To celebrate our island’s natural wonders, sights, and colorful culture, EyeTour has compiled the ‘Great Places for Photography in Puerto Rico’ post series. Throughout the series we will feature some of the most amazing spots for photography lovers, hidden places, and suggested photo routes found throughout the different regions of the island. Join us for our first look into Puerto Rico’s Southern Region!

The southern region of Puerto Rico is well known for its calm waters from the neighboring Caribbean Sea, its painteresque historical towns, and the traditional music of the ‘Bomba’. Come capture the vibrant culture, the neoclassical facades, and the intrinsic blue of the coasts.

Ponce

Plaza Las Delicias is one of Puerto Rico’s most photographed because of its Parque de Bombas, the Ponce Cathedral, Casa Armstrong and all the amazingly well conserved colonial architecture that inhabits in this historical city. El Parque the Bombas is now a museum and a tourist information center so feel free to ask for directions there.

In La Cruceta del Vigía you can take an elevator ride to the top of an observatory tower to take pictures of the whole City of Ponce and all the way to its seashore. When heading up in the elevator be ready for an amazing view point of the Castillo Serrallés which is also open to the public and and an ideal place for architectural photography.

Jayuya

The Municipality of Jayuya: Jayuya is known for its indigenous heritage and for this matter the best two places to visit are the Piedra Escrita and the Museo del Cemí . The Piedra Escrita has a wood path that provide some good point of views towards the river and the mountains. Once you get to the bottom it is impresive how accesible and close you can get to this huge stone carved by Puerto Rico’s natives called Tainos.

Casa Museo Canales: This historic house is next to the Museo del Cemí and this pintoresque house should offer some fine photo opportunities to capture the splendor of the facade combined with the backdrop of the mountains.

Adjuntas

Casa Pueblo: Located one street next to the town Plaza of Ajuntas, Casa Pueblo gives the visitor a first hand experience on how the Café Adjuntas is packaged by local volunteers. Also, this is a house filled with antiques and history about the town’s culture. Photography is allowed on its premises however a mounted flash is recomended for interior shots of the Casa Pueblo.

Adjuntas has a very enjoyable panoramic route where photo opportunities might appear anytime during the way through the countryside road. Heading towards Lago Garzas and the Bosque Guilarte you might find a great view of the entire town from above.

Guilarte Forest: Once you get to the Guilarte forest you can enjoy the panoramic view of the town of Adjuntas and all the nature that surrounds this secluded forest. It is a good idea to have ready a tele-lens for any casual encounter with the colorful birds, reptiles, and plants that inhabit among this ecosystem. Alike any forest, the best time for bird watching and animal sightings is during the morning.

Yauco

The municipality of Yauco is found next to the main road Interstate PR#2 so even if you’re just passing by this municipality it is worth it to make a pit stop to explore and photograph its beautiful plaza and its surroundings. Yauco’s well-known coffee can be bought on its freshest state on the ‘plaza del mercado’, where farmers sell their home grown goods to the public.

Passing the entrance to Yauco’s town on the main road (carr.#2) there is an impresive “Platanal” or plaintain trees industrial plantations. This photography was taken from the roadside.

We hope you enjoyed our selection of EyeTour photographs and remember you can share your favorite places using the comments section below!

To celebrate our island’s natural wonders, sights, and colorful culture, EyeTour has compiled the ‘Great Places for Photography in Puerto Rico’ post series. Throughout the series we will feature some of the most amazing spots for photography lovers, hidden places, and suggested photo routes found throughout the different regions of the island. Join us for our first look into Puerto Rico’s Eastern Region!

From El Yunque National Rain Forest to the small island municipalities of Culebra and Vieques, the eastern region of Puerto Rico counts with a great diversity of nature reserves and worldwide renowned beaches. Its proximity to the metropolitan area of San Juan makes the east of Puerto Rico a great destination for day trips and exploring the places that some people like to call paradise.

Culebra Island

The small Island of Culebra is a true paradise full of secluded beaches and the perfect destination for clear skies and the pursuit of nature and underwater photography.

Flamenco Beach: This majestic beach is one of Culebra’s most frequented by visitors. From the distance you can appreciate the perfect half moon shape of the shore and the blue accent of the clear water. If you’re looking for a panoramic  view of this beach you will need to do a long hike to the top of the mountain to the east of the beach.

Dáquiti:  This small bay area is a located at the entrance of the Ensenada Bay where a natural barrier of coral reefs sets the perfect spot for boats to anchor. To find this and more great views from land you have to venture to the southeastern side of the island passing by Club Seabourne hotel towards Punta Soldado Beach.

Municipality of Río Grande

El Yunque Rain Forest: Visit El Yunque and you can expect a great variety of photography opportunities, from wide views to the northern seashore, impressive waterfalls and rivers, to the vibrance of endemic plants and exotic birds. El portal del Yunque is an Information Center useful to plan your visit and gather information of the hiking trails and the diversity of routes available to the public. Situated in the entrance of the forest, visitors can enjoy the outstanding arquitecture of the Portal.

Maunabo

Located on the southeast region of Puerto Rico, Maunabo is a relatively small town with some great lonesome beaches.

View From El Faro Punta Tunas: The Punta Tunas beach offers a wide stretch of sand and can be photographed pretty well from the faro Punta Tunas.For access to the lighthouse you have to register (free of cost) at the administration office in the entrance.

Playa Punta Tunas: This beach has a spectacular view of the Lighthouse and a sandy shore. The access to the beach is through a small passage at the left of the entrance to the lighthouse.

Vieques

Fortín Conde Mirasol: Vieques has many natural wonders for visitors to enjoy but it is the Fortín Conde de Mirasol the perfect spot for a panoramic view of the Town Isabela Segunda

Arriving by Plane: If you’re arriving at Vieques on a charter flight it could be possible to take some amazing aerial shots of this small Island so have the camera on hand. Tip: You might even be able to clean the outside of your window before boarding the plane.

Vieques: Virgin beaches with immaculate white sand are spread throughout the Island. Wild horses are also a common sight.

To celebrate our island’s natural wonders, sights, and colorful culture, EyeTour has compiled the ‘Great Places for Photography in Puerto Rico’ post series. Throughout the series we will feature some of the most amazing spots for photography lovers, hidden places, and suggested photo routes found throughout the different regions of the island. Join us for our first look into Puerto Rico’s Central Region, known for the mountain roads, cooler weather, and lush vegetation of the Cordillera Central mountain range.

Explore beyond the shore and venture into Puerto Rico’s central region filled with panoramic routes, sights and a countryside charm to behold. If you’re planning a road trip through the mountains here are some good points of interest along the way.

Municipality of Barranquitas

In the municipality of Barranquitas you will find a picturesque town filled with color and history. If you feel like going on a road trip and exploring beyond the shore, this panoramic route to the center of the island is a cool place to start.

Plaza located in the heart of Barranquitas:Being relatively small you can walk through the town and find historic places like The House of the Philanthropist Luis Muñoz Rivera and his mausoleum, the historic Casa Museo Joaquín de Rojas and The Church named Parroquia San Antonio de Pauda.

Cañón de San Cristóbal: Excursions are organized to the bottom of this canyon although it is a very intense descent and a great physical aptitude and professional guides is a must for this adventure. However, visitors can enjoy a majestic view from the top of the Canyon San Cristóbal thanks to the guided tours and trails maintained by the Fideicomiso de Conservación de Puerto Rico.

Municipality of Cayey

If you are heading for the south or southwest area of Puerto Rico it is hard to miss the wonderful view on different sectors of the highway PR-52. In particular, when passing by the municipality of Cayey there are some of the best views of Puerto Rico’s Central Mountains called “La Cordillera Central”. A good Spot to park the car and take panoramic pictures is the Monumento al Jíbaro.

Monumento al Jíbaro on highway PR-52:The Impressive view of the mountains sometimes let you see as far as the Caribbean Sea and the municipality of Ponce. During summer the mountains might look brown because of the dry season.

Municipality of Orocovis

As well as Barranquitas, Orocovis is a municipality fun for enjoying a panoramic view and discovering the country side of Puerto Rico. Some say that Orocovis is in the exact center of the Island and in particular there are two spots that stands out on this municipality; The Toro Negro Forest and The Mirador Villalba-Oricovis.

Mirador Villalba-OrocovisIn the frontier between Villalba and Orocovis stands a great viewpoint for photography. With good weather conditions it is possible to watch both, the northern and southern coast of the island. This is a perfect point of view for a panoramic perspective of Puerto Rico.

El Bosque Estatal de Toro Negro: This hidden forest in the center of Puerto Rico has a flamboyant diversity of plants, small animals and insects perfect for nature photography and close-ups. A good precaution would be to bring a plastic bag for covering all the camera equipment in case of unexpected rains since it is common in this forest.

We hope you enjoyed our selection of EyeTour photographs and remember you can share your favorite places using the comments section below!

Puerto Rico’s El Yunque National Forest - one of the island’s most visited sites and a treasure trove of natural wonders - has qualified along with 260 other sites around the world to move into the second round of the New 7 Wonders of Nature campaign.  Following the success of The Official New 7 Wonders of the World campaign, which revealed the results of 100 million votes and included The Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu, and the Taj Mahal as its winners, the New7Wonders Foundation has begun tallying votes for the world’s most cherished nature sites in hopes of promoting preservation and responsible tourism.

Now officially on its second phase, the campaign is looking to whittle down the selection to the top 77 locales as voted by people through its website.  We think that El Yunque deserves the recognition and we want you to help us by voting for it.  If you’ve already visited the forest, then you don’t need us to tell you about its ecological and scientific significance, about the breathtaking vistas or the rich biodiversity on display.

Here’s a video we produced on how to vote:

However, if you’ve never been to El Yunque National Forest - Don’t worry! EyeTour has you covered. Below you will find information about the forest and its award-winning tourist information center, El Portal.  Click on the pictures or links to watch videos for both sites and learn more about what makes El Yunque unique and worthy of being named one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature.  Oh, and don’t forget to vote afterwards!

El Yunque National Forest

El Yunque National Forest is located in the Sierra de Luquillo Mountains, about 25 miles east of the San Juan area. A short ten-minute drive through the village of Palmer in Río Grande and up PR Road #191 will lead you to El Yunque. Covering over 28,000 acres of land, the forest derives its name from the Taíno word “Yuké” – meaning sacred or white lands. From its peaks, it offers visitors some of the most breathtaking vistas found in the Caribbean. Temperatures range from almost 80 degrees Fahrenheit on the lower parts of the forest to a cool 65 degrees in areas closer to 3,300 feet above sea level.

El Yunque’s biodiversity makes it unique among other forests in the United States National Forest System. Frequent rain showers generate close to 100 billion gallons of rainwater a year and conspire with Puerto Rico’s warm tropical climate to accommodate over 240 species of native trees, 50 species of orchids, and 150 species of ferns. Almost a third of the tree species are native to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and 10 percent of them are endemic to El Yunque and cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

The forest’s animal life is dominated by reptiles, amphibians, and birds, including the endangered ‘Higuaca’ or Puerto Rican Parrot. The forest attracts over a million visitors each year, who come to hike its more than 13 miles of trails while enjoying the lush scenery and fresh mountain air. Guided tours of these trails are available through the USDA Forest Service’s innovative “Forest Adventure Tours” and “Rent-A-Ranger” programs.

The core of El Yunque National Forest remains largely untouched to this day and has proven to be an exceptional asset to the world’s scientific community. It not only serves as a leading research site for numerous studies, but also provides a unique window to the past, when the original forest covered Puerto Rico in its entirety. VIEW VIDEO

El Portal Rain Forest Center

El Portal Rain Forest Center was established in 1996 to serve as a gateway into El Yunque National Forest and to provide various recreational and educational opportunities to the general public. Its award-winning design by local architecture firm Sierra Cardona y Ferrer leads visitors across an elevated walkway and into a rain forest introduction area and three pavilions. The pavilions are located on the building’s upper level and offer an opportunity to learn more about El Yunque and its relationship with other tropical rain forests in the world through exhibits and interactive displays. The unique structure also houses an information desk staffed with knowledgeable USDA Forest Service personnel, a theater that regularly screens a short film on El Yunque, and a book store-gift shop. El Portal Rain Forest Center is available for rent after regular operating hours and offers special events such as the ‘Noches de Artes y Música,’ presented on the last Friday of each month.  VIEW VIDEO