Seven ways to Icacos

What are the best boat tours to Icacos?

It depends on what you want from the day. Here are all seven, by type, time on Icacos, boat, ages and departure point.

Ages are the listing minimums. Where a listing gives no time on Icacos, we say so instead of guessing.

Water taxi or catamaran: which kind of trip?

Water taxi for time on the beach, catamaran for comfort. The island has no bathrooms, food or permanent shade, so the boat decides what you get.

Discover Puerto Rico is blunt about it: no bathrooms, no food vendors, no chair rentals, no stores, no permanent shade. Day visits only.

On a water taxi day you bring everything and stay for hours. On a catamaran the boat is your restroom, bar and kitchen, and you spend part of the day on deck or over a reef. Most first-timers are happier on a boat. Return visitors who just want the beach pick the taxi. The water taxi guide goes deeper on that choice.

Which tour gives you the most time on Icacos?

The water taxi beach day, where most of the 5 hours is on the island. The San Juan day lists about 4 hours on Icacos.

The tour boats are shorter on the sand. The full-day catamaran lists about 1.5 hours on the beach out of six, because sailing, lunch and the reef swim fill the rest. Guests on the relax trip report around 90 minutes on Icacos after an hour of snorkeling. The Double Dip splits four hours between a reef and a beach or sandbar.

If the beach is the point, count hours on the sand, not hours on the ticket.

Is the full-day catamaran always Icacos?

Usually, not always. The listing says the captain may choose Cayo Lobos or Palominos instead.

The captain makes the call on the day. Both alternatives sit in the same chain east of Icacos and both are privately owned, according to Wikipedia's entry on the reserve. The beach stop still happens; it just might not be the island you booked for.

If Icacos itself matters to you, the water taxi and the San Juan day land there by design. The private charter lets you choose Icacos or Palominos on the day. The slide cruise is described as an Icacos trip, though its web address also mentions Vieques, so glance at the itinerary.

Six hours under sail from Puerto del Rey: a beach stop, a reef swim and a barbecue buffet on board. The cay is the captain's call.

★ 4.8 · 6 hours · On Icacos: About 1.5 h on the beach

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Which tours have a restroom, shade and lunch?

The tour boats. The Double Dip lists a private restroom, shaded seating and a freshwater shower; the full-day catamaran serves a barbecue buffet on board.

• The Double Dip: shaded and open seating, a restroom, a freshwater shower, and a buffet lunch with cold cuts, salads and fruit.
• The full-day catamaran: a barbecue buffet lunch on board, sodas, local beer, water and rum drinks.
• The relax trip: sandwiches, snacks, fruit, soft drinks, rum cocktails and beer.
• The slide cruise: lunch, soft drinks and rum-based drinks.
• The water taxi day: umbrellas and a cooler with water, soft drinks and local beer. Food is yours to bring, and the island has no restroom.
• The San Juan day: a beach barbecue with hot dogs, a tent and chairs on the sand.

Some boats ban what you would naturally carry. The Double Dip lists no outside food, drinks, coolers or umbrellas; the full-day catamaran lists no coolers or speakers.

Which tours snorkel a reef as well as the beach?

The Double Dip, the relax trip and the full-day catamaran stop at a reef as well as a beach. The private charter includes guided snorkeling.

The full-day catamaran lists 1 to 2 hours of swimming and snorkeling over a reef. The relax trip snorkels first, then goes to the beach, with kids' gear and floats on board. The Double Dip does a reef stop, then the beach. On the water taxi day, you get a mask and snorkel and an optional snorkel session from the beach.

A reef stop from a boat usually beats snorkeling from the sand: the crew picks the spot and you start in deeper, clearer water.

Which departure point suits where you are staying?

Las Croabas for the water taxi and the Double Dip, Puerto del Rey and Villa Marina for the catamaran and motorboat, San Juan for the van day.

Staying in Fajardo or near Las Cabezas, every option is close. From San Juan, the drive is about an hour each way, and the bigger trips list hotel pickup (optional on the full-day catamaran). Without a car, the San Juan van and boat day is the simplest door-to-door choice. Getting to Icacos has each dock and its parking.

Which tours are small or private?

The private charter takes up to six people. The relax trip caps its motorboat at 40; the full-day catamaran carries up to 80 and is usually near full.

Group size changes the feel of the day more than the boat type. A full catamaran is a party with a buffet; a boat of six is your family and a captain who goes where you ask. Water taxis carry 6 to 12 passengers, per Discover Puerto Rico, but they leave once you are ashore, so the island is as crowded as the day.

For a birthday, a proposal or a family that hates crowds, the private charter is the one. For a solo traveler who wants company, the big catamaran.

Your own boat for up to six, Icacos or Palominos chosen on the day, with guided snorkeling, drinks and snacks.

★ 5.0 · 4 hours · On Icacos: Your call on the day

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