Best Islands in Puerto Rico for a Sun-Kissed Vacation

Culebrita is one of the most popular islands of Puerto Rico for its famous beaches and water sports. The island attracts a lot of tourists each year for its popular beaches like Flamenco Beach and Playa Tortuga which are known for snorkeling, kayaking, and scuba diving.

Isla de Caja de Muertos, a place to find endangered birds, turtles, and marine life is an uninhabited island of Puerto Rico known for its hiking, snorkeling, birding, and peace. The cays of Cayo Morrillito and Cayo Berberia are the popular tourist attraction of the island. Voted for “The Ten Enchanting Natural Attractions of Puerto Rico”, the island is one of Puerto Rico’s popular Nature Reserves. A 1.5-hour drive from San Juan, tourists as well as locals from San Juan, Ponce, and the south coast are the ones to have a common visit to Isla de Caja de Muertos.

Vieques is a beautiful eastern coast island of Puerto Rico known for swimming, snorkelling, surfing, scuba diving, and horse riding along with its world-famous bioluminescent bay. The island's popular hotspot Puerto Mosquito offers tourists a unique experience to swim in the brightest bioluminescent bay in the world. Along with the beaches is the last Spanish Fort which is a must-visit tourist place of Vieques to go back in history.

La Parguera is the most popular island of Puerto Rico for its restaurants and bars along with its affordable beach shopping. The island weekends are usually filled with authentic food, drinks, and engaging music which attracts many tourists to spend their weekends on the island of La Parguera.

Isla Palomino is one of the best private islands near Puerto Rico with clear beaches and water activities. A majority portion of the island is available for the guests of luxurious El Conquistador and is also the best family-friendly islands of Puerto Rico. Easy and affordable hourly rented water sports equipment and the relaxing massage by the beach attract different types of tourists.

Located on the southwestern coast of Puerto Rico and covered by mangroves, Isla Mata La Gata is the best family-friendly island of Puerto Rico. The island is also equipped with picnic tables, composting restrooms, showers, barbecue pits, changing rooms, and gazebos making it the best places to picnic in Lajas.

Desecheo Island is the only island in Puerto Rico that is closed for its tourists because of its unexploded military artillery. Even if the island is closed, it's still a major spot and is permitted for snorkelling and diving. The island waters can be reached by renting a private boat to enjoy with a prior booking. More than 20 dive sites are well accessible for tourists visiting the island and even guided snorkelling and diving are very popular near Desecheo.

The entrance of the San Juan bay, Isla de Cabras is one of the best-facilitated beaches of Puerto Rico and is also famous for relaxation. The island is well known by the tourists for fishing and walking through the beach and also for its varied and safe watersports like kayaking, snorkelling, diving, swimming, and fishing in Puerto Rico.

Situated to the east and off the coast of Fajardo is the deserted island of Puerto Rico and is popularly known for its safe swimming and snorkelling places. The natural beauty of Cayo Icacos which is the La Cordillera Nature Reserve makes this island the best attraction for nature wanderers. The island is only accessible by a catamaran or a water taxi if booked in advance and is just a 45 minutes drive from San Juan to the Fajardo marina whereas reaching Cayo Icacos is a short sail from the coast.

Situated off the town of Lajas, Cayo Caracoles is covered by mangroves and is also the best mangrove island in Puerto Rico. The island is popular for boating as well as snorkelling and is also the best destination to explore 30 different cays of Cayo Caracoles. A 45 minutes boat ride from Ponce or kayaking through the ocean are the only ways to get to the island.

Isla de Mona is one of the most popular historical islands near Puerto Rico for its rich ancient historical artifacts, caves, and archaeological sites. The untouched island lacks restaurants and hotels but is the best place for hiking, trails, and camping sites. Exploring the caves of Isla de Mona and visiting the lighthouse as well as the shipwreck sites is a popular thing to do as a tourist. A 4-hour boat ride is the best option to reach the island whereas it's required to have a 1-day visitor’s permit from the DRNA to stay overnight on high tides.