Playa Berdiales

Details

Alternate name:
Lighthouse Beach

Good for:
Exploring, Beachcombing, Snorkeling on the right day

Amenities:
None

Sand Type/Color:
Golden White

Cleanliness:
There no people here dropping their trash, but the beach can collect it's share of ocean trash

Water Quality:
This rating is because it's often too rough to swim, and because of the seaweed

Directions

Directions:

This is a southside beach off Route 997. Enter the Vieques National Wildlife Refuge at Garcia Gate and take an immediate right turn down the gravel road toward the Puerto Ferro Lighthouse. Take this road all the way to the end, about 2 miles and park on the right in the designated parking area.

From there, it’s a short straight walk about 1/4 mile down the gravel road to the lighthouse. To find the beach, go toward the left where the signs are and find the overgrown path that leads to wooden steps down to the sand.

Parking:

Playa Berdiales, aka Lighthouse Beach, is a small cove in the Vieques National Wildlife Refuge on the Caribbean Sea, right next to Faro Berdiales, the Puerto Ferro Lighthouse. (Berdiales is the name of the family who was said to have operated the lighthouse a century ago.) The beach sand is golden white, and the water a beautiful blue. It is a small, flat half-moon shaped beach with a small cliff on the right side, rocky outcrops on the left, and a tiny rock cayito just off the shore. This beach faces directly into the tradewinds and can gather more than it’s share of seaweed and ocean trash at times.

Playa Berdiales is not particularly great at any one attribute and the water is often not very family friendly due to the rocks and waves (hence the historical need for the lighthouse). It isn’t a typical “day at the beach” kind of place but if you are taking the walk to the lighthouse, it’s worth the short walk down the stairs to check out the beach.

There are no pavilions and only one lone coconut palm for shade, so plan accordingly.

Back to Vieques Beaches Map