Sights in Arecibo & Around
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Parque de las Cavernas del Río Camuy
For centuries now, the Río Camuy has been imposing its will on the soft karstic underground limestone to create this incredible system of caves, the world's third-largest. This park spreads over an area of about 10 miles long and has 17 entrances in the area between the towns of Hatillo, Camuy and Lares.
Over the years, the caves have been important shelters for indigenous people, home to millions of bats that help keep the island's insect population under control, and a source of fertilizer. But no modern explorers went to the trouble of making a thorough investigation of the caves until 1958. This was when Russell and Jeanne Gurnee and Bob and Dorothy Rebille accompani…
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Lagos Dos Bocas & Caonillas
These two lakes - each more than 2 miles long - fill a deeply cleft valley at a point where karst country gives way to the actual mountains of the Central Mountains, east of Hwy 10 and north of Utuado. The lakes are the principal reservoirs for the north-central part of the island, and for years they caused anxiety to communities downstream, who worried that the lakes could not absorb a torrential rainfall without overflowing or bursting a dam.
As it turned out, drought was the first plague to hit the lakes. At one point, the water dropped so low at Lago Caonillas that the bell tower of a 1930s-era chapel was exposed. The chapel had been built in the valley before the Aqu…
reviewed
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Bosque Estatal de Río Abajo
This 5000-acre forest has a visitors center just off Hwy 621, halfway between Utuado and Arecibo, and some of the most rugged terrain on the island. Situated in the heart of karst country, the forest's altitude jumps between 700ft and 1400ft above sea level. The steep sides of the mogotes are overrun with vines, and the forest is a jungle of tropical hardwoods, including Honduran mahogany and Asian teaks, and huge clumps of bamboo.
A century ago this land was logged almost bare. In the mid-1930s, the US government and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) stepped in with their plan to reforest Puerto Rico. The remains of the lumber roads cut by the loggers and the CCC wor…
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Observatorio de Arecibo
The Puerto Ricans reverently refer to it as 'El Radar.' To everyone else it is simply the largest radio telescope in the world. Resembling an extraterrestrial spaceship grounded in the middle of karst country, the Arecibo Observatory looks like something out of a James Bond movie - probably because it is (007 aficionados will recognize the saucer-shaped dish and craning antennae from the 1995 film Goldeneye).
The 20-acre dish, set in a sinkhole among clusters of haystack-shaped mogotes, is planet Earth's ear into outer space. The telescope, which is supported by 50-story cables weighing more than 600 tons, is involved in the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence)…
reviewed
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Taíno Ceremonial Site
This Taíno ceremonial site, off Hwy 111, is not dramatic in the sense of having monumental ruins. The power of the place comes from its first-rate setting in a natural botanical garden of ceiba, ausubo and tabonuco trees shading the mid-slopes of the Central Mountains. There are also 10 ceremonial bateyes (Taíno ball courts), which date back about 800 years to the time of the original Taíno inhabitants. Stone monoliths line many of the courts; some weigh up to a ton, but most are small. One court measures 60ft by 120ft. Quite a few have petroglyphs, such as the famous Mujer de Caguana, who squats in the pose of the traditional ‘earth mother’ fertility symbol.
reviewed
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Cueva del Indio
Heading east from the Faro de los Morrillos, Hwy 681 takes you along a rugged coastline punctuated by coral outcroppings, dunes and lagoons. The countryside is largely rural, but clutches of beach houses have grown up along sections of the road. You will find the Cueva del Indio (Indian's Cave) near one such settlement, about 2 miles east of the lighthouse. Look out for an Esso gas station on the right. You can park here (ask permission) and follow the well-worn path across the road to the shore.
The surf crashes around the cave's entrance, which leads to a descending staircase and a substantial collection of Taíno petroglyphs on the walls. Bring a flashlight and good foo…
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Faro de los Morrillos
Perched on a headland on the hill at Punta Morrillos, east of Arecibo, the Faro de los Morrillos, dating from 1897, is an excellent example of Spanish neoclassical architecture with its whitewashed façade and gracefully refined cylindrical shape. Inside, a tiny museum displays artifacts salvaged from shipwrecks. There are fantastic views of the Atlantic Ocean and karst country from the roof.
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Park
For centuries now, the Río Camuy has been imposing its will on the soft karstic underground limestone to create this incredible system of caves, the world’s third-largest. This park spreads over an area about 10 miles long and has 17 entrances in the area between the towns of Hatillo, Camuy and Lares.
reviewed
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Theme Park
This theme park off Hwy 2 is a bit gimmicky and overpriced, though it does offer a tantalizing glimpse of the historic Arecibo lighthouse and provides enough diversions for kids to warrant a break on the long car journey east or west.
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