Las pailas puerto rico: Las Paylas or Las Pailas – A Natural Water Slide in Luquillo
How to Enjoy Las Paylas Puerto Rico: Natural Water Slide in Luquillo
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Last Updated on August 1, 2022
Finding Las Paylas, a Puerto Rico Natural Water Slide!
After spending the day in El Yunque National Forest, we went on a hunt for secret waterfalls in Puerto Rico. Las Paylas is hidden behind some residential property, so it is sometimes difficult to find (and it is often spelled Las Pailas Puerto Rico so make sure to use both spellings). The payoff is big though as this natural water slide in Puerto Rico is super fun for everyone. We spent almost 2 hours playing, climbing over the rocks, enjoying the water, and going down the Puerto Rico natural water slide.
We definitely discovered that Puerto Rico has no shortage of fun sites to explore!
What is Las Paylas / What is Las Pailas?
Puerto Rico Natural water slide
Las Paylas is a hidden Puerto Rico natural water slide tucked away on the outskirts of the El Yunque National Forest. The waterfall runs through the rocks making natural pathways for visitors to follow in its route, ending up in a rewarding warm pond at the bottom.
Nature is the celebrity here and she is featured in the beautiful scenery and running waterfalls all around. Make plans to spend some time here just admiring all that surrounds you!
Where is Las Paylas Puerto Rico?
MAP to Las Paylas
Las Paylas is located about an hour from San Juan (use Las Pailas spelling for Google Maps). It is a great day-trip after you have spent some time touring San Juan Puerto Rico. You can take a road trip to the Rainforest if you have a rental car or —-
Sign up for a tour with aguide through El Yunque Rainforest who will take you here and other hidden waterfalls in Puerto Rico.
Google maps was able to locate Las Pailas so it wasn’t difficult to find the area. (We spelled it Las Pailas for Google Maps) It is on Road 983 and not far from El Yunque National Forest. If you are coming from the Rainforest, Road 191, then take Road 988 and then left on 983. You can also reach it from the north on Route 3.Finding Las Pailas near Luquillo
Once Google Maps indicates that you have arrived, look for a gated house. There is a pathway to the waterslide there within the gated parking lot. If it is closed, there is another pathway further down. For either of the paths, there will be a parking / private residence fee of $5 – $6. The only way to reach the natural waterslide is through private property. You can also park on the road for 50 cents, but the road is narrow, so I really don’t recommend that. There will usually be a resident there to collect the fees during daylight hours.
How to get to the Natural Water Slide in Puerto Rico
Once you arrive at Las Paylas and have your car parked, be prepared for a short, muddy hike.
The path we took was steep and slippery. There was a rope there for us to use as we climbed down into the valley where the natural water slide started its wild ride.
From the exit of the muddy trail, we headed to the left for the large slide. The smaller slide is to the right. There were a lot of big boulders to climb down, so we took the easier route to the larger slide.
After you arrive at the Puerto Rico waterfall slide
We surveyed the rushing water for a while and then decided to give it a go. There was no one else at Las Paylas when we arrived, so we had to figure it out ourselves. We started going down a small portion of the slide to get experience.
After half an hour on the small section of the natural slide, a guide showed up with his tour group. He tried to talk them into going up to the top of the slide. No luck! They certainly didn’t want to be the first!! We were game though! He showed us where to climb up to the top on the left of the slide.
He gave instructions on how to maneuver through the twists and turns in order to reach the bottom in one piece. Once we had all conquered the large slide, his tour group deemed it safe enough and started to follow.
Starting with the small natural slide and then the large natural slide in Puerto Rico at Las Paylas
How to enjoy the Rainforest Natural Water Slide
It was scary at first. We wore clothing over our bathing suits for protection against the rocks, but they really didn’t bang us up too bad. It was nice to have that extra cushion anyway.
It was really difficult to climb back up the rocks for a second ride down the slide once they got slippery! We had water shoes that gave us a little bit of traction. The water shoes also gave us some protection at the exit of the slide with all the little rocks at the bottom under our feet.
Make sure that you have water protection for your phone too! I was afraid to go anywhere near the waterslide because I didn’t have a waterproof case for it.
COME PREPARED for everything to get wet and muddy! Or do what we did and record all the videos with a waterproof GoPro!
Leaving Las Paylas
It was an afternoon well-spent. We were happy, exhilarated, wet, and muddy. Such a fantastic combination! The Las Paylas resident let us hose off all the mud on our shoes before we had to get back into our rental car.
We took home many memories of our exciting time taming the waterfall and going down the Puerto Rico Natural Water Slide!
Taking a Trip to Puerto Rico?
Ultimate Guide for 3 Days in Puerto Rico
If you are spending a long weekend in Puerto Rico, follow this ultimate guide to enjoy Puerto Rico in 3 days. If you have more vacation time, you can spend 4 days in Puerto Rico and add a bonus day to your Puerto Rico itinerary!
Pin this guide for later!
Related posts:
Las Pailas (Las Paylas) Puerto Rico: What you Need to Know to Explore these Natural Waterslides
Are you looking for the perfect Puerto Rico natural water slide? Las Pailas (also called Las Paylas) in Luquillo is the perfect destination for a fun swim and a chance to slide down the rock into a perfectly cool pool of water.
The natural waterfalls are located just a short drive from Luquillo Beach, so if you’re looking for a fun day trip from Luquillo or San Juan, this is a great place to spend some time.
We stopped at Las Pailas after spending the day in El Yunque National Forest for an hour long swim and slide. You can easily drive out of the rainforest and stop at Las Pailas on your way home. After our visit, we headed to Luquilla beach for dinner. Read below for everything you need to know to visit Las Pailas, Puerto Rico.
Las Pailas: The lower water slide Puerto Rico
Table of Contents
- 1 What is Las Pailas (Las Paylas) in Puerto Rico?
- 2 Where is Las Pailas (natural waterslide Puerto Rico)
- 3 How to get to Las Pailas Puerto Rico
- 4 What to Know When You Get to Las Pailas
- 5 Book a Natural Waterslide Tour, Puerto Rico
What is Las Pailas (Las Paylas) in Puerto Rico?
Las Pailas was one of our favorite freshwater swimming spots and natural water slides in Puerto Rico.
We visited several on our visit, and also loved Canon Blanco. The water feature is made up of two areas with 2 different water slide features. The water flows down the larger water slide first but if you continue down the river, you will find a smaller natural water slide and a deeper pool for swimming. There is also a rock for jumping although it is not particularly deep so use caution.
The area is behind some houses, but is still part of the forest and you are truly sliding and swimming in the rainforest.
Las Pailas – natural waterslide Puerto Rico (Lower Slide)
Where is Las Pailas (natural waterslide Puerto Rico)
Las Pailas is located in Liquillo, Puerto Rico and is very easy to get to from the major roads. You actually drive almost directly by the river on the main road (983) and then park in one of the yards of the people in town. Coming from San Juan, the drive is about 45 min, from Luquillo Beach, the drive is 10 minutes, and from El Yunque National Forest, the drive is about 15 minutes.
If you put Las Pailas in google it pops right up and is easily to navigate to (make sure you get the location as in Luquilla).
How to get to Las Pailas Puerto Rico
To get to Las Pailas, drive on 983. You will drive into a small group of houses (that doesn’t really look different than other parts of the road. Look for a pink house (shown in the photo below). There are several houses selling $5 parking in the lots near there house. Use caution when you are parking as some of the sides of the road were washed out and we watched a car bottom out.
How to Get to Las Pailas (Las Paylas)
From here, you will walk along the left hand side of the pink house into another parking lot and you will see signs for the trail. The man at this house asked us for $1/person although this may or may not be normal. Either way, we were happy to pay a few dollars and felt better about walking through the property.
Las Pailas Trail
You will see the Las Pailas trail going straight down to the river from here.
The trail is just about 100 feet and you can see the river the entire time. When you get down to the river, the larger water slide will be on your left and if you walk down to the right you will get to the lower water slide and deeper pool. There were plenty of people hanging out, picnicking and swimming here.
The waterfalls and rocks as Las Pailas
What to Know When You Get to Las Pailas
This area is a favorite with locals and also gets tour buses coming through to slide. If you can try to avoid weekends, or middays when the tours come through.
When we got to Las Pailas we started by going right and trying out the smaller slide and jumping off the rocks down there. You can start as low as you want on the slide to ain some confidence before trying the whole slide.
After warming up, we went to the upper slide and all tried it out. My 10 year old daughter even tried the upper slide despite being nervous. It’s also worth climbing to the top of the upper slide just for the view of the waterfalls and rainforest!
The Upper Puerto Rico waterslide at Las Pailas
A few things to note:
- The rocks here are slippery, so make sure you are careful
- Sliding down rocks in a river can be dangerous – use caution and common sense – you may want to consider life jackets and helmets.
- We finished up right at 5:00 and when we went back up the path, they had shut the gate to the parking lot. This meant someone needed to let us out of the gate. Just be aware if you are planning to stay later in the day that you may have difficulty getting out.
- These is a wonderful place to be able to spend time – please respect the abutting landowners, other visitors and pick up your trash!
Book a Natural Waterslide Tour, Puerto Rico
If you don’t want to do this trip on your own, or are staying in San Juan and don’t have a car, another option s to book a tour. There are several tours that travel through El Yunque and stop at a natural waterslide (like Las Pailas or a similar slide). You can see a few options below. In many ways, this is a great way to explore there places and they will take care of the logistics of parking, finding each location, etc.
Looking for more information about exploring Puerto Rico? Check out:
- 7 Day Adventure Itinerary for Puerto Rico
- Complete Guide about Visiting Culebra
- 11 Things to do in Puerto Rico
Also check out our Pinterest Page for more travel inspiration.
About the Author: Gretchen Stuppy
A passionate adventurer dedicated to getting families outside and exploring. Gretchen is here to share 15+ years of experience working in outdoor education and 13 years of parenting and sharing adventures with her own family. Read more about Gretchen in the about section and Join the Chasing ADVNTR community for a free FIND YOUR ADVENTURE guide.
View all post by Gretchen Stuppy
90,000 weather in Puerto Rico (Las Palmas) 14 days-weather.com
Moscow Russia
1 °
Omsk Omskaya
-1°
St. Petersburg Federal City of St. Petersburg 9000-4 ° 9000
Yakutsk Sakha (Yakutia)
-24°
°C
03:00 Sunday Artboard Partly cloudy + 19°0005 +18 ° arriving
Lighting: 6% hours
in the coming hours of variable cloud cover
No notification now
Las Palmas
- Weather for 1-7 days
- -14 days
- Rain radar
- Warnings
- Weather satellites
- Models
9000 temperatures
- today
25 Dec. +22° / +17° 3 – 5
m/s - tomorrow
26 Dec. +21° / +15° 8 – 14
m/s - Tuesday
27 Dec. 60%
1.2 mm +22° / +18° 12 – 20
m/s - Wednesday
28 Dec. +22° / +18° 11 – 20
m/s - Thursday
29 Dec. 70%
0.3 mm +22° / +17° 9 – 15
m/s - Friday
30 Dec. +21° / +16° 7 – 13
m/s - Saturday
31 Dec. +21° / +16° 6 – 12
m/s
+22° / +17° 3 – 5 weather in Puerto Rico C
- The first beam of the Sun
- 07:25
- Half
- 13:02
- Last ray of sun
- 18:40
Duration of the day 10H 23M remaining daily light 10H 23M
Lunar calendar
- Sun 25
- PN 26
- W 27
- CP 28
- Tue 3
- Wed 4
- Thu 5
- Fri 6
- Sat 7
Weather:
- 0008
- FPS Levels:
- Additional Information
Puerto Rico Air Quality
Detail 22 Acceptable PM₁₀ (20 µg/m³)
- Very Low Health Risk
- In the presence of synthomas, sensitive individuals should reduce prolonged outdoor activity.
