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Puerto Rico Eco-Tours |
Río Camuy
Caves Park :
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The first expedition to these caves was in 1958 that included National Geographic cave writers, Russell and Jeanne Gurnee along with Bob and Dorothy Rebille, and a Puerto Rican doctor, José Limeres, all avid spelunkers. Their short foray into the system convinced them that the caves should be preserved. They managed to convince the Puerto Rican government to purchase the 300 acres surrounding the main cave entrance. Later, with the help of the Speleological Society of Puerto Rico, the group managed to explore and map almost 4 miles of this extensive subterranean system and was instrumental in the parks creation in 1986. During one of their forays the Gurnee's discovered a new, blind species of fish, which was named Alaweckelia gurneei in their honor. Today, over 10 miles of caverns, 220 caves and 17 entrances to the Camuy cave system have been mapped between the surrounding towns of Hatillo, Camuy and Lares. As well two other systems have been discovered: the Sistema del Río Encantada, a 10-mile system that runs between the towns of Ciales, Florida and Manatí, and the Río Tanamá system. This, however, is only a fraction of the entire system which many experts believe still holds another 800 caves. The 300-acre Camuy site contains 16 large caverns including Clara de Empalme Cave, a massive 180-foot-high cavern decorated with huge stalagmites and stalactites. The Río Camuy Caves Park is
located 11 miles southwest of Arecibo on Hwy 129 and due to the
ecological sensitivity of the area only a specific number of
visitors are allowed into the park each day. Visitor numbers are
regulated by limiting the seats on the trolleys and the number of
daily tours. Before entering the cave system, visitors are shown a
short audio/video presentation documenting how the caverns were
formed and the park rules. Following the presentation visitors board
waiting open-air trolleys for the descent into the
caverns. |
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Tucked away in the lush northwest corner of Puerto
Rico, about 50 miles west of San Juan, is one of the island's
best kept secrets; the Rio Camuy 
For the more adventurous and those in good
physical health, there are tour operators and outfitters that offer
offering real backcountry spelunking. One especially adventurous trip
called, the 'Angeles,' starts out with a 4x4 ride into the karst interior
around Lares followed by a zipline ride down into a dense forest. The
zipline ride consists of putting on a harness and sliding down a wire
cable. At the end of the zipline, wanna-be spelunkers are outfitted with
special harnesses and headgear and rappel 200 feet down into a sinkhole.
A short swim across an underground pool at the base of the sinkhole, is followed by a slide down a mudslide to the waiting waters of the Río Camuy River. After an hour or so of body rafting through dark underground channels and caves you exit into another sinkhole where you climb back out into the light. Similar, but longer and more strenuous trips are available on the Río Tanamá. Groups are small (6-8 people) and the trips attract people of all ages who are in good physical health.
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A Custom tour package can include: |
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For more information, send email request