Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
In contrast to the main island's gargantuan resorts, Flamenco is refreshingly rustic and
crowd-free. In the winter months you'll feel like Robinson Crusoe contemplating the clar-
ity of the water here, while on a busy day in summer with perhaps 200 people spread across
nearly a mile of beach, it will still seem half-deserted. The name comes from the nearby
lagoon, which attracts flamingos in winter.
FLAMENCO'S MILITARY PAST
Up until the early 1970s, Flamenco was part of a live firing range used by the US
Navy for target practice. First requisitioned by the military in 1902 to counter a rising
German threat in the Caribbean, Culebra's beaches were used to stage mock amphi-
bious landings and myriad ground maneuvers. In 1936, with WWII in the offing, the
Flamenco peninsula yielded to its first live arms fire and the beach was regularly
shelled.
Burgeoning decade by decade, the military operations reached their peak during
the late 1960s at the height of the Vietnam War, with the navy simulating gun attacks
and submarine warfare. When the US government hinted at expanding the Culebra
base in the early 1970s, public sentiment quickly turned bellicose. In what would be-
come a dress rehearsal for the Navy-Vieques protests (
Click here
) 30 years later, a
small committed group of Puerto Rican protesters - including Independence party
leader Rubén Berríos - initiated a campaign of civil disobedience that culminated in
squatters accessing the beach and having to be forcibly removed by police. Despite
arrests and imprisonments, the tactics worked. In 1975 the US Navy pulled out of
Culebra and the beach was returned to its natural state.
Well almost… More than 30 years later you can still find graphic evidence of the
war games that once wreaked havoc on Flamenco. At the beach's western end, con-
trasting rather sharply with the diamond-dust sand and translucent water, two rusty,
seaweed-covered tanks sit like ghostly reminders of past military maneuvers.
Playa Resaca
SECLUDED BEACH
A
resaca
is an undertow and a metaphor for a hangover, an allusion to the state of the
water perhaps, or the way you will feel after climbing up and down 640ft Monte Resaca
to reach it. Not well maintained nor easy to find, the trail is a 40-minute hike that involves
scrambling - you'll want to wear sturdy shoes. The
US Fish & Wildlife Service (
