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Puerto RicoUnited States Puerto Rico / United StatesIsland

Vieques

133 km² of land in the Caribbean Sea.

When to go

Vieques seen from space, cut out from the sea (Sentinel-2)
Isabel SegundaEsperanza
N 5 km

Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.

In numbers

133km²

Area

127km

Coastline

37m

Highest point

8,249

People

29°C

Warmest sea

September

800km

To the mainland

When to go to Vieques

Best for the beach from January to May.

The sea is warmest in September (29 °C) and coolest in February (26 °C). You can swim comfortably all year (21 °C or more).

Sea temperature (the water level) Air: night low to afternoon high Wet days Best months

Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.

Island-municipality in Puerto Rico

Vieques is an island in Puerto Rico. It covers 133 km², with 127 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 37 m. About 8,249 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 800 km away.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there

Plan the trip

Ferries, stays and things to do

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

On the island

What you find on Vieques.

  • 30beachesPlaya Grande, Mosquito Bay Beach, Navio Beach and 27 more
  • 1viewpointsBlack Beach
  • 2lighthousesPuerto Ferro Lighthouse, Punta Mulas Light
  • 1ferry terminalsFerry Terminal Vieques
  • 16named peaksMonte Pirata, Cerro Martineau, Cerro Sonadora and 13 more
  • 1castles and fortsFuerte de Vieques
  • 5ruins and archaeological sitesAntigua Central Arcadia, Antigua Central Puerto Real, Playa Grande Sugar Mill ruins and 2 more
  • 8waymarked walking routesCamino Monte Pirata, Vereda Navío, Playa Novillo - Ensenada Pirata and 5 more
  • 2campsitesSun Bay
  • 17hotels, guesthouses and apartments
  • 12restaurants, cafés and bars

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Vieques in our other atlases

Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Vieques, each with its own numbers.

  • 6beaches and covesCoastya
  • 16mountainsPeakyas
  • 2lakesLakeyas
  • Largest lake

    0.29km²

    Laguna Playa Grande

    according to Lakeyas

  • Warmest lake

    29.5°C

    Laguna Playa Grande

    surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas

  • Beach with the warmest sea

    28.9°C

    Mosquito Bay Beach

    sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya

6 beaches

on Coastya, the beach atlas

  1. Mosquito Bay Beach28.9°C
  2. Navio Beach28.9°C
  3. Playa Media Luna28.9°C
  4. Playa Sun Bay28.9°C
  5. Blue Beach28.9°C
  6. Playa Grande28.9°C

Open Coastya ↗

16 mountains

on Peakyas, the mountain atlas

  1. Monte Pirata
  2. Cerro Amargura
  3. Cerro Bone
  4. Cerro Camacho
  5. Cerro Caracas
  6. Cerro El Buey
  7. Cerro Indio
  8. Cerro Malojillo

8 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗

2 lakes

on Lakeyas, the lake atlas

  1. Laguna Playa Grande0.29km²
  2. Laguna Kiani0.24km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

The shape of the land.

On average the island stands 41 m above the sea. 100 % of it is below 200 m.

  • 69 %0–50 m
  • 31 %50–200 m
  • <1 %200–500 m

Share of the island's area in each altitude band, from the Copernicus DEM (30 m, read at 30–240 m on large islands).

Size, for real

Next to islands you may know.

Vieques133 km²
Malta247 km²
Santorini76 km²

10 km

All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).

Towns on the island

  • Isabel Segunda9,301 people
  • Esperanza1,092 people

Month by month

The weather on the island.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon high (°C)272727282829293030292827
Night low (°C)242424252627272727272625
Sea (°C)272626272828282929292827
Rain (mm)58394977110839912413813614178
Wet days161313152118212424232219
Sun h/day7.58.38.68.88.18.38.48.37.97.26.97.1
Wind (km/h)192018171819201915161719

Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.

Recent years

Warmer and cooler years at sea.

Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2020+0.8+0.8+0.6+0.8+0.7+0.5+0.8+0.5+0.7+0.3±0.0+0.3
2021+0.2+0.3+0.2+0.1+0.1−0.1±0.0±0.0+0.6+0.6+0.5+0.5
2022+0.5+0.3+0.3±0.0±0.0+0.1+0.1+0.2+0.2+0.1−0.1−0.1
2023+0.2±0.0+0.1+0.4+0.7+0.8+0.8+0.9+1.0+1.0+0.7+0.5
2024+0.6+0.7+1.1+1.1+1.6+1.6+1.2+1.0+1.2+1.6+1.1+1.2
2025+0.9+0.9+1.0+0.6+0.5+0.1+0.4+0.6+0.6+0.7+0.6+0.6

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Photos

Seen by visitors.

Fuera la Marina de Vieques Ya, Puerto Rico
Jirka Matousek · CC BY 2.0
Mosquito bay, Bioluminescent bay, Vieques - panoramio (3)
Edgar Torres · CC BY 3.0
Building entrance ruins Vieques PR 2021-08-04 16-17-38 1
G. Edward Johnson · CC BY 4.0
Isabella II, Vieques
Rar285 · CC BY-SA 3.0

About these numbers

Names, area, populationWikidata (Q737624) · CC0
Outline© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Sea temperatureNOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020
ClimateNASA POWER · 1991–2020
Relief, 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
TownsGeoNames · CC BY 4.0
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfallsCoastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST; HydroLAKES (Messager et al. 2016) · CC BY 4.0, LakeTEMP (Korver et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.You are here
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit