Travel to Fajardo ferry from San Juan Puerto Rico

Travel from San Juan to Vieques/Culebra Ferry by Public Transportation

 

It is possible to take public transportation between San Juan and the Vieques/Culebra ferry terminal in Fajardo. It is cheap, but time-consuming. Alternative options are:

• Taking a shuttle; they will pick you up in San Juan. Most of them cost about $45(?), which can be split between multiple people. You just have to find a shuttle driver. These shuttle drivers are basically publico or guagua drivers who do private trips on the side.
• Renting a car and paying for parking at the ferry terminal
• Flying (most expensive, but gives you the opportunity to see some beautiful sights)

 

About públicos

Públicos (or guaguas públicas, or carros públicos) comprise the only inter-city public transportation system in Puerto Rico. They are usually 12- or 15-passenger vans or micro-buses. Some público routes have set schedules, but most públicos wait at the terminal until enough people arrive, and then leave. So you should be prepared to wait up to an hour before enough people arrive.

The driver will generally charge you before you get on, and in theory, the prices are set. Drivers occasionally charge more for baggage (no more than $2).

Públicos start early running in the morning (sometimes as early as 6 AM), but usually stop around mid-afternoon. After 4 PM you may not be able to find any públicos.

 (You may find the article, getting around Puerto Rico helpful.)

Step by step

 

I. Get to Río Piedras.

There are several different ways to get to Río Piedras. Here are the main 3:

1. Take the M3 bus on the street Ponce de León, in the direction opposite Old San Juan. This bus passes every 15 minutes or so. It costs 50 cents (exact change) and you must flag it down at the bus stop. The last stop is Sagrado Corazón; you will see everybody getting off.

2. From Sagrado Corazón, take the urban train (el tren urbano, or just ‘el tren’) to the station at Río Piedras. The train station is unmistakable. You will have to purchase a rechargeable train card at a machine; the minimum charge is $3.00, and each trip costs 75 cents. Trains run about every 20 minutes.
3. You can flag down a mini-bus guagua driver on Calle Fernandez Juncos in Miramar, or catch one of them at the stop across the street from the Walmart in Santurce (at the corner of Fernandez Juncos and Calle Labra next to the Puma gas station and Walgreens). This will cost 0.75 cents.

Walking would take several hours and I wouldn’t recommend it.

II. Find the público terminal in Río Piedras.

 

From the Río Piedras train station, take the “Plaza” exit to exit in front of a plaza. Go straight to be on the street that runs left of the plaza (which has a church in it). The name of this street is Calle Arzuaga. Follow it for about 5-10 minutes until you see a large, open cement structure with blue paint on your right. This is the público terminal for públicos that go east from San Juan (there is another terminal for other públicos). If you get lost, ask for the ‘terminal del este de carros públicos, para ir a Fajardo.’

III. Take a público to Fajardo.

 

In the terminal, there are different signs for different routes; find the Fajardo route and talk to the driver. The Fajardo route públicos are usually white 15-passenger vans. Be prepared to wait a while, because the público won’t leave until there are enough people to make the trip worthwhile.

The official price is $5.50, although driver may charge a little extra for baggage. You should not pay more than $8 for a trip to Fajardo. Unfortunately, the public route stops in Fajardo center, and does not continue to the ferry terminal (about 2 miles away from the town center). This leaves you two options:

1. Pay the público driver more to take you all the way to the ferry. Público drivers often charge $20 total from Río Piedras to the ferry terminal.
2.  Get off in Fajardo (specify to the driver that you want to go to ‘el pueblo’ – if it’s obvious you’re a foreigner, they often assume you are going to the ferry and will try to charge you the $20). Walk to the ferry terminal from the town center – it is a straight shot and will take you 30-35 minutes. Ask for directions to make sure you’re going in the right direction – mention ‘el ferry’ or ‘el muelle’ (dock).

Things to keep in mind

 

• The Río Piedras – Fajardo públicos do not run on Sundays.
• The last públicos on this route leave around 3:30 (from both ends). After this, you could try to get back by taking públicos to intermediate locations (e.g. Canóvanas), but success is not guaranteed.
• On the way back from Vieques or Culebra, you will often see públicos at the docks. These will usually offer transportation to Río Piedras for $20 (you could also try negotiating for other locations in San Juan). Alternatively, you could walk to the público terminal in Fajardo center to get the public price ($5.50).
• Both the M3 bus and the train run until midnight every night.

 

For more tips about traveling in Puerto Rico, please see my article on Getting around Puerto Rico

(Special thanks to MP for the majority of this article!)