La Lancha Ferry

TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE. THE FERRY SYSTEM IS LITERALLY RIGGED, CORRUPT, AND NOT WORTH IT.
First off…
If you are a tourist to Puerto Rico and want to travel to Calebra, PLEASE consider the flight. Yes, it may be significantly more expensive, but buying time is well worth it and your mental being will remain sane. The security are obviously bias (Locals go first, then 65+, then more locals/​Spanish speaking people, and then tourists) and will disregard anyone that’s a tourist. If you want to go to Calebra TAKE THE FRIGGIN PLANE AND NOT THIS FERRY.
My experience…
My family and I woke up at 5:30 AM, left the hotel at 5:45 and arrived at Fajardo piers at 6 AM. The line was NOT long at all; only 40 – 45 people were in front of us. Things seemed completely fine, as from research, I found out that about 230 people could sit in the ferry. After 1.5 hours, the workers started to sell the tickets BUT ONLY TO THE PUERTO RICAN citizens first. The woman security juanita allowed legit anyone who could speak Spanish or were Puerto Rican and RUDELY ignored anybody else. Elders/​65+ were allowed in too. And then came the annoying part: there were people who just walked into the ticket buyin area and bought 20 TICKETS AT ONCE, of course by either charming the heart of the woman security guard or by being a citizen. All of us waiting, basking under the sun, just stand there watching all of this happen… This is actually not acceptable and the system is completely RIGGED. PLEASE CONSIDER ANOTHER MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION TO GET TO CULEBRA, such as a plane or anything else (swim there!). And don’t bother going to Vieques, as it’s apparently annoying to get around there too and the beaches ARENT AS NICEas Calebra. Please, please, please don’t waste your time here; there are other things to do in Puerto Rico and nicer people too.
MY opinion…
Since there’s such a HIGH DEMAND to the island, the Puerto Rican government should really regulate and control this system better. Add more state-​regulated ferries, even increase the price (I am pretty sure tourists are willing to pay more than 2 $ for a ticket). Both parties would benefit: more jobs, increase profit, DECREASE CORRUPTION, happy reviews/​testimonials/​tourists, increased popularity, etc. I don’t see anything bad about ameliorating the system, since Puerto Rico relies very much on tourists. Anyways, this was just my opinion, and I just wanted to get it out there.
What you should do…
If you are planning to go, as I said before, DONT TAKE THE FERRY.
If you are planning to go and MUST take the ferry for whatever reason, sleep early the night before and get there at 3 – 4 AM in the morning. Weekdays are just AS BAD as weekends, so keep that in mind. Some tourists do enter and are able to purchase tickets, but only the first probably 5 groups. Prepare to wake up early. Extremely early.

We boarded on the 1^st ferry on a weekday to Vieques. The parking area was great and right near by, however the ticket lines were terrible. There was no indication as to what line you were in or sometimes even if you were in a line at all. We only received direction from a single staff member — the *only* staff near the ticket booth. Expect to wait in line for long periods of time before it moves. Expect to potentially not get a ticket at all because they sell out really fast. Plan ahead by arriving at least 2 hrs early and be flexible in case it sells out. As I’ve read online and on other reviews regarding locals’ priorities, I can’t say any of that occurred during my experience. We were in the same line and were treated the same as the locals. Again, plan ahead and good luck!

Pure animals! We waited for an hour for the line to move. Then we found out that we were on the wrong line and the unprofessional woman that works there said we had to start the line over and therefore we needed to go to the back of the line. The sad part is that we were with our four year twins who were tired of standing. After we get the tickets, seems that tourist are made to wait so everyone else can get a seat first. Horrible horrible service. All that trouble is not worth going to the island.

Come here with an open mind and a flexible schedule. You probably will not get a ferry to culebra, they sell out too quickly. If that is the case, go to vieques, you will still have a great day. It is also beautiful. If you are dead set on culebra, you will need to charter a plane. Once you get on a ferry, which does take a while, prepare for a long slow ride. If you keep all that in mind and go with the flow, you will enjoy it. If not, don’t bother with this adventure because you will be miserable.

I also wish i could give this review zero stars. we got to the port hours early only to be disappointed when they wouldn’t sell us tickets; we also tried to get tickets for later in the week (not weekends) and they wouldn’t not sell us advanced tickets even at the other ticket shed. Complete waste of spending hours in the sun. Note to self next time we go; save money and just take a flight to the islands vs trying to wait in the lines only to be disappointed.

Ok so we didn’t actually get to board the ferry. Went to the terminal 2 times. Both time more than an hour before the boarding.
Meanining before tickets went on sale and they were sold out.
I have now come to ceiba airport 20 min away. We came for an «on demand flight»
Lucky for us were 3 just enough to fill a flight for people that had been waiting.
Air flamenco $ 47 one way and 1 hour 20 min wait

two words (ok more than that)
ABSOLUTELY AWFUL.
Unprofessional and disappointing
Employees standing around eating letting people with tickets that say 9:30am on at 9:00am then telling people with 9:00am tickets that the boat is full. All passenger ferries were down so only the 77 person cargo ferry was available. We had a 9am reservation and confirmation # and they gave us tickets that said 9:30 THEN Our «9:30» ferry left at almost 11:00am making us late for our 10:30am excursion. People are allowed to cut the line.
We will be chartering a flight or private boat next time. Seems to me it would be worth the extra money.

This is what you come to Puerto Rico for. Flamenco Beach is Absolutely Gorge & Paradise!!! Clean, no soliciting, & you can rent umbrellas (limited go early). Flamenco isn’t really for snorkeling or anything but just relaxing. On Culebra police check for glass bottles, not allowed. Don’t eat before boat ride. Very choppy water leaving Fajardo going against the currant, but much easier coming back. The people working reacted quickly when my 3 year old got sick. The boat was clean, typical ferry. My previous tip for purchasing tickets is a must read. Total stress free trip. Be smart plan ahead so you can relax and enjoy.

Took the ferry to Vieques from Fajardo for a one night overnight trip. It was off season (late Sept) and a weekday. Got the first boat out in the morning which was fine. Not a long line for tickets. Cheap, convenient, left about on time. Our RETURN trip was completely different. Planned on taking the last boat out to the main island– still a weekday return. Still no line for tickets. However, boat was about 1.5 hrs late. The minimal ferry station staff had no idea about ETA when it was running late. Some people made multiple trips to nearby restaurant for drinks because boat was so late. The lateness really kind of ruined what was going to be our last night in Puerto Rico on the mainland. Thankfully we didn’t miss a flight or reservation or anything. If you prefer to keep a schedule, you have to fly.

This deserves 0 stars.
To buy tickets to Culebra at 9am you have to be at the Terminal probably at 5am or earlier. The line to go there is extremely long and the people who work there are extremely unorganized. In addition, the ferries even leave at their scheduled times if there are not even passengers in the ferry.
I woke up at 4am and arrived at the Terminal at 6am to go to Culebra at 9am and couldn’t make it. I stayed in the spot in the line for 2 and a half hours. At 8:30am, still waiting in the same spot in the line, I decided to leave the line because I knew I would not be able to make it. But that is not all. After you stay hours under the sun waiting in line to buy the ticket, you have to make another insanely long line to get in the ferry.
More people recommend me to go to Culebra on air plane, which is what I will do next time. I am never going back to that horrible Terminal.

Do not attempt to get on this ferry at all unless you want to waste 3 – 4 hours of your day in a totally disorganized line and a wasteful system.
Despite the contrary paying $ 4.50 for round trip to Culebra or Vieques this is a nightmare during the busy months of May, June, and July. My recommendation is to fly and spend a night or two in Vieques or Culebra and you will enjoy it more.
We spent 3 hours or more on two consecutive days this summer trying to get to Culebra or Vieques and we missed both boats to either island.
How it works.
1. You stand in line to get tickets to the island Vieques or Culebra about 3 or 4 hours
2. You stand in another line once you get ticket to board the ferry-​you may not make it on board so be prepared for that.
3 You have to do that all over again to come back.
So you know, the tickets are not seat assigned nor are they first come first serve. They ticket allows you to wait at the dock to board the ferry, if the ferry is full you will have to wait on the next boat: if it does not get delayed or if it is available.
We ended up flying VAL airlines from Ceiba to VQS and had a wonderful time. Visit Bili’s restaurant for a great sandwich while in Vieques, PR.
Visit the PR website for more details.
Very disorganized and no one knows what is going on half the time.

I agree with previous reviews. I would give this ferry 0 stars if I could. Actually, Matthew L. and I had to deal with this ferry ordeal together, so my review is not much different than his. Nobody knew what was going on, not even the locals!
We arrived at the ferry around 7:00am and were in line by 7:30am. Tip for you: Don’t get in the wrong line! Although I was the 5^th or 6^th person in line to buy tickets to Vieques, the line did not move for about 2 hours. At 9:30am, I was tearing my hair out in frustration. These are a couple crazy things you have to be prepared to deal with:
— You may get lucky and not have to wait long, but there is also a good chance you will have to wait, especially if it is the weekend, so get there early! It seems crazy to arrive at 7am for a 9:30am ferry but no, that’s not crazy at all. It’s cutting it close.
— They supposedly charge extra if you have luggage.
— The guy who sold us our ticket was loco, and printed the wrong time on our ticket. Because we got out of line before we realized this, we had to deal with this later coming back to Fajardo from Vieques.
— You may get pooped on by a bird. No joke! The ticket counter is located under this metal covering and lots of birds like to fly and rest under it. As we were standing in line, the unfortunate man in front of us got pooped on by a bird and it was all over his shirt. Because he didn’t want to lose his place in line, he wiped it off with a tissue from a generous old lady, and continued to stand there. I kept my eyes peeled after that!
— The may sell out. So have a back up plan. The culebra ferry tickets sold out by 9am when I was there. Thankfully, Vieques didn’t sell out but at one point, it felt like getting a ticket was the equivalent of winning the lottery!
— Although there is a schedule, there is really NO schedule. Our «9:30» ferry did not leave till 1pm. The still call it the «9:30» ferry though.
— Residents and elderly are allowed to buy tickets first. That means that as you stand in line for hours, someone can simply walk up, cut in front of you and get a ticket. There are policeman standing in the front of the line to maintain the order, and sometimes will even cut in line themselves to help the residents or elderly who can’t get through.
This was a nightmare. It is very cheap, which really is the only good thing about it. But be prepared to get cray cray at the ferry. Bring patience with you.

If I could describe this place in one sentence, it would be: this place is a mad house.
Buying tickets here is a 2 – 3 hour ordeal. My friends and I woke up at 5:30 AM and drove from San Juan to Fajardo, and started to line up at 7 – 7:30AM, as we were looking to catch the 930AM ferry to Vieques. There are apparently two lines, one for Vieques and one for Culebra, both of which wrap around the block. The place was so disorganized, we didn’t even know there were two lines until half of us went to scout out the ticket office. The elderly and locals get first dibs at buying tickets, so if you’re old and local you get to be in some special line where you can cut those waiting in line for 2 – 3 hours. The lines literally did not move for about an hour. They stopped selling tickets to Vieques for about an hour, so the Vieques line did not move for this entire time. There was apparently some issue with the ferry possibly not having enough space, or it being late, or it being cancelled… it was hard to tell what the reason was because there wasn’t really any communication about what the big hold up was. What was annoying was the young male ticket seller just sat at the desk, sitting in his chair, twiddling his thumbs, and playing on his phone as we (and many others) waited to purchase tickets for a ferry that possibly did not come. While this was his attempt to pass time since he could not sell tickets, he could have done a better job at communicating to everyone waiting in line what the hold up was.
The La Lancha Ferry is publicly owned; there is news that the ferry system will be privatized soon, which should bring improvements to the way this ferry system is run. The only way you can buy tickets is in person (i.e. standing in like for 3 hours and possibly not being able to get tickets!). There are no kiosks, and most of all, there is no customer service.
The only positive to the La Lancha Ferry is that it’s cheap — only $ 2.00 to get to Vieques and $ 2.50 to get to Culebra. Would I do this again? Perhaps, but I would not dare to travel on the very first ferry of the day on a weekend. My friends and I had a BioBay tour that started at 2PM; so we were in dire need to get on the 9:30 AM ferry. We were fortunate enough to get on that ferry though (even though the ferry was 2 hours late), and we were able to make it to our 2PM BioBay Tour in Esperanza.
My overall recommendation is to:
(1) Not take the very first ferry of the day on a weekend (Friday or Saturday)
(2) Not plan a BioBay tour too close to your appointment time (better to take a 7PM tour than a 2PM tour, so that you can allot for any ferry delays)
(3) Bring plenty of water with you, as you’ll be standing in line in the HEAT
(4) Bring comfortable shoes, as you’ll be standing in line for at least 2 – 3 hours.
If time is limited, fly to Vieques or Culebra — it’ll save you some headache, but cost you $$$.

I wish I could get this ferry 0 stars but it’s not an option. My friends and I tried to get on the ferry to Culebra 3 different times and were 0 for 3. The first try was completely our fault since we got there only about 30 minutes early. Tickets were sold out by then. The next day were were about 1:15 early and still didn’t get tickets. One of the biggest problems is that they let locals cut the line. The last day we were 2.5 hours early and didn’t even get close to getting tickets. What a joke! This of course was a Friday but still! Others suggest buying tickets ahead of time but there are only a limited number of pre-​sale tickets available and they were all sold out.
I would suggest charging about $ 25 per person round trip and buy a couple more boats! We ended up going to Viezues which was pretty much a waste of a day. Not nearly as beautiful as Culebra. I would suggest taking a plane from San Juan if you really want to go to Culebra!

Went to Vieques during low season, mid May. Came early because we were worried they might be sold out. No such thing! On a regular mid May day I would say waltz up at the last minute and you’ll be fine. $ 2 each way to Vieques. Ferry was quite empty and I had a nice nap both ways. It’s air-​conditioned and the seas were smooth. We pre-​booked a publico $ 65 – 80. On our way back on the 11am ferry, we saw publicos asking $ 60 to SJ. Pretty good rate but there’s no guarantee that they are always there if you don’t book beforehand.

We missed our ferry and got somewhat hustled by a Taxi driver named Mercedes who talked us into a ride to the airport using false information. You should use this ferry but look out for that shady character.

$ 4.50 for a round trip ticket to the most beautiful beach in the world. How can it not get five stars?!
Tips
–Get here early for tickets, about 1 hour early.
–Expect to stand around waiting for awhile.
–Buy a round trip ticket otherwise you may get stuck on Culebra if they’re sold out.
–The ride is a bit boring so bring a friend or a book.

Buy you’re tickets ahead of time! We came here 30min before dearture and the line was very long. Tickets were sold out half way down the line so we didn’t make the 9am ferry :(

Cheap transportation to the beautiful islands off of PR? Count me in!
Just be sure to get there at least 2 hours early if you go on the weekend or a holiday, and 1 – 1.5 hours early any other day. Otherwise you’ll miss out for the entire day, and that’d suck. But it’s crowded because this is public transit, and many take this ferry daily. Just a word of caution for all those fly-​by-​their-​seaters.

If you are planning on going to the islands of Vieques and Culebra but are hesitant because you think it might be a pain in your untanned butt — fear no more.
It’s incredibly easy, and totally worth it.
Fajardo’s ferry terminal is a 60 – 90 min taxi ride from San Juan (depending on your driver’s degree of, um, ‘expertise’ and traffic which can be quite bad during the weekend). Don’t plan on spending too much time in town — there is seriously nothing to see so your best bet is to arrive just a little bit before departure, buy your ticket and jump on board (they ARE expecting you). The ferries are really big; you will get a seat.
The cost? $ 2 per person for Vieques, $ 2.25 for Culebra.
It takes about an hour to reach Vieques, and the ferry runs on time (4 a day to and from Vieques, 3 for Culebra). You will share the ride with a lot of people, either commuting or hitting the beach during the weekend. And a lot of other stuff to. Because — remember — you are going on an island. People need their supplies.
There are a couple of vending machines inside the waiting room (snacks and drinks) as well as a place which sells bad pizza and sandwiches. A life savor when you have traveled all day and everything else around is closed.
Be careful if you are planning to take your car on the ferry: most rental companies won’t allow you. You can park for $ 5 a day at the terminal parking, and easily find a rental on the islands. Bikes have to travel on the cargo ferry.
Also — there is a plethora of taxis and publicos waiting for customers at each terminal. Going to your final destination is a breeze.
Just do it.