Sights in Eastern Puerto Rico
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Bahía Mosquito
Locals claim that Bahía Mosquito, a designated wildlife preserve, has the highest concentration of phosphorescent dynoflagellates not only in Puerto Rico, but in the world. Indeed, it's also known as Bioluminescent Bay - and it's magnificent. A trip through the lagoon is nothing short of psychedelic, with hundreds of fish whipping up bright-green sparkles below the surface as your kayak or electric boat passes by, but the best part is when you stop to swim: it's like bathing in the stars.
Don't ever accept a ride in a motorized boat - the engine pollution kills the organisms that create phosphorescence. You can just drive east on the rough Sun Bay road (you'd better hav…
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Las Cabezas de San Juan Reserva Natural ‘El Faro’
A 316-acre nodule of land on Puerto Rico’s extreme northeast tip, the Las Cabezas de San Juan Reserva Natural ‘El Faro’ protects an historic lighthouse, a bioluminescent bay, rare flora and fauna, lush rainforest, various trails and boardwalks, and an important scientific research center. Despite its diminutive size, the reserve shelters seven – yes seven – different ecological systems, including beaches, lagoons, dry forest, coral reefs and mangroves. Animal species that forage here include big iguanas, fiddler crabs, myriad insects and all kinds of birds. Such condensed biodiversity is typical of Puerto Rico’s compact island status and ‘Las Cabezas’ is highligh…
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Area Arqueológica Hombre de Puerto Ferro
You will find this site marked by a sign on Hwy 997, east of Esperanza. About a quarter mile east of the entrance to Sun Bay (Sombé), take the dirt road on your left (it heads inland). Drive for about two minutes until you find the burial site of the Indian known as the 'Hombre de Puerto Ferro', which is surrounded by a fence. Big boulders identify a grave where a 4000-year-old skeleton (now on exhibit at the Fortín) was exhumed.
Little is known about the skeleton, but archaeologists speculate that it is most likely the body of one of Los Arcaicos (the Archaics), Puerto Rico's earliest known inhabitants; this racial group made a sustained migration as well as seasonal …
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Culebra National Wildlife Refuge
More than 1500 acres of Culebra's 7000 acres constitute the Culebra National Wildlife Refuge, which US President Theodore Roosevelt signed into law almost 100 years ago, and which is protected by the Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales (DRNA; Department of Natural Resources & Environment). Most of this land lies along the Península Flamenco, and from Monte Resaca east to the sea, and includes all of the coastline as well as more than 20 offshore cays, with the exception of Cayo Norte. The US Fish & Wildlife Service administers these lands.
Monte Resaca, Isla Culebrita and Cayo Luis Peña are open to the public from sunrise to sunset daily, and all have some f…
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Playa Luquillo
Set on a calm bay facing northwest and protected from the easterly trade winds, the public part of this beach makes a mile-long arc to a point of sand shaded by evocative coconut palms. The beach itself is a plane of broad, gently sloping yellow powder that continues its gradual slope below the water. Although crowds converge here at weekends and during holidays, Luquillo has always been more about atmosphere than solitude. With its famous strip of 50-plus food kiosks congregated at its western end, it’s also a great place to sample the local culinary culture, including scrumptious surullitos (fried cornmeal and cheese sticks). There is a bathhouse, a refreshment stand,…
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Isla Culebrita
If you need a reason to rent a kayak or hire a water taxi, Isla Culebrita is it. This small island, just a mile east of Playa Zoni, is part of the wildlife refuge. With its abandoned lighthouse, six beaches, tide pools, reefs and nesting areas for seabirds, Isla Culebrita has changed little in the past 500 years. The north beaches, such as the long crescent of Playa Tortuga, are popular nesting grounds for sea turtle, and you may see these animals swimming near the reefs just offshore.
Bring a lot of water, sunscreen, a shirt and a hat if you head for Isla Culebrita, because there is little shade here. The Isla is also home to a ruined lighthouse earmarked for extensive r…
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Puerto del Rey
This marina stands behind a breakwater in a cove 2 miles south of Fajardo. It is the largest marina in the Caribbean (1100 slips). You will find a complete marina village here with restaurants, stores, laundry facilities, banking and all manner of boat-hauling and maintenance capabilities. Many yachts stop here to take advantage of the marina’s courtesy car and Fajardo’s supermarkets when stocking up for a winter in the tropics or the ride back home to the USA. Travelers will find that many of the sailing, diving and fishing charters run from here. It’s about 5 miles south of Villa Marina.
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Museo de Esperanza
This tiny museum, on the Strip in Esperanza, is operated by the Vieques Conservation and Historical Trust (founded in 1984 to save the island’s bioluminescent bays). The museum contains exhibits on the ecological efforts of the trust, the island’s natural history and its early Indian inhabitants. Donations are welcome. Behind the gift shop, the museum runs what is supposedly the smallest aquarium on earth, a series of tanks in which baby sea creatures are displayed for a few weeks before being returned to the ocean. There’s also a rotating exhibit on the island’s flora and fauna, and an internet facility.
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Baño de Oro
Baño de Oro is a former swimming hole that is now a popular spot for photo opportunities. The water hole takes its name from the Río Baño de Oro, which feeds the pool. The name means 'bath of gold' in English, and Spaniards gave the river this name because they mined for gold here in the 16th century. The Baño de Oro Natural Area surrounding the pool is the catchment area for the river and pool.
In addition to the short Baño de Oro trail to the pool there are two overgrown trails in the Natural Area, which the National Park Service plans to open in the future.
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Bahía Las Croabas
You find this spot where Hwy 987 ends at a little seaside park rimmed by seafood restaurants and bars looking east across the water to the peaks of Culebra. There is not much of a beach here, but there's a view of the offshore islands and the air blows fresh with the trade winds. The anchorage accommodates the fishermen's co-op and the last half-dozen nativos, the 'out-island' sloops that everyone around here once used for fishing and gathering conch or lobster.
The fishermen here are friendly, and you can probably strike a deal with one of them for a boat ride.
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Lighthouse
Adding historical value to a potent natural brew on Las Cabezas de San Juan is the splendidly restored 19th-century lighthouse, Puerto Rico's oldest, dating from 1882) that overlooks the peninsula's steep, craggy cliffs where the stormy Atlantic meets the Sonda de Vieques (Vieques Sound). The lighthouse has an information center and observation deck, open the same hours as the reserve, which offers spectacular views of El Yunque.
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Castillo Villa del Mar
Castillo Villa del Mar is a Victorian mansion that's on the National Registry of Historic Places (despite the dilapidation and the graffiti) and was once home to a restaurant and art gallery where local painters showed their work. These days it's a run-down old eyesore, but the mansion next to it has been somewhat restored, giving rise to hopes that both structures will eventually be returned to their former state of grace.
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Yokahú Tower
Less than a half mile further up from La Coca Falls the mountain, you see the 65ft, Moorish-looking stone Yokahú Tower, which was built as a lookout in 1962. This is the first good place for vistas of the islands to the east, but there are better vantage points higher on the mountain. The tower often gets crowded with tour groups. Pass it by unless you have a lot of time and the view to yourself.
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Cayo Luis Peña
Less visited than Isla Culebrita, Cayo Luis Peña is the island of peaks, rocks, forests and coves you'll pass just a few minutes before the ferry lands you at Culebra's dock. This island is another part of the wildlife refuge, and it has a collection of small sheltered beaches. Luis Peña is a short kayak or water-taxi trip from town; it has good beaches and snorkeling all around the island.
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Vieques National Wildlife Refuge
This 18,000-acre refuge occupies the land formerly administered by the US military. The 3100-acre western segment – used mainly as a storage area during the military occupation – was instituted in 2001. The 14,700-acre eastern segment, which includes a former live firing range (still off-limits), was inaugurated two years later in 2003.
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Fortín Conde de Mirasol
This small fort, on the hill above Isabel Segunda, is the last Spanish fort constructed in the Americas (1840s). Although never completed, the fort has ramparts and a fully restored central building that houses a history and art museum. It currently serves as a museum that showcases the island’s 4000-year-old Indian and colonial history.
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Playa Escondida
For good snorkeling or to get away from it all, follow Playa Seven Seas about a half mile to the northeast along the Las Cabezas property to an area known as Playa Escondida. The reefs are just offshore. Taking the trail to the west eventually brings you to the nearly empty Playa El Convento, with its beach house for government officials.
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Playa Lucía
The balneario at Playa Lucía, near the intersection of Hwy 901 and Hwy 9911 in Yabucoa, has great shade under its coconut trees and several little beach bar-restaurants just off its premises. El Cocal is one of the few good surfing spots in the area (ask for directions at the balneario).
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La Mina Falls
If you really want to paddle in some water, take the 30-minute walk from Palo Colorado down the mountain to the swimming hole at the base of La Mina Falls. Here you'll find a water cascade, quite stunning in its natural beauty. Come early if you want tranquility, because it's popular with cavorting families.
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Hacienda de Santa Lucía
Off Hwy 901 along the coast, you can ponder the ruins of Hacienda de Santa Lucía, an old sugar plantation a mile north of Playa Lucía. Don't expect a haunted mansion; there's only one wall left. Central Roig is the still active, old-time sugar hacienda and mill on the same road.
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Playa Seven Seas
On the southwestern shore of the peninsula of Las Cabezas, Playa Seven Seas is a sheltered, coconut-shaded horseshoe public beach. While not be quite as pretty as Playa Luquillo, fear not – it is attractive. The beach gets packed on weekends and during summer.
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Museum of Ildefenso
The little Museum of Ildefenso is tucked behind the office of the Department of Natural Resources, and has some historical pictures of the island and lots of Taíno artifacts. Beware: the hours – like everything in Culebra – are rather sporadic.
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La Coca Falls
La Coca Falls is the first spectacular natural feature you see as Hwy 191 climbs south toward the forest peaks. There is an 85ft cascade as the stream tumbles from a precipice to the right of the highway onto boulder formations. The gate is open every day from 07:00 to 18:00.
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Sea Without Barriers
Luquillo has a section known as Sea Without Barriers, the island’s only disabled-accessible beach. Sea Without Barriers has a ramp and other facilities to help anyone with limited mobility get into the water safely.
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Faro Punta Tuna
Lovers and solitary types like the view from the base of the Faro Punta Tuna, the lighthouse just southeast of Maunabo. From Hwy 901, take Hwy 760 toward the ocean. A path leads down to the extremely secluded Playa Larga.
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