Puerto rico coast: Geography of Puerto Rico

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February 17, 2023
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Puerto Rico

Digital Coast Aids Post-Maria Resilience Three Ways

The Takeaway: Puerto Rico is building back stronger with a Digital Coast tool and trainings in flood mapping and green infrastructure.

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NOAA Aids Exploration of Macroalgae as Renewable Energy Source

The Takeaway: The cultivation of marine macroalgae, such as seaweed and kelp, could benefit both human energy needs and ocean ecology.

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NOAA Blue Carbon Enterprises Lessen Climate Change Damage

The Takeaway: Coastal wetlands research, restoration, tools, data, workshops, and partners—NOAA brings every blue carbon asset to the fight against climate-change-related hazards and harm.

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NOAA Boosts Coastal Hardiness

The Takeaway: The agency and its partners help coastal communities lessen hazard dangers, curb carbon emissions, and protect the coast’s environmental and economic assets.

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NOAA Expands Coastal Opportunities for People with Disabilities

The Takeaway: Creating sign language for “estuary” and other coastal terms, and trails that accommodate wheelchairs and the needs of the visually impaired—these are just two of the contributions from research reserves and coastal zone management programs.

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NOAA Helps Protect Reefs That Boost Resilience and the Economy

The Takeaway: A road improvement partnership on Puerto Rico’s Culebra Island lessens sediment and pollutants that harm this irreplaceable resource.

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NOAA Rehabs Puerto Rico Reefs,Trails, and Flood Maps

The Takeaway: The agency joined with partners to reattach more than 7,000 coral reef fragments, restore a research reserve’s entire trail system, and provide flood-risk maps and training.

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NOAA Reserve Hosts First-Ever Carbon-Offset Initiative by U.S. Pro Football Team

The Takeaway: The Philadelphia Eagles football team will expand mangrove and seagrass restoration efforts at Puerto Rico’s Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in order to offset travel-related emissions, in a partnership with the Ocean Conservancy and The Ocean Foundation.

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NOAA Strengthens Resilience Before, During, and After Disasters

The Takeaway: NOAA initiatives and state partnership programs are making a difference throughout the nation’s coastal zone.

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New Policies Please Hunters and the Reserves

The Takeaway: Hunting grounds are clearly marked, and hunting passes are required.

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Research Reserve Adds Emotional Health Outreach after Hurricane

The Takeaway: Local Hurricane Maria survivors can receive expert help for their trauma and stress, because the Jobos Bay Research Reserve connects them with appropriate resources.

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Veterans Benefit from Nature’s Power to Heal and Teach

The Takeaway: Programs help military veterans adjust to civilian life through on-the job training and outdoor activities.

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Wade into Estuary Recreation at a NOAA Research Reserve

The Takeaway: Paddling azure waterways. Casting a line for that delectable campsite dinner. Spying an elusive warbler in a birder’s paradise. These adventures and many more await.

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Planning Your Time on Puerto Rico’s South Coast

The south coast stands in stark contrast to Puerto Rico’s north coast.

Instead of lush, rocky coastlines, rough Atlantic waters, mountainous karst country, and a dense population, the south coast features a flat, dry topography, and considerably less commercial development. It’s a great place to go if you want to escape the traffic and American influence found elsewhere on the island. And there are many great historic and cultural sights to explore.

South Coast

Historically, the south coast was a major player in the island’s sugar industry. It was once dotted with enormous sugarcane plantations, as well as sugar refineries, rum distilleries, and shipping operations. As that industry died out, the south coast turned its economic development toward the manufacturing of goods, although it hasn’t come close to restoring the area to the level of wealth it once enjoyed.

Ponce is the south coast’s biggest city, and what a city it is. It has a large, lovely central plaza that bustles with activity night and day, and it rivals San Juan as the island’s cultural, historical, and architectural center. Home to the founders of Don Q rum, Ponce was once a very wealthy city, which is apparent in its many beautiful buildings, museums, and elaborate festivals.

The south coast was home to a significant Taíno Indian community, established in the 1200s, that stretched from Guánica to Ponce. At the time of Columbus’s arrival, its chief was Cacique Agüeybaná, who is believed to have been the island’s most powerful leader at that time. But the south coast’s indigenous history predates the Taíno culture. Just north of Ponce, Centro Ceremonial Indígena de Tibes is one of Puerto Rico’s most significant historical sites. Many ceremonial ball fields, plazas, and petroglyphs have been discovered on this site, which archaeologists have attributed to Pre-Taíno and Igneri cultures that date back as far as 300 BC.

East of Ponce is Baños de Coamo, a natural hot springs near the center of the region. Believed to contain restorative powers, Baños de Coamo has been a tourist attraction since colonial times, and it remains one today.

The southeastern corner of Puerto Rico is the least populated part of the island. Official tourist sights are few in Patillas, but it has a couple of unique hotels, and its clear blue Caribbean waters beckon those eager to escape the hubbub of San Juan. And the fresh seafood is legendary, especially among the restaurants that line the water’s edge in the fishing village of Salinas.

Planning Your Time

Most of the south coast is conveniently connected by multilane divided highways—Highway 2 west of Ponce, and toll roads Highway 52 and Highway 53 east of Ponce. Highway 52 also connects San Juan to the south coast near Salinas. Traffic along the south coast is generally pretty light, so all in all, getting around the area is fairly easy.

Ponce is 79 miles away from San Juan and takes about 1.5 hours to drive. You can get there and back in a day, but you’d be hard-pressed to see it all in that short span of time. Better to stay a weekend or longer, so you’re sure to have time to visit the Indian grounds at Centro Ceremonial Indígena de Tibes; the city’s impressive Museo de Arte de Ponce; the castle-like former home of the Don Q founder, the Castillo Serrallés; the former coffee plantation Hacienda Buena Vista; and the new waterfront development, Paseo Tablado La Guancha.

Salinas, on the other hand, is close enough to drive to from San Juan for dinner. Patillas is the kind of place where you want to kick back and chill out for a while. It’s a great place to spend the weekend if you want to do nothing more than sunbathe, swim, and dine on fresh seafood.

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Puerto Rico is an island that is part of the Greater Antilles archipelago and is located 100 km east of the island of Haiti. The island of Puerto Rico is washed in the south by the waters of the Caribbean Sea, and in the north by the open Atlantic Ocean. It is separated in the east from the Virgin Islands by the Virgin Strait, and in the west – from the island of Haiti (Hispaniola) by the Mona Strait. The origin of the name of the island is more than incidental. The Spaniards originally named the island San Juan Bautista in honor of Saint John the Baptist, and the largest settlement on the island is Puerto Rico, which translates as “Rich Port”. However, when making maps of the Caribbean region, an error was made in which the city was designated as San Juan, and the island as Puerto Rico. Subsequently, when the error was revealed, the erroneous name of the island of Puerto Rico stuck to it quite firmly, and it was decided not to change it.

The area of the island is over 9,000 square kilometers.

Puerto Rico and the adjacent Spanish Virgin Islands currently contain an unincorporated organized territory of the United States called the Freely Associated State of Puerto Rico.

Climate
The climate on the island of Puerto Rico should be classified by its type as a tropical maritime type. It is characterized by softness with slight seasonal temperature fluctuations. In the south of the island it is a little hotter than in the north, and in the Central Range area it is always a little cooler than on the coast. The average annual air temperature in Puerto Rico is approximately +28°C. It is worth noting that the probability of hurricanes is very high here, especially between the beginning of June and the end of November. A rather powerful hurricane, dubbed “Hortensia”, on September 1996 led not only to catastrophic destruction, but also to numerous human casualties.