Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Shopping
Lazy Parrot Tropical Gift Shop
(see 15)
23
Uncharted Studio
B6
Punta Higüero Lighthouse
LIGHTHOUSE
Nicknamed El Faro, the Punta Higüero lighthouse dates from 1892 and rises almost 100ft.
It was restored in 1922 after being severely damaged by a tsunami set off by the devast-
ating 1918 earthquake. The 26,000-candlepower light has been automated since 1933 and
still helps ships navigate the Pasaje de la Mona.
There's a small
museum (admission free; 10am-2pm)
inside the lighthouse build-
ing, which has artifacts from shipwrecks and relays anecdotes from the area's maritime his-
tory. The principal reason to come here, however, is for the view. Five great surf breaks are
nearby, and sometimes humpback whales come within 100yd of the coast.
The historic lighthouse crowns
ParquePasivoElFaro
, a pleasant city park that makes
a breezy place for a sunset picnic, or to spy migrating whales during winter.
Bonus Nuclear Power Plant
LANDMARK
A curious landmark, this green dome poking out from behind the palm trees behind the
Punta Higüero Lighthouse once housed the first nuclear-powered electricity-generating fa-
cility in the Caribbean. Back in the days when the Beach Boys led the surfin' safari, the
Boiling Nuclear Superheater Plant (known half-sarcastically by the acronym of Bonus) was
a prototype of the superheater reactor.
The plant only produced about 16,000kW of energy and never functioned properly. In
its short life from 1960 to 1968, it suffered a reactor failure and drew scorn from environ-
mentalists. The US government filled it with cement and tried converting the building into
a museum, only to discover - shocker - that a failed nuclear power facility wasn't popular
with tourists.
During the next 40 years Bonus became a rusting relic of the nuclear age and a favorite
canvas for graffiti artists, who scrawl slogans to vilify nukes or praise marijuana. Locals
named a surf break after it: Domes, one of Rincón's most consistent breaks. In the past
decade the building has been declared 'clean' and a museum was again considered, but it
currently opens only by appointment through the
Puerto Rican Electric Power Author-
ity( 787-521-4060;
www.prepa.com
)
.
