Tibes Indian Ceremonial Center (Rte. 503, Tibes, at km. 2.2)(2 miles north of Ponce) — Bordered by the Río Portuguéz and excavated in 1975, this is the oldest cemetery in the Antilles. It contains some 186 skeletons, dating from A.D. 300, as well as pre-Taíno plazas from A.D. 700. The site also includes a re-created […]
West Whale Bay Beach (Off Whale Bay Road, Southampton Parish) — West Whale Bay Beach has a fitting name, because in April you may see humpback whales migrating north to their summer feeding grounds. The large grassy area behind the beach is an ideal spot to enjoy a stunning ocean sunset. Locals frequently use West […]
Parque de Bombas (Plaza Las Delicias, Ponce) — Constructed in 1882 as the centerpiece of a 12-day agricultural fair intended to promote the civic charms of Ponce, this building was designated a year later as the island’s first permanent headquarters for a volunteer firefighting brigade. It has an unusual appearance — it’s painted black, red, […]
Hacienda Buena Vista (Rte. 123, Barrio Magüeyes Km 16.8, Ponce) — Built in 1833, this hacienda preserves an old way of life, with its whirring water wheels and artifacts of 19th-century farm production. Once it was one of the most successful plantations on Puerto Rico, producing coffee, corn, and citrus. It was a working coffee […]
Casa Wiechers-Villaronga (106 Calle Reina e/Calle Méndez Vigo, Ponce) – In a city filled with neoclassical confections, this is one of the most elaborate. Alfredo B. Wiechers, who returned to his native Ponce after studying architecture in Paris, designed the house. Though small in scale, it makes a big impression with details like huge arched […]
Wreck of the Ten Sails Park (Gun Bay, East End, Grand Cayman) – this park was set up to commemorate the Cayman’s best-known shipwreck. On February 8, 1794, the Cordelia, heading a convoy of 58 square-rigged merchant vessels en route from Jamaica to England, foundered on one of the treacherous East End reefs. A total […]
Pirate’s Caves (South Shore Road, Bodden Town, Grand Cayman) – these are natural limestone caves located on Grand Cayman’s south shore, and are a nod to the island’s history of pirate activity during the 17th & 18th centuries. To accommodate the family-friendly tourist traffic, there’s a gift shop with pirate paraphernalia and a petting zoo. […]
Pedro St. James Castle (Grand Cayman) — Originally built by an Englishman who arrived in the islands in 1765, it is the islands’ oldest surviving building. Local stories also associate it with the pirate Henry Morgan and a 17th-century Spaniard, Pedro Gómez, though there’s no proof. The house is touted as the islands’ ‘birthplace of […]
Plaza de Colón (Old San Juan) — The tallest statue of Christopher Columbus in the Americas stands atop a soaring column and fountain in this bustling Old San Juan square, kitty-corner to Castillo San Cristóbal. What was once called St. James Square was renamed in 1893 to honor the 400th anniversary of Columbus’s arrival in […]
National Gallery (Esterly Tibbetts Highway at Harquail Bypass, Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman) – established in 1996, this museum displays and promotes the range of Caymanian artists and craftspeople, both established and grassroots. As part of its mission to “promote and encourage the appreciation and practice of the visual arts, of and in the Cayman […]