Coffin Island
Leaving the party towns of Boqueron and La Parguera, we set out for Isla Caja de Muertos (translation: Coffin Island) on May 8th. It was Mother’s Day, so we both called our moms while in route despite the choppy seas.
If it wasn’t for the lush green hills, it would have felt like the Bahamas. The clear turquoise water was so inviting and once again we were the only ones on the island. We anchored so close to a white sand beach that we could almost swim to shore. In fact, Baxter actually tried to swim to the boat once when Rob left him on the beach in order to pick me up from the boat. The pups were ecstatic to play on a beach again and it was nice for us to be able to leave the leashes behind. We had the place to ourselves and the dogs were free to romp.
We anchored here for two nights. We enjoyed beach time with the pups in the morning and evenings and snorkeled in the afternoons. This time our hunting proved successful and we bagged two large lobsters. It’s days and anchorages like this that we envisioned when we first set out on this adventure.
San Juan
We could have stayed at Coffin Island for weeks, but we were nearly out of water and we had some business to take care of in the city. In order to travel to the BVI’s, the dogs require an international health certificate endorsed by the USDA. This is in addition to the FAVN titer testing and rabies certificates, which we already had.
On May 10th, we pulled into the Salinas anchorage before lunch time. We had been chatting with Monday Never over email and I instantly recognized their boat, Paradox, in the anchorage. We had watched their first few sailing videos before we even left Denver. Later that evening they invited us over for drinks and we swapped sailing stories. They are the first young couple we’ve met traveling north, so we were eager to pick their brains about their experiences down island. As it turned out, they were also making plans to visit San Juan for a few days.
The next day we rented a car and headed an hour and a half north to San Juan. The green mountainous landscape is still surprising to see. We had about an hour to kill before the pup’s veterinarian appointment, so we stopped for some street food. We had some amazing arepas—we were off to a good start in San Juan.
After the vet appointment, we checked into our studio apartment. It wasn’t much, but it was still a lot bigger than our boat. It was clean, had a comfy bed, and a large hot shower. The first thing we did was close the windows and crank up the AC. It felt like Heaven. I honestly think we could have laid in bed in an air conditioned room for three days and had the most amazing time. But we were also excited to explore the city, so we dragged ourselves out of bed and walked to a nice dinner.
After the last 5 months of living on the boat, we had nearly forgotten all of the conveniences of living in a city. We could walk to EVERYTHING. We didn’t have to worry about how to dispose of trash or where our water was going to come from. We hadn’t realized it when we booked the apartment, but 3 days away from the boat was like a vacation itself.
Our time in San Juan was a mixture of play and work. We got the USDA endorsement we needed for the dogs, picked up marine parts at West Marine, and provisioned for the BVI’s. While food is more readily available than in the Bahamas, we hear it’s expensive. Therefore, we wanted to stock up before leaving Puerto Rico. We also got to explore charming Old San Juan and had a night out on the town with our new friends.
We loved San Juan so much and felt so refreshed being back in a city that we have decided to return. We’re going to explore the Virgin Islands and then haul our boat out in Puerto Rico at the beginning of July. With our boat secured on land, we’re going to rent a place in San Juan. We hope to learn to salsa, improve our Spanish, and find work to replenish the cruising kitty. We were sad to say goodbye to San Juan, but now we’re even more excited to return.
2 thoughts on “From Isolation to the Big City: Coffin Island and San Juan”