Rio Camuy Cave Park
The Rio Camuy Cave Park with its famous caves is located on Route 129, about 11 km south of Arecibo. This is home to one of the largest cave systems in the world. The caves harbor one of the longest underground rivers on Earth – and blind fish swim in its waters.
Visitors are taken by tram down to the entrance, 200 meters below ground level.
Deep gorges and steep, fern-covered cliff walls define the landscape.
16 entrances and 11 kilometers of underground passages have been opened to visitors (as of 2007).
Tres Pueblos
After exploring the caves, the tram continues to the elevated platform above the Tres Pueblos sinkhole, surrounded by dense tropical vegetation. Beneath us lies a cave whose walls are covered in Taíno rock drawings.
The park is equipped with picnic areas, hiking trails, food facilities, and an exhibition hall with a souvenir shop.
From the Tres Pueblos platform, it's only 205 steps down.
Arecibo Observatory – Puerto Rico
The Observatorio de Arecibo is an awe-inspiring structure – and yes, even James Bond paid it a visit once.
The observatory is located 16 km south of Arecibo. It is one of the world's most powerful radar-radio telescopes and was the largest single-unit telescope on Earth. The instrument consists of an aluminum reflector with a diameter of 300 meters. Radio waves are received by movable antennas suspended 168 meters above the reflector.
The observatory collects data for scientists around the world. The telescope has also served as a movie backdrop for GoldenEye (1995) and Contact (1997).
The Arecibo Observatory was completed in 1963. It is owned by Cornell University and was developed there by Professor William E. Gordon in 1958.
The observatory is capable of detecting signals from 1,000 light-years away.
