My Experience - Camping in Culebra,
                                   a family tradition
May 2011 / By Mariel Quiñones Vélez
                         José Sánchez Lozada

Culebra, our fantasy island, its beaches and sky filled with  intense blues have captivated and are now unforgettable to us.  Being part of the rush and overpopulation of the “big Island”, Culebra has become the place where we can escape from the stress  and the contamination of the city in all its variations; to look for  positive energy that revitalizes our souls.

Our first trip to Culebra was in 2002. We went camping to Flamenco Beach with friends from college during the  “Justas” (the annual interuniversity sports tournament) and has since become an annual trip I make every  month of April to celebrate my birthday. From being single to married without children, then with my pregnant  wife and now, with my children, our travels to Culebra have been uninterrupted. We’ve invited siblings,  parents, friends from work and neighbors to our trips to Culebra and have stayed in hotels and villas, but what we love most is camping in Flamenco.

Camping in Flamenco Beach is a unique experience we recommend to all. The campground, managed by ACDEC (Conservation and Development Authority of Culebra), has excellent maintenance and safety. Camping just steps away from the beach in a lush area where you are enthralled by the sounds of the sea and the birds, means being happy and in harmony with nature; it’s completely relaxing. Our camping experiences have evolved from being in a two-person tent, a sleeping bag and two carts loaded on the passenger ferry, to traveling with our car and a tent for ten people, an elevated inflatable mattress and even a bathroom tent.

The landscape of the beach, its white sand, crystal clear water, seagulls, coral, tropical fish, crabs, the starry sky and everything we find in Flamenco are an inspiration to me. I capture those things in  pictures and videos every time we go. Every year is a different but memorable experience, for example this year we went to the beach at night to gaze at the moon at its largest. Its flash of silver on the water was the image of a work of art. Next year, watching the nesting of leatherback turtles is on our agenda.

A camping trip to Culebra has become our family tradition. Our children of five and three years speak of  Culebra, they remember and miss it. The images of such paradise cover the walls of our home and are part of  my video blog on my YouTube channel “josemariel” and “piccolomondopr”. We hope that these experiences of camping with our children will shape better human beings, nature lovers, and conscious of its conservation. We  hope that Culebra is preserved as this peaceful and beautiful paradise where pollution has no space, and where  blue splendor remains unlikely ever to become gray.

In this section, we'll profile the experiences of Culebra's visitors and residents. Send us your story at myexperience@enculebra.com. Who knows, you may be next!

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My Experience. Rediscovering Culebra.

My Experience. The Culebra Effect.

My Experience. Confessions of a Culebra Addict.

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