Snorkel Pitstop.

We snuck in a snorkel pitstop on our way to Culebra last week. :)))

Our easy breezy trip from Vieques to Culebra was one of those awesome kinds of motor sails. You know, the ones where you’re basically just lounging around, enjoying some killer weather, singing along to some good tunes in the cockpit, and even hooking a fish or two along the way! So why not up the ante another notch and make a fun little snorkel pit stop at one of the reefs just outside the island of Culebra in the Spanish Virgins?

Exactly! So we did just that. ;))

We had read about how breathtakingly beautiful all the small cays are surrounding the area of Culebra and, even better, most of them have a few free Department of Natural Resources mooring balls available for day use. And seriously, free mooring balls are the bomb dot com!

Unfortunately for us, we were headed into town on a busy holiday weekend where there were sure to be boatloads of locals staking out all the good snorkel spots and free moorings. In other words, we definitely weren’t holding our breath on being able to secure one that afternoon.

As we made our way closer and closer to Culebra, about two or three miles from the main channel into the harbor, we said “why the hell not” and headed instead towards Cayo Luis Pena, one of the small islands adjacent to Culebra.

In the 60 seconds I happened to take a quick peak through the binos, a huge fishing boat dropped their ball and motored away. Seriously, what are the odds that a mooring would open up the exact moment we needed it? Talk about a couple of lucky ducks!

Although another boater could have easily whizzed on by us and stolen that free mooring ball right out from under our nose, luck must’ve been on our side because we were able to mosey our way on over there and pick up the one empty mooring ball without any issues whatsoever. Woot woot!

About 20 seconds after grabbing the mooring, we were all in the water and paddling Oliver to shore for a quick potty break.

^^the 3 of us packed on the paddleboard is a hilarious sight to see. Oliver only fell off twice. Lol.^^

After returning to the boat and busting out our snorkel gear, we quickly jumped right back in the water! We were greeted with a beautiful reef in about 15 to 20 feet of crystal clear water. Easily the clearest we’ve seen since the Bahamas! We saw plenty of fish, a few jellyfish, and lots of interesting coral during our snorkel of the area. After about an hour or so of taking it all in, we hopped back on the boat, dried off, and dropped our mooring as easily as we picked it up. Not such a bad way to spend our lunch break en route to Culebra?

^^all of those paddle board + snorkel photos were taken on the gopro.^^

Leaving Cayo Luis Pena, it took about another hour to motor all the way into Ensenada Honda, the main harbor next to the town in Culebra, where we dropped anchor in a very lively anchorage that Saturday night!