hurricane hole.
Position:
18°17.50’N, 65°16.47’W (entrance to Ensenada Honda)
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Related to following destinations: Culebra, Puerto Rico, Spanish Virgin Islands
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January 2024: We anchored in about 4.5 meters in Ensenada Honda, NNW of Cayo Pirata. Good holding in sand. We were almost directly in line with the runway at Aeropuerto Benjamín Rivera Noriega, which made for a lot of small plane noise as they took of directly over the boat. Luckily it was quiet from about 9PM to sunrise.
There’s a no-frills and inexpensive laundromat nearby – La Surana Apartments and Laundromat. $2 washers (top loaders) and $1 (15 minute) dryers. We asked for, and were granted, permission to leave the dinghy on the private dock for Hostal Casa Culebra, a 5 minute walk from the laundromat.
While the laundry was running, we walked up to D’s Garden for fresh vegetables – highly recommended! Excellent quality, reasonable prices, and very friendly. Evidently you can dock on one of th docks on the north shore of Ensenada del Coronel, around the corner from where we were, if you mantion that you are going to D’s.
We cleared in to Puerto Rico at Culebra from Frederiksted on St. Croix, USVIs in January 2024 (on a Sunday afternoon) using CBP ROAM. We are a U.S. flagged vessel, with only U.S. citizens aboard. I submitted the arrival as we were passing through the narrow spot at the entrance to Ensenada Honda; customs called me within minutes. After answering a few questions (boat name, any weapons or biologics, crew citizenship), we were cleared and received email notification immediately. It could not have been easier.
Diesel is available at the Total station under the bridge. You can dinghy to it with cans and fill up very conveniently. The sign on the door says ”cash only”.
We arrived into Culebra on Dec 31, 2018, and CBP are now asking everyone to use the CBP Roam app to clear in (we were told this by phone) and they promptly processed our arrival, without leaving the boat. We have the US flagged vessel and all crew were from the US.
Reported by CSSN:
DATE: 2018-12-10 22:00
Country Name: Puerto Rico
Location Detail: Culebra Public dock
EVENT: Theft
HAND: 2
Stolen Items: fuel line for dinghy outboard
SECURED: Not Locked
DETAILS: The fuel line for Yamaha outboard was stolen from a dinghy at the town dock
Posted on behalf of Lisa Torkelson – 17 February 2016
Just cleared into Culebra, SVI, from St. Thomas, USVI, today and we anchored just south of the ferry terminal. The Customs officer said, for next time, that we were supposed to anchor in Ensenada Honda for the clearance. He said we were fine this time.
Clearing in (at least as a US Citizen with the US flagged boat) was simple, and the same process and phone number used when we last cleared here in 2012. I called (787) 729-6840 and an officer called me back within a half an hour to take all my details over the phone. He asked if I had ever seen a Customs officer (I assumed for the LBO program).
I told him I only had purchased a DTOPS Decal, but he said that we could still do formalities over the phone as the other is just to speed up the entry process. Even though I had just purchased the Decal last week, a Payment Tracking # AND Order # was sufficient to continue the telephone interview.
He asked if we had any pets and I said we have a dog. The only thing he wanted to know is if I had immunizations records on board (which I do). I did not get a health certificate and he didn’t ask for one.
Editor’s note: ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) is the automated system that determines the eligibility of visitors to travel to the U.S. under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP).
We were able to get a 12-month Cruising licence for the US here. We arrived from BVI having ferried to Cruz Bay St Johns in the US Virgins from West End Tortola. Here we were issued with a 90 day Visa for the US. With this, we sailed We were able to get a 12-month Cruising License for the US in Culebra. We had previously ferried from West End Tortola BVI to Cruz Bay St Johns USVI to get a 90-day visa stamp in our passports. Aussie.
(We did need the ESTA to board the ferry.) We then sailed to Culebra and were issued with 12 months Cruising Permit. To make full use of this we will need to obtain a B1/B2 Visa. We hope to achieve this in Nassau in the Bahamas prior to entry to the USA.