Caja De Muertos a.k.a Coffin Island

We decided not to dawdle in Ponce since we were advised by an owner of a marina not to have the dinghy fixed there. He suggested getting it fixed in St. Thomas since he knew there would be reputable repairmen. Plus, the price of going to town was quickly adding up since we had to take taxis everywhere, and there wasn't anything nearby for us to do, except the boardwalk. The food wasn't very good at the boardwalk, and loud music was blasted until the early morning hours, which wasn't fun listening to while trying to go to sleep.

So we pulled up the hook and went to Caja De Muertos, which is an uninhabited island eight miles from Ponce. It is a gorgeous island with a hiking trail up to the very top where the lighthouse is and an underground snorkeling trail on the east side of the island.

The area around the trail seemed like a very inhospitable environment - there was cactus everywhere and clouds of mosquitoes trailing behind us. Good thing we brought the OFF! There were also lots of hermit crabs, bees, wasps, and lizards along the way. We even saw a snake when we got back to the bottom of the trail! I have seen two snakes on this trip, which is two more than I ever saw in Texas and two more than I ever care to see!! Once you get to the top, there is a platform to the right of the lighthouse (which is boarded up so you can't go inside) where you can see a 180 degree view of the island and Caribbean Sea. It was simply beautiful.

 

 

The next day we snorkeled the underwater trail. There are plaques attached to the bottom of the ocean floor that describe different sea life, and there are buoys showing you where to go. The snorkeling wasn't anything to write home about - the coral had little color and the fish were not abundant. But I did like the dolphin statue, and David saw a big barracuda.

On the way back to the boat, we went to saw hi to the other sailboat that was anchored by the island. We saw them on the beach between our boat and theirs and stopped to chat and to cool off in the crystal clear turquoise water. The first thing I noticed was their Yorkie in the bright yellow life jacket. She looked just like Trixie, my nine year Yorkie! She was so cute, and I just had to pick her up. Her owner's Sissy and Fred were also from Texas and very friendly. They showed us a turtles nest that they had rescued, which I thought was pretty cool. They found the eggs because the sand had washed away from the nest, and after consulting the marine biologist on the island, covered them back up and set a few rocks on top to prevent the sand from washing away again. During their stay, they came back each day to check on the eggs to make sure they were ok.


Trixie, our adorable Yorkie



One more pic

 It is a great little island, worth staying for a few days to lounge on the small, secluded beaches on the north side, but we only stayed for two nights. We are currently in Salinas and are anchored by the marina. We will stay here until the weather improves, and we can continue our way to Culebra in the Spanish Virgin Islands.