Río Camuy Caves Park
The Camuy River is responsible for creating one of the largest cave systems and the third largest underground river in the world.When the Camuy River vanishes into the Blue Hole near the town of Lares, it begins a subterranean journey through one of the most massive cave networks in the world.The river runs through a network of caves, canyons and sinkholes that have been cut through the limestone karst base in this region over the course of millions of years.The caves were probably known to the Pre-Colombian Taíno indians and later to the local farmers but only came to the attention of spelologists in the 1950's.The Puerto Rico Land Administration developed and opened the area in 1987. Visiting the caves is like being transported to other dimension...
To get to the Camuy Caves Park one takes Road 129 to Km.18.9. The Park consists of 269 cuerdas with modern facilities at the Visitors center. Open air trolleys transport the visitor down to the actual caves through a 200 feet deep sinkhole, a chasm where tropical trees, ferns and flowers flourish. At the entrance to Clara Cave, one of 16 in the network, the visitor starts by viewing the majestic rooms rich in stalactites and stalagmites and huge sculptures built in limestone through the centuries and which seem to play with the filtered sunlight and the transparent waters. A footpath winds through the 170-foot-high cave to a deeper sinkhole and spectacular views down to the Camuy River.Tres Pueblos Sinkhole all of 650 feet in diameter with a depth of 400 feet lies in the boundaries of the municipalities of Camuy, Hatillo and Lares. The visitor can walk along two platforms; one on the Lares side facing Camuy and the other on the Hatillo side overlooking Tres Pueblos Cave and the Camuy River passing 400 fet below from one cave tunnel to another.
Spelunkers world -wide are attracted to this large system and keep exploring thse area which are not accesible to the general public.
