El Tuque facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
El Tuque Beach
Playa El Tuque
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Beach
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El Tuque Beach as seen from PR-2 in Barrio Canas in Ponce, Puerto Rico
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 El Tuque Beach
Location in Puerto Rico
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| Commonwealth |  Puerto Rico |
| Municipality |  Ponce |
| Activities |  Scuba  Swimming  Boating  Fishing  Snorkeling  Hiking |
El Tuque is a popular beach and fun place for families in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It's a great spot for both locals and tourists to relax and play. The beach was designed in the early 1960s by an architect named Luis Flores. It opened its doors on July 17, 1965. You can find it along PR-2, in an area called El Tuque, which is one of the most populated parts of Puerto Rico.
Contents
The Story of El Tuque Beach
The name El Tuque comes from a large farm that used to be in this area. This farm was here in the early 1900s.
Developing a Fun Beach Spot
In the mid-1960s, the government decided to turn this quiet beach into a special recreational area. They wanted to create places like this all over the island for people to enjoy. This new beach complex, called a balneario (which means a public bathhouse or beach resort), had many cool features.
It included:
- Gazebos and fire pits near the sand
- A restaurant for tasty meals
- Changing rooms with showers and lockers
- A swimming pool just for kids
- Two large Olympic-size swimming pools for adults, with snack bars
The beach officially opened on July 17, 1965, ready for everyone to have a good time.
Changes Over Time
Over the years, the beach faced some challenges. The sand started to wash away due to coastal erosion. To fix this, a project in 1979 added new sand to the beach. However, this new sand was darker than the original, making some locals feel the beach looked "dirty."
By the early 1980s, the whole area started to look run down. The swimming pools and parking lots weren't kept up well. Because of this, the beach complex would only open sometimes. Eventually, it closed completely in the late 1980s.
Later, the city of Ponce took over the property from the central government. Around 1996, the United States Army Corps of Engineers helped again. They worked to refresh the beach with new sand.
El Tuque Recreational Fun
In 2002, a group of private investors became interested in the El Tuque area. They signed a deal with the government to create a new family and tourist center. These investors spent $16 million to build what became the El Tuque Beach Entertainment Center.
Aquatic Park Adventures
The El Tuque Recreational Complex opened in the summer of 2002. It featured an exciting aquatic park with:
- Three pools that made waves
- Fast water slides
- Areas for water sports
Some of the fun activities you could do at the park included:
- Hiking
- Swimming
- Boating
- Fishing
- Snorkeling
- Scuba diving
The aquatic park closed in 2007. The complex also had a pub and a Quality Inn hotel right on the beach. A nearby Holiday Inn hotel also offered more places for beach visitors to stay.
Speedway and Marina
In 2003, a second part of the project opened. This was a new speedway called the Ponce International Speedway Park. It has tracks for drag-racing and circuit racing. The drag-racing track has both 1/4-mile and 1/8-mile sections. The full circuit track is 1.52 miles long and has 12 turns.
A small marina was also added. This allows for boating and kayaking, which are part of the center's focus on eco-tourism.
Solace by the Sea Hotel
In 2017, after Hurricane María, a group of local investors called Grupo Misla Villalba renovated the old Quality Inn Hotel. This hotel had been closed for two years. They reopened it as a new hotel named "Solace by the Sea" on November 30, 2017.
See also
In Spanish: El Tuque para niños
