Bahía de Ponce facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Bahía de Ponce
Ponce Bay
Partial view of Bahia de Ponce, with Isla de Gatas on the left, Isla Cardona on the far background and Punta Peñoncillo on the right (photo taken looking WSW from La Guancha)
Bahía de Ponce Location in Puerto Rico
Location	Ponce, Puerto Rico
Coordinates	17°58′28.5954″N 66°38′9.168″W / 17.974609833°N 66.63588000°W / 17.974609833; -66.63588000
Type	Bay
Etymology	Municipality of Ponce
Primary inflows	Rio Matilde
River sources	Rio Matilde
Ocean/sea sources	Caribbean Sea
Basin countries	Puerto Rico
Managing agency	Ponce Municipal Government
Max. length	1.5 mi (2.4 km)
Max. width	3.5 mi (5.6 km)
Surface area	5.25 sq mi (13.6 km2)
Average depth	36 ft (11 m)
Max. depth	50 ft (15 m)
Salinity	35.7
Shore length1	4.0 mi (6.4 km)
Islands	Isla Cardona, Isla de Gatas
Settlements	Barrio Playa, Ponce
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Sketch of Bahía de Ponce

Bahía de Ponce (Ponce Bay) is a large bay in Barrio Playa, a part of Ponce, Puerto Rico. This bay is super important because it's home to the biggest commercial harbor on the south coast of Puerto Rico. It's actually the second largest port in all of Puerto Rico! The Cardona Island Light is a lighthouse in the bay that helps guide ships safely.

Ponce Bay is located on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. It's about 3.5 mi (5.6 km) wide and 1.5 miles long. The shoreline stretches for about 4.0 mi (6.4 km), covering an area of about 3,300 acres (13 km²). The water in the bay is usually between 20 ft (6.1 m) and 40 ft (12 m) deep. But near the docks, it can get as deep as 50 feet (15 m).

This bay is a great place for fun activities like sightseeing and tourism. It's also busy with commercial and industrial work. You'll find the Rafael Cordero Santiago Port of the Americas here, which is a major port. There's also the La Guancha Recreational and Cultural Complex, the La Guancha Boardwalk, and the Club Náutico de Ponce (a yacht club). Every September, a big swimming event called the Cruce a Nado Internacional takes place in the bay.

History of Ponce Bay

A picture of US troopships at Bahía de Ponce in 1898

The story of Bahía de Ponce is closely linked to Barrio Playa, the town along its shores. Since the bay was the main way for people to travel to and from Ponce, its history is as old as the city itself. This goes back to the 1500s, when Barrio Playa was known as Montones.

In the 1600s and 1700s, there was a lot of illegal trading and even attacks on the Playa settlement. A lookout post was set up on El Vigia Hill to warn the city if the port needed help. Even with these dangers, the Port of Ponce officially started operating in February 1789 under Spanish rule. In just a few years, it became Puerto Rico's most important port.

But threats from the sea continued. For example, in August 1800 and October 1801, British warships tried to capture the settlement. But the local guards and militia fought them off. The Port of Ponce was officially founded in 1804 by the Spanish King. However, it wasn't until 1811 that Ramon Power y Giralt got a special order to make the port active. The port was built using local money. Unlike other ports in Puerto Rico, it's managed by the Ponce city government, not the central government in San Juan.

The waters around Bahía de Ponce also saw a lot of piracy during this time. In 1825, the last major pirate in the Caribbean, Roberto Cofresí, was caught. This happened after two Spanish ships docked at Bahía de Ponce and an American ship called the Grampus hunted him down.

President Roosevelt visiting Puerto Rico via Bahía de Ponce in 1906

By the 1830s, La Playa had one of the best roads in Puerto Rico, connecting it to the main city of Ponce. La Playa became the center of all business in Ponce. Because of this, new ideas and progress often happened in La Playa first. For example, Barrio Playa got the first phone line in Ponce and was also the first to get railroad service from downtown Ponce.

In 1845, a huge fire destroyed most of Barrio Playa and the area around Ponce. It badly damaged the Spanish Customs House, which was one of the few buildings left standing. The fire also burned down the main buildings of the "Marina de Ponce" (Ponce port).

In 1887, the Spanish government built the Caja de Muertos Light on an island near Barrio Playa. Then, in 1889, the Cardona Island Light lighthouse was built on Isla Cardona, a small island at the entrance of Bahía de Ponce. Both of these islands are part of Barrio Playa.

A 2012 photo showing the old street rail line at the Port of Ponce

Commercial activity at Port of Ponce in 1899

In 1898, Bahía de Ponce was where the United States forces entered Puerto Rico on July 27. Compared to other ports on the island back then, the Port of Ponce had better facilities and could handle large ships. U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt also used this port when he visited the island on November 21, 1906. The American forces built a new pier for his visit, but it's not there anymore. President Roosevelt later told Congress that he couldn't land in San Juan because its harbor wasn't deep enough for an American battleship.

By 1913, Playa was a busy neighborhood with a population of 5,169 people. It had homes, sugar cane farms, churches, schools, hospitals, a cemetery, and local businesses. These businesses helped create a strong group of skilled workers. Playa has even been called "Puerto Rico's first planned suburban area."

In 2009, Barrio Playa was mostly a working-class neighborhood in Ponce. It had a modern shopping mall, a 4-star hotel, parks, and many sports and recreation places. Its bay is still home to the most important commercial harbor on Puerto Rico's Caribbean coast and the second largest on the island.

Geography of Ponce Bay

Isla Cardona at the entrance to Bahía de Ponce

The bay has natural borders. To the west, it's bordered by Punta Cucharas. To the east, it's bordered by Punta Carenero. The Caribbean Sea is to the south, and Barrio Playa and Barrio Canas are to the north. In the past, two rivers, Río Portugués and Río Matilde, flowed into the bay. But since the 1970s, only Río Matilde does. El Tuque beach is just west of Bahía de Ponce, and Isla de Gatas Inlet is just to the east.

The land at Punta Peñoncillo and Isla de Gatas helps protect the bay from strong east winds. However, the bay is open to the Caribbean Sea on the south side. Isla Cardona is an island located in the middle of the bay's entrance. It's home to the Isla Cardona Light. Isla de Gatas is south of the Port of Ponce docks. This island used to be completely surrounded by water. But in the 1960s, a dike was built to connect it to Puerto Rico's Punta Carenero, making it part of the mainland.

The building of the Port of the Americas will turn 70 acres of bay area into land.

Water Features and Obstacles

Isla de Ratones in Bahía de Ponce

The seabed at Bahía de Ponce stretches out over 5 miles. After that, it drops very steeply into the deep Venezuelan Basin.

For ships entering the bay, there are seven main underwater obstacles: Bajo Tasmanian, Bajo Cardona, Roca Ahogado, Las Hojitas, Cayo Viejo, Isla de Ratones, and Cayo Arenas. These are shallow areas or rocks that ships need to avoid.

The main way into the bay is east of Isla de Cardona. There's a 600-foot-wide channel that's 36 feet deep. This leads to an inner channel that's 200 feet wide and also 36 feet deep. This inner channel opens into a turning basin where ships can turn around. The entrance channel is marked with lights and buoys to guide ships. Smaller boats can use a 0.2-mile-wide channel between Isla de Cardona and Las Hojitas.

Ocean Conditions

Map of Bahía de Ponce

Bahía de Ponce is located between Cabo Rojo Light (32 miles west) and Punta Tuna Light (43 miles east). The bay is about 3.5 mi (5.6 km) wide and 1.5 miles long. Its shoreline is about 4.0 mi (6.4 km), and its total area is around 3,300 acres (13 km²). The water depth usually ranges from 20 ft (6.1 m) to 40 ft (12 m), but it gets deeper, up to 50 feet (15 m), near the piers.

Winds in Bahía de Ponce usually come from the east, with some blowing towards the shore from the southeast. The average wind speed is about 7.7 miles per hour all year, with March being the windiest month. The bay gets about 32 inches of rain each year. The average tide is about 1.1 feet high. Water currents on the surface generally flow northeast at about 12–40 cm/sec, and the main flow of surface water is towards the shore in a northwest direction.

In 1971, untreated sewage used to flow into the bay. To fix this and follow the 1970 Clean Water Act, improvements were made. In the mid-1970s, a new pipe was built that released sewage 5,000 feet out into the sea. In 2001, another improvement was made so that sewage from Avenida Hostos was released much further out, where the bay is 1,200 feet deep. Studies after these improvements showed that the sewage released by the Puerto Rico Aqueducts and Sewers Authority did not harm the water quality. Also, in 2017, a study found that sewage from Ponce's wastewater plants did not negatively affect endangered species or their homes in the bay.

The main treated sewage pipe in Bahía de Ponce was moved to release water at a depth of 150 meters (about 492 feet) down the ocean slope. This is much deeper than other sewage pipes on the north coast of Puerto Rico, which release water at depths of 15–40 meters.

Animals and Plants in the Bay

Some of the wildlife at Bahía de Ponce

Marine life at Bahía de Ponce

You can see many birds around the bay, like the brown pelican, especially at the La Guancha Boardwalk. Seagulls are also common. Among the fish, the Atlantic tarpon is often seen at La Guancha Boardwalk.

Two special endangered species live in Bahía de Ponce:

• The Antillean manatees, which are gentle sea cows, are known to eat in Bahía de Ponce. Most often, they are seen in the middle of the bay, near the Río Matilde river mouth.
• The brown pelicans look for food and rest all over Bahía de Ponce. They sometimes come onto the La Guancha Boardwalk looking for food from people. Brown pelicans nest at Isla del Frío (east of the bay) and rest at the Punta Cucharas end of the bay.

Other birds found in the bay include the western sandpiper, roseate tern, piping plover, Puerto Rican nightjar, blue-winged teal, and white-cheeked pintail. At the Punta Cucharas western end of the bay, you might also spot the Puerto Rican oriole, peregrine falcon, and Puerto Rican vireo.

The bay is also home to many different kinds of marine life, such as:

• Fish like coney, red hind, Nassau grouper, mutton snapper, schoolmaster snapper, gray snapper, silk snapper, yellowtail snapper, white grunt, banded butterflyfish, queen triggerfish, squirrelfish, sand tilefish, redtail parrotfish, and trunkfish.
• Shellfish like spiny lobster and queen conch.

Bay Services and Activities

The 1842 Spanish Government Customs House at Bahia de Ponce

The Port of Ponce is located on the east side of the bay, at Punta Peñoncillo. The Port of the Americas has a depth of 50 feet, making it the deepest port in the Caribbean. It has two large cranes that can handle huge ships.

Government services in the bay area include the Ponce Customs House and the U.S. Coast Guard. The Coast Guard is in the old Spanish Capitania del Puerto building in Barrio Playa. There's also a police station for the Policia Municipal de Ponce and the Maritime Unit of the Policia de Puerto Rico there. These work alongside the Puerto Rico Ports Authority.

Ships usually anchor northeast of Isla de Cardona in water that's 30 to 50 feet deep. But they can also anchor northwest of Las Hojitas in 30 to 40 feet of water. Smaller boats can anchor northeast of Las Hojitas in 18 to 28 feet of water. There's a safe spot for small boats to anchor northeast of the Club Nautico de Ponce yacht club on Isla de Gatas, where the water is 19 to 30 feet deep. However, Bahía de Ponce is not a safe place to anchor during a hurricane because it's open to the south. For hurricane protection, sailors often go to Bahia de Guayanilla or Bahia de Guanica, which are 8 and 16 miles to the west, or Bahía Jobos, 28 miles to the east.

Bay Industries

La Guancha Boardwalk with Port of Ponce warehouses in the background

Besides the shipping and port activities, some industries have set up near the bay. In the 1970s, a Ralston-Purina Tuna Fish Packing Plant operated on the bay, but it has since closed down.

Fun Things to Do at the Bay

Club Náutico de Ponce at Bahía de Ponce

The bay is a great place for fun activities, including recreational fishing. You can take boat trips from La Guancha to Isla Cardona, which is in the middle of the bay. Tourists go there to relax, swim, sunbathe, or hike to the lighthouse. Isla Cardona is part of the Punta Cucharas Nature Reserve. Other boats leave the bay to take visitors to the nearby Caja de Muertos island.

More fun can be found at the La Guancha Recreational Complex and the private Club Náutico de Ponce. Also, some cruise ships stop at the Port of Ponce, bringing more visitors.

The annual Cruce a Nado Internacional swimming event happens in the bay every September. Swimmers are taken to Isla Cardona, and then they swim across the bay to the shore in front of Parque Enrique González park in Barrio Playa. This event follows the rules of the International Swimming Federation.

Images for kids

• 

  October 1898 map of Bahía de Ponce

• 

  March 1899 map of Bahía de Ponce

• 

  December 1903 map of Bahía de Ponce

• 

  December 1929 map of Bahía de Ponce

• 

  January 1940 map of Bahía de Ponce

• 

  July 1971 map of Bahía de Ponce

• 

  June 1975 map of Bahía de Ponce

• 

  March 1979 map of Bahía de Ponce

• 

  February 1984 map of Bahía de Ponce

• 

  December 1985 map of Bahía de Ponce

• 

  December 1991 map of Bahía de Ponce

• 

  September 1996 map of Bahía de Ponce

• 

  February 1998 map of Bahía de Ponce

• 

  November 2000 map of Bahía de Ponce

• 

  May 2003 map of Bahía de Ponce

• 

  October 2012 map of Bahía de Ponce

• 

  Beach at Bahía de Ponce (Club Náutico)

• 

  Ships at Bahía de Ponce in 1899

Marine life

• 

  Antillean manatee (Trichechus manatus)

• 

  Red hind (Epinephelus guttatus)

• 

  Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus)

• 

  Mutton snapper (Lutjanus analis)

• 

  Schoolmaster snapper (Lutjanus apodus)

• 

  Gray snapper (Lutjanus griseus)

• 

  Yellowtail snapper (Ocyurus chrysurus)

• 

  White grunt (Haemulon plumierii)

• 

  Banded butterflyfish (Chaetodon striatus)

• 

  Queen triggerfish (Balistes vetula)

• 

  Redtail parrotfish (Sparisoma chrysopterum)

• 

  Caribbean spiny lobster (Panulirus argus)

• 

  Queen conch (Strombus gigas)

Marine birds

• 

  Roseate tern (Sterna dougallii dougallii)

• 

  White-cheeked pintail (Anas bahamensis)

• 

  Peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus)

• 

  Brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)

• 

  Blue-winged teal (Anas discors)

• 

  Piping plover (Charadrius melodus)

• 

  Western sandpiper (Calidris mauri)