The Aguas Buenas Cave System (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

: ''Sistema de cuevas y cavernas de Aguas Buenas'') is a

cave system A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

located in the municipality of Aguas Buenas. The caves and their surrounding forest area are protected by the almost 1,800-acre Aguas Buenas Cave and Caverns System Nature Reserve (Spanish: ''Reserva Natural Sistema de Cuevas y Cavernas de Aguas Buenas'') since 2002, which also extends to the municipalities of

Caguas Caguas (, ) is a city and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Central Mountain Range of Puerto Rico, south of San Juan and Trujillo Alto, west of Gurabo and San Lorenzo, and east of Aguas Buenas, Cidra, and Cayey. Caguas was founded ...

and Cidra. The reserve is important for the number of bat species found in the system, some of which are endangered ('' Mormoops blanvillei'', ''

Monophyllus redmani ''Monophyllus'', the Antillean long-tongued bats or single leaf bats , is a genus of bats in the family Phyllostomidae. They are distributed on the Antilles. Species It contains the following species: * ''Monophyllus plethodon'' Miller, 1900 � ...

'' and '' Pteronotus portoricensis''). In addition to being an important bat preserve, the nature reserve protects an important hydrological basin which is the source of a number of rivers and creeks that form part of the Loíza River basin.

Geology

The cave system is found in one of the oldest

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

zones in Puerto Rico.

Named caves

Cueva Oscura

''Cueva Oscura'' (Spanish for "dark cave") is home to the two largest cave rooms in the system. This cave is also considered an important bat habitat and is home to the most diverse and abundant bat colonies in the system.

Cueva Ermita

''Cueva Ermita'' (Spanish for "hermitage cave"), also known as ''Cueva Nivel del Rio'' ("river-level cave"), is the source of the

Cagüitas River The Cagüitas River ( es, Río Cagüitas) is a river of Caguas and Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico. See also *List of rivers of Puerto Rico A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organ ...

Cueva Múcara and Cueva Geco

''Cueva Múcara'' (

Puerto Rican Spanish Puerto Rican Spanish (''español puertorriqueño'' ) is the variety (linguistics), variety of the Spanish language as characteristically spoken in Puerto Rico and by millions of people of Puerto Rican people, Puerto Rican descent living in the ...

for "owl cave") is a steep cave and its entrance is home to a number of bat colonies. ''Cueva Geco'' is interconnected with ''Cueva Múcara'' and being mostly vertical, is the steepest cave in the system.

Cueva Grillo and Cueva Murciélago

''Cueva Grillo'' (Spanish for "cricket cave") used to be the largest cave in the system but after a partial collapse the cave is now separated from the now called ''Cueva Murciélago'' (Spanish for "bat cave") which used to be home to a large number of bats until

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was a deadly Saffir–Simpson scale#Category 5, Category 5 Tropical cyclone, hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly Dominica, Saint Croix, and Puerto Rico. It is regarded as the wo ...

in 2017 when the bat population greatly decreased in the cave.

Recreation

The caves currently have no infrastructure for visitors.

References

{{coord missing, Puerto Rico Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico Caguas, Puerto Rico Cidra, Puerto Rico Caves of Puerto Rico Protected areas of Puerto Rico Nature reserves