West Coast - Puerto Rico - page 354

north of the eponymous cape. There's little to see in the town today aside from a small
museum dedicated to local heroes such as Ramón Emeterio Betances, the father of Puerto
Rico's independence movement, and Roberto Confresí, a once notorious local pirate. The
best selection of accommodations lie in Boquerón and the best restaurants in Joyuda.
Sights & Activities
Corozo Salt Flats, Punta Jagüey & Playa Santa NATURE
RESERVE, LIGHTHOUSE
Vast salt flats surround the rocky, dramatic narrow peninsula in the southwestern tip of the
island. You'll pass pools of evaporating brine and mounds of salt waiting to be shipped to
market alongside the dirt road as you head south toward the headland of Punta Jagüey. This
can be a bizarre, picturesque and adventurous place to explore, a place where scrub forest
gives way to an elevated headland surrounded by steep limestone cliffs and amazing views
of the ocean.
Go south over the bone-rattling PR 301 until it stops, and choose your adventure: either
park on the left and follow the trails out to an immaculate crescent beach known as Playa
Santa , where a protected bay makes excellent swimming for both humans and manatees,
or follow trails continuing south to climb the windswept headlands crowned by Los Mor-
rillosLighthouse( 10am-6pmWed-Sun,withseasonalvariations) . We like starting
with Los Morrillos, which has been smartly remodeled with an observation deck looking
over the surreal turquoise of Playa Santa's water and across the expanse of Caribbean.
If a volunteer is on hand at the lighthouse, they might offer a casual history of the area,
where humans have been gathering salt since AD 700. When the first Spaniards arrived,
they quickly took over the evaporation pools used by the Taíno to collect salt and expanded
the business, making it a sustaining force in the local economy until efficient sugarcane
farming arrived in the 18th century.
For a lonely drive through undeveloped coastal plains or a cycling adventure, approach
Cabo Rojo from La Parguera via Hwy 304, Hwy 305 and Hwy 303. Then follow Hwy 301
south until it turns to dirt, where you'll traverse a spit of sand between Bahía Salinas (Salt
Bay) and the aptly named Bahía Sucia (Dirty Bay).
Refugio Nacional Cabo Rojo NATURE RESERVE
(Hwy 301 Km 5.1; 8am-4pm Mon-Fri) This refuge is about a mile north of the Hwy
301 turnoff to El Combate. Its visitors center contains displays on local wildlife and wild-
life management techniques. Outdoors you will find bird-watching trails among the ruins of