Bahía de Ponce (Ponce Bay) is a

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

Barrio Playa Barrio Playa, also known as Playa de Ponce, Ponce Playa, or La Playa, is one of the thirty-one barrios that comprise the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Bucaná, Canas, Vayas, and Capitanejo, Playa is one of the municipality' ...

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce ( , , ) is a city and a Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The most populated city outside the San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan metropolitan area, Ponce was founded on August 12, 1692Some publ ...

. The Bay is home to the most important commercial harbor on the Puerto Rico south coast and the second largest in Puerto Rico. The

Cardona Island Light Cardona Island Light (also known as Faro del Puerto de Ponce or Cayo Cardona Light) is the only 6th order lighthouse in Puerto Rico with a cylindrical attached tower. The light is located on Cardona Island, a small island on the west side of th ...

is located on the Bay to mark the way into the Bay from the nearby

Caja de Muertos Light Caja de Muertos Light, (''Faro de la Isla de Caja de Muertos'') is an 1887 lighthouse in Ponce, Puerto Rico, that is unique amongst all other lighthouses in Puerto Rico for its unusual Cross of Lorraine, double-arm, T-type shape structure. The ...

. Bahía de Ponce is located in southern Puerto Rico, about midway on the southern coast. It has a width of , a length of 1.5 miles, its shore is about and its area is approximately . Typical bay depths are in the -to- range, but these dip to at the drenched piers. The Bay provides recreation, sightseeing and tourist attractions. It also provides for commercial and industrial activities. The

Rafael Cordero Santiago Port of the Americas The Rafael Cordero Santiago Port of the Americas (PLA) is a megaport currently under construction in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Ponce, Puerto Rico. The project aims to convert the current Port of Ponce into a value-added Tax exemption, tax-free Free tr ...

is located here as well as the

La Guancha Recreational and Cultural Complex The Complejo Recreativo y Cultural La Guancha (English: ''La Guancha Recreational and Cultural Complex'') is a recreational complex in barrio Playa in Ponce, Puerto Rico, with family recreational and cultural facilities that opened on 23 June ...

, the La Guancha Boardwalk, and

Club Náutico de Ponce The Club Náutico de Ponce (''Ponce Yacht and Fishing Club'') is a yacht club in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The club is located contiguously on Gatas (Ponce), Isla de Gatas, near the Paseo Tablado La Guancha, La Guancha recreational and cultural area, ...

. The annual Cruce a Nado Internacional swimming sports event is held at this Bay every September.

History

The history of the Bahía de Ponce is closely tied to the history of

, the populated place that lines Bahía de Ponce's shores. As the major means of external communication for the settlement at Ponce, barrio Playa has, in turn, a history that is as old as the history of the city of Ponce itself, dating to the 16th century, when Barrio Playa used to be called ''Montones''. During the 1600s and 1700s, significant contraband took place near Ponce shores as well as attempts to attack, ransack, and invade the Playa settlement. A lookout post was set up in the El Vigia Hill, located immediately north of the city to warn the city of the need of help in the Playa harbor, a small port settlement at the time. Despite the threats, the

Port of Ponce The Rafael Cordero Santiago Port of the Americas (PLA) is a megaport currently under construction in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The project aims to convert the current Port of Ponce into a value-added tax-free customs-free international shipping hu ...

started operations at Bahía de Ponce under Spanish sovereignty in February 1789 and in just a few years became Puerto Rico's most important port. But threat from sea upon the Puerto Rican shore settlement continued. In both August 1800 and October 1801, for example, a fleet of

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

warships attempted to capture the shore settlement but were repelled by the Municipal Guard and Ponce militia. The Port of Ponce was officially founded in 1804 by Order of the Spanish Crown, but it was not until 1811 that the Order was carried out, when Ramon Power y Giralt obtained a Royal Decree to enable the port. The Port was built with municipal funds and, unlike all other ports in Puerto Rico, it is not administered by the Central Government in San Juan but by the Ponce Municipal Government. The waters off Bahía de Ponce saw significant amounts of piracy during this period as well. In 1825, the last major pirate in the Caribbean,

Roberto Cofresí Roberto Cofresí y Ramírez de Arellano (June 17, 1791 – March 29, 1825), better known as El Pirata Cofresí, was a Puerto Rican pirate. He was born into a noble family, but the political and economic difficulties faced by the island as a colo ...

, was apprehended after two armed Spanish sloops docked at Bahía de Ponce and the American

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

Grampus hunted down pirate. By the 1830s, La Playa had one of the best roads in Puerto Rico (today's Avenida Hostos), connecting the shore settlement to the city proper, and La Playa was the center of Ponce's commercial activity. As a result, most advances, innovation and progress often happened in La Playa before it happened in the city of Ponce. For example, Barrio Playa subsequently also got the first phone line in Ponce and was also the first one to get railroad service from downtown Ponce. In 1845, however, La Playa experienced a major fire that destroyed Barrio Playa and most of the Ponce vicinity. It significantly damaged the Spanish Customs House in Ponce, this being one of the few building left standing after the fire. The fire burned down the major buildings of the "Marina de Ponce" (Ponce port) as well. In 1887 the Spanish government built the

on an island by the same name just off the coast of barrio Playa. This was followed by the building of

lighthouse in 1889, on a small island called

Isla Cardona Isla Cardona, also known as Sor Isolina Ferré Island, is a small, uninhabited island located 1.30 nautical miles south of the mainland Puerto Rican shore across from Barrio Playa, on the west side of the entrance to the harbor of Ponce, Puer ...

located at the entrance of Bahía de Ponce. Both of these islands are part of barrio Playa. In 1898, Bahía de Ponce was the entry point of the invading forces of the United States on 27 July. Relative to the other ports on the Island at the time, the Port of Ponce had better facilities and its harbor could accommodate large ships.In 1911 the U.S. Federal Government granted the City of Ponce a perpetual franchise to operate the Port. During the second decade of the 20th century (1910s), a new harbor was built. (Se
''La Vuelta de la Feria: Segunda Parte del Juguete Cómico "Los Jíbaros Progresistas o La Feria de Ponce", Original y en Verso."''
Ramon Mendez Quiñones. Tipografía "El Vapor". Ponce, Puerto Rico. 28 July 1882. Archivo Digital Nacional de Puerto Rico. p. 244 (footnote). Accessed 5 April 2019.) The new Port of Ponce was built on Punta Peñoncillo, where it currently (2019) stands. It was also used by U.S. president

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

on 21 November 1906 in his visit to the island. The American forces in Puerto Rico built a new pier at Avenida Hostos Final for his visit, though this pier no longer exists. In a speech to Congress three weeks later President Roosevelt explained ''"I could not ismbark at San Juan because the harbor has not been dredged out and cannot receive an American battleship."'' By 1913, Playa was "a dynamic neighborhood with a self-sustained urban development with a population of 5,169 distributed through a residential area dominated by wooden houses, sugar cane farms, churches, schools, hospitals, a cemetery and local industries that promoted the formation of a strong artisan and industrial workers class." Playa has been called "Puerto Rico's first planned suburban area". In 2009, Barrio Playa was a mostly working class barrio of Ponce, with a modern shopping mall, a 4-star hotel, several parks, and numerous sports and recreational facilities, among others, and its bay is home to the most important commercial harbor on the Puerto Rico's Caribbean coast and the second largest in the island.

Topography

The Bay is bounded in the west by Punta Cucharas and in the east by Punta Carenero, in the south by the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

and in the north by

and Barrio Canas. In years past, Río Portugués and

Río Matilde Río Matilde is a short river in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. It forms from the confluence of Rio Pastillo and Rio Canas. Río Matilde is one of the 14 List of rivers of Ponce, rivers in the municipality and, forming at an altitude ...

both emptied into the Bay, but since the 1970s only

empties there now. El Tuque beach is the next water feature immediately west of Bahía de Ponce, and Isla de Gatas Inlet is the next one immediately to the east. The land masses at Punta Peñoncillo and Isla de Gatas protect the bay from the prevailing east winds, but the bay is exposed to the Caribbean Sea on the South. Isla de Cardona island, located about the middle of the entrance to the bay, is home to the Isla Cardona Light which is located roughly in the middle of the island.

Isla de Gatas Gatas, or more commonly Isla de Gatas, is a small island in barrio Playa (Ponce), Playa in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico, Ponce in southern Puerto Rico. A tied island since the 1950s connected to the Puerto Rico mainland via a tombolo, ...

is located south of the Port of Ponce piers. Once a land mass fully surrounded by water, Isla de Gatas is now part of mainland Puerto Rico after it was connected to Puerto Rico's Punta Carenero by a dike in the 1960s. The building of the Port of the Americas will claim 70 acres of bay space for land use.

Hydrography

The continental shelf at Bahía de Ponce is over 5 miles wide, after which it dips steeply into the Venezuelan Basin. Maritime obstructions for vessels entering the Bay include seven features: Bajo Tasmanian, Bajo Cardona, Roca Ahogado, Las Hojitas, Cayo Viejo, Isla de Ratones and Cayo Arenas. Bajo Tasmanian is a mile-long bank to the east of the harbor entrance, with several points with shallow depths (16 to 18 feet deep). The part closes to the entrance channel has depths as shallow as about 20 feet. Bajo Cardona extends 600 yards east-southeast from

Isla de Cardona Isla Cardona, also known as Sor Isolina Ferré Island, is a small, uninhabited island located 1.30 nautical miles south of the mainland Puerto Rican shore across from Barrio Playa, on the west side of the entrance to the harbor of Ponce, Puer ...

; it has depths of 12 to 16 feet. With an east wind of 25 knots or more, the mud from the reef off

discolors the water across the channel to Isla de Cardona and beyond making the channel off the piers at Punta Peñoncillo appear shoal. Roca Ahogado is a bare rock in the middle of Caleta de Cabullones, to the east of Bahía de Ponce with shoal water of 4 to 18 feet extending up to 0.2-mile from it. Oriented in a northeast direction, Las Hojitas, northwest of Isla de Cardona, is 0.8-mile long and has a small patch awash near its southwest end. The reef has depths of 2 to 11 feet. Cayo Viejo, located 0.8-mile west of Isla de Cardona, is about 0.3-mile in diameter and awash at its shoalest point. Isla de Ratones, on the west entrance to the Bay and a mile offshore, is a low island with a reef that bares at low water extending a mile east-southeast of it. Cayo Arenas, located 0.5-mile east of Isla de Ratones, is surrounded by a reef and shoals that extend up to 200 yards from its shore. The principal entrance to the Bay is east of Isla de Cardona. There is a 600-foot-wide entrance channel which is 36 feet deep, then an inner channel 200-foot-wide 36 feet deep leading to an irregular shaped turning basin, with a 950-foot turning diameter adjacent to the municipal bulkhead. The entrance channel is marked by lights, and buoys. A 0.2-mile-wide channel between Isla de Cardona and Las Hojitas is available for use by small vessels.

Oceanography

Bahía de Ponce is located between Cabo Rojo Light in Cabo Rojo (32 miles west of Bahía de Ponce) and Punta Tuna Light in Maunabo (43 miles to the east). The bay has a width of , a length of 1.5 miles, its shore is about and its area is approximately . Typical bay depths are in the -to- range, but these dip to at the drenched piers. Wind patterns at Bahía de Ponce are generally from the east, with a southeast onshore component. Average east-southeast knots of 7.7 miles per hour exists year-around, with March being the windiest month. The bay receives an average of 32 inches of rain per year. The average tidal wave is about 1.1 feet high. Water surface currents have a net flow of 12–40 cm/sec to the Northeast, and the prevailing flow of surface waters is shoreward in a Northwest direction. In 1971, untreated domestic sewage entered the bay through an outfall off Avenida Hostos and through another outfall off Pampanos Road. To comply with the 1970

Clean Water Act The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Its objective is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters; recognizing the primary respo ...

improvements were made. A mid-1970s construction realized an outfall 5,000 feet into the Sea. A March 2001 enhancement also brought the one outfall from Avenida Hostos to diffuse much further into the Sea than before, to where bay depths are 1,200 feet. The post-improvements study demonstrated conclusively that discharges into the Bay by Autoridad de Acueductos y Alcantarillados did not adversely affect the water quality. Also, in 2017, a Biological Evaluation of the area found that sewer discharged into the Bay by the Ponce waste water sewer plants did not adversely affect federally-listed Threatened or Endangered Species or their critical habitats in the Bay. The primary treated submarine sewage outfall to Bahia de Ponce was relocated to discharge at a depth of 150 m down the insular slope below the

pycnocline A pycnocline is the cline or layer where the density gradient () is greatest within a body of water. An ocean current is generated by the forces such as breaking waves, temperature and salinity differences, wind, Coriolis effect, and tides caused ...

. The Ponce ocean outfall is 150 meters deep, "all other outfalls discharge within the insular shelf at depths ranging between 15–40 m on the north coast of Puerto Rico."

Bay wildlife

Birds on the bay include the

brown pelican The brown pelican (''Pelecanus occidentalis'') is a bird of the pelican family, Pelecanidae, one of three species found in the Americas and one of two that feed by diving into water. It is found on the Atlantic Coast from New Jersey to the mouth ...

, particularly at La Guancha Boardwalk, and

seagull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the subfamily Larinae. They are most closely related to terns and skimmers, distantly related to auks, and even more distantly related to waders. Until the 21st century, most gulls were placed ...

s. Among marine species the more visible one is the

Atlantic tarpon The Atlantic tarpon (''Megalops atlanticus'') is a ray-finned fish that inhabits coastal waters, estuary, estuaries, lagoons, and rivers. It is also known as the silver king. It is found in the Atlantic Ocean, typically in tropical and subtropica ...

(''Megalops atlanticus''), also easily spotted at

Paseo Tablado La Guancha Paseo Tablado La Guancha (English language, English: ''La Guancha Boardwalk'') is a boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk in the La Guancha sector of the Playa (Ponce), Playa barrio in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, facing the Caribbea ...

. The following are among two endangered species seen in the Bahía de Ponce: the

Antillean manatee The West Indian manatee (''Trichechus manatus''), also known as the North American manatee, is a large, aquatic mammal native to warm coastal areas of the Caribbean, from the Eastern United States to northern Brazil. Living alone or in herds, it ...

s, which are known to feed in the Bahía de Ponce, with most sightings occurring in the middle part of the Bay, near the

estuary, and the brown pelicans, which forage and roost throughout Bahía de Ponce and will casually come onshore at La Guancha Boardwalk in search for food from people strolling by. The brown pelican nests at

Isla del Frío Isla del Frío (Spanish for 'cold island') is a small uninhabited island off the southern central coast of the main island of Puerto Rico. Together with Caja de Muertos, Gatas, Morrillito, Ratones, Cardona, and Isla de Jueyes, Isla del Fr ...

just to the east of Bahía de Ponce and roosts at the Punta Cucharas end of the bay. The

western sandpiper The western sandpiper (''Calidris mauri'') is a small shorebird. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''kalidris'' or ''skalidris'', a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The specific ''mauri'' commemorates Italian bota ...

(''Calidris mauri'') roosts in the western portion of the bay (Punta Cucharas). Also found in the bay is the

roseate tern The roseate tern (''Sterna dougallii'') is a species of tern in the family Laridae. The genus name ''Sterna'' is derived from Old English "stearn", "tern", and the specific ''dougallii'' refers to Scottish physician and collector Dr Peter McD ...

(''Sterna dougallii dougallii''), the

piping plover The piping plover (''Charadrius melodus'') is a small sand-colored, Passerellidae, sparrow-sized wader, shorebird that nests and feeds along coastal sand and gravel beaches in North America. The adult has yellow-orange-red legs, a black band acro ...

(''Charadrius melodus''), and the

Puerto Rican nightjar The Puerto Rican nightjar, Puerto Rican whip-poor-will or guabairo (''Antrostomus noctitherus'') is a bird in the nightjar family found in the coastal dry scrub forests in localized areas of southwestern Puerto Rico. It was described in 1916 fro ...

(''Caprimulgus noctitherus''). Equally, the

blue-winged teal The blue-winged teal (''Spatula discors'') is a species of bird in the duck, goose, and swan family Anatidae. One of the smaller members of the dabbling duck group, it occurs in North America, where it breeds from southern Alaska to Nova Scotia, ...

(''Anas discors''), and the

white-cheeked pintail The white-cheeked pintail (''Anas bahamensis''), also known as the Bahama pintail or summer duck, is a species of dabbling duck that is spottily distributed throughout South America and the Caribbean. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in h ...

(''Anas bahamensis''). These are also at the Punta Cucharas western end of the bay: Puerto Rican oriole (''Icterus portoricensis''),

(''Pelecanus occidentalis''),

peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known simply as the peregrine, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family (biology), family Falconidae renowned for its speed. A large, Corvus (genus), cro ...

(''Falco peregrinus''),

Puerto Rican vireo The Puerto Rican vireo (''Vireo latimeri'') is a small bird endemic to the archipelago of Puerto Rico and one of the 31 species belonging to the genus ''Vireo'' of the family Vireonidae. Its local name is ''bien-te-veo'' ("see-you-well", after th ...

(''Vireo latimeri''), and

(''Anas bahamensis''). Marine life at the bay includes: coney (''Epinephelus fulvus''),

red hind The red hind (''Epinephelus guttatus''), also known as the koon or lucky grouper in Caribbean vernacular, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grouper from the subfamily Epinephelinae which is part of the family Serranidae, which also in ...

(''Epinephelus guttatus''),

Nassau grouper The Nassau grouper (''Epinephelus striatus'') is one of the large number of perciform fishes in the family Serranidae commonly referred to as groupers. It is the most important of the groupers for commercial fishery in the West Indies, but h ...

(''Epinephelus striatus''), mutton snapper (''Lutjanus analis''),

schoolmaster snapper The schoolmaster snapper (''Lutjanus apodus''), is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a snapper belonging to the family Lutjanidae. It is found in the western Atlantic Ocean. Like other snapper species, it is a popular food fish. Taxonomy The ...

(''Lutjanus apodus''), gray snapper (''Lutjanus griseus''), silk snapper (''Lutjanus vivanus''),

yellowtail snapper The yellowtail snapper (''Ocyurus chrysurus'') is an abundant species of Lutjanidae, snapper native to the western Atlantic Ocean including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Although they have been found as far north as Massachusetts, the ...

(''Ocyurus chrysurus''),

white grunt ''Haemulon plumierii'', the white grunt or common grunt, is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Haemulidae native to the western Atlantic Ocean. It grows to a length of about and is a silvery-cream color, with narrow yellow and blue longi ...

(''Haemulon plumierii''),

banded butterflyfish The banded butterflyfish (''Chaetodon striatus'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish found in the tropical western Atlantic Ocean from Brazil to Bermuda. Common names include the banded butterflyfish, the butterbun, the butte ...

(''Chaetodon striatus''),

queen triggerfish The queen triggerfish (''Balistes vetula'') is a large triggerfish species found in the tropical Atlantic Ocean. Its body coloration ranges from steel grey to olive green, but around the mouth are orange areas with striking electric blue rays. Th ...

(''Balistes vetula''),

squirrelfish Holocentrinae is a subfamily of Holocentridae containing 40 recognized species and one proposed species. Its members are typically known as squirrelfish and all are nocturnal. All three genera in the subfamily are found in the Atlantic and ''Ho ...

(''Holocentrus ascensionis''),

sand tilefish The blue blanquillo (''Malacanthus latovittatus''), also known as the banded blanquillo, striped blanquillo, false whiting, sand tilefish or eye of the sea, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a tilefish belonging to the family Malacanthidae. ...

(''Malacanthus plumieri''), redtail parrotfish (''Sparisoma chrysopterum''),

trunkfish Ostraciidae or Ostraciontidae is a family of squared, bony fish belonging to the order Tetraodontiformes, closely related to the pufferfishes and filefishes. Fish in the family are known variously as boxfishes, cofferfishes, cowfishes and trunkfi ...

(''Lactophrys quadricomis''), spiny lobster (''Panulirus argus''), and

queen conch ''Aliger gigas'', originally known as ''Strombus gigas'' or more recently as ''Lobatus gigas'', commonly known as the queen conch, is a species of large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family of true conches, the Strombidae. This s ...

(''Strombus gigas'').

Maritime services

The

facilities are in the east portion of the bay, on Punta Peñoncillo. The Port of the Americas has a man-made depth of 50 feet, making it the deepest in the Caribbean. Port facilities include two

post-Panamax Panamax and New Panamax (or Neopanamax) are terms for the size limits for ships traveling through the Panama Canal. The limits and requirements are published by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) in a publication titled "Vessel Requirements". ...

cranes. Government services on the Bay include the Ponce Customs House and the U.S. Coast Guard. The U.S. Coast Guard is located at the former Spanish '' Capitania del Puerto'' building in Barrio Playa. There is also a precinct of the Policia Municipal de Ponce and the Maritime Unit of the

Policia de Puerto Rico The Puerto Rico Police (PPR; , ), officially the Puerto Rico Police Bureau (, ), is a law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the entire Puerto Rico, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a division of the Puerto Rico Department of Public Safe ...

there. These are in addition to the

Puerto Rico Ports Authority The Puerto Rico Ports Authority (PRPA) (; AP) is a government-owned corporation of Puerto Rico charged with developing, operating, and overseeing all seaports and airports in Puerto Rico. The Authority is ascribed to the Department of Transpor ...

. The usual anchorage is northeast of Isla de Cardona in depths of 30 to 50 feet, but vessels can also anchor in 30 to 40 feet depths northwest of Las Hojitas. A small-craft anchorage is located northeast of Las Hojitas in depths of 18 to 28 feet. A well-protected anchorage for small boats in depths of 19 to 30 feet is northeast of the

Club Nautico de Ponce Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises * ...

yacht club on Isla de Gatas. Bahía de Ponce is not safe as a hurricane anchorage because it is exposed to the South. For this reason, seamen seeking protection from hurricanes oftentimes head to the hurricane-proof anchorages at Bahia de Guayanilla or Bahia de Guanica, located 8 and 16 miles to the west, respectively, or Bahía Jobos, located 28 miles to the east.

Industrial activities

In addition to the industrial support offered by maritime traffic entering and exiting the Port of Ponce, several industries have settled on or in the vicinity of the Bay. During the 1970s, the Ralston-Purina Tuna Fish Packing Plant operated on the Bay, but has since shut down its operations.

Recreational activities

The bay supports commercial enterprises including recreational fishing. Among recreational activities on the Bay are boats that sail from La Guancha in the bay inlet to Isla Cardona in the middle of the bay with tourists seeking to vacation at Isla Cardona. Isla Cardona is part of the Punta Cucharas Nature Reserve and offers a quiet natural setting where visitors can sun bathe, swim, hike its lighthouse or just relax. Other vessels depart from the bay to ferry visitors to the nearby

Caja de Muertos Caja de Muertos (; also in English: ''Deadman's Chest'' or ''Coffin Island'') is an uninhabited island off the southern coast of Puerto Rico, in the municipality of Ponce. The island and its surrounding waters are protected by the Caja de Muer ...

island. Additional recreation can be had at the La Guancha Recreational Complex, as well as the members-only

. Also, at least two cruise ship lines have scheduled stops at the Port of Ponce. The annual Cruce a Nado Internacional swimming sports event is held at this Bay every September. Participants are ferried to Isla Cardona from where they swim across the bay to the shore in front of Parque Enrique González park in barrio Playa. The event is carried out in compliance with the standards and requirements of the

International Swimming Federation World Aquatics, formerly known as FINA (; ), is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering international competitions in water sports. It is one of several international federations whi ...

.''De fiesta La Playa con otro Cruce a Nado Internacional: El Cruce a Nado contará con la participación de nadadores de Panamá, Venezuela, Colombia, El Salvador, República Dominicana y Puerto Rico, entre otros.''
La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 29 August 2018. Year 35. Issue 1813. Page 26. Accessed 29 September 2018.

Gallery

Marine life

File:Manatee with calf.PD - colour corrected.jpg,

(''Trichechus manatus'') File:Epinephelus guttatus - pone.0010676.g050.png,

Red hind The red hind (''Epinephelus guttatus''), also known as the koon or lucky grouper in Caribbean vernacular, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grouper from the subfamily Epinephelinae which is part of the family Serranidae, which also in ...

(''Epinephelus guttatus'') File:3846 aquaimages.jpg,

(''Epinephelus striatus'') File:Lutjanus analis SI.jpg, Mutton snapper (''Lutjanus analis'') File:Lutjanus.JPG,

Schoolmaster snapper The schoolmaster snapper (''Lutjanus apodus''), is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a snapper belonging to the family Lutjanidae. It is found in the western Atlantic Ocean. Like other snapper species, it is a popular food fish. Taxonomy The ...

(''Lutjanus apodus'') File:Grey snapper - Lutjanus griseus.jpg, Gray snapper (''Lutjanus griseus'') File:2006-10-06 18 - Yellowtail Snapper.JPG,

Yellowtail snapper The yellowtail snapper (''Ocyurus chrysurus'') is an abundant species of Lutjanidae, snapper native to the western Atlantic Ocean including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Although they have been found as far north as Massachusetts, the ...

(''Ocyurus chrysurus'') File:White Grunt (5658507044).jpg,

White grunt ''Haemulon plumierii'', the white grunt or common grunt, is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Haemulidae native to the western Atlantic Ocean. It grows to a length of about and is a silvery-cream color, with narrow yellow and blue longi ...

(''Haemulon plumierii'') File:Chaetodon striatus Brasil.jpg,

Banded butterflyfish The banded butterflyfish (''Chaetodon striatus'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish found in the tropical western Atlantic Ocean from Brazil to Bermuda. Common names include the banded butterflyfish, the butterbun, the butte ...

(''Chaetodon striatus'') File:Balistes vetula - 01.jpg,

Queen triggerfish The queen triggerfish (''Balistes vetula'') is a large triggerfish species found in the tropical Atlantic Ocean. Its body coloration ranges from steel grey to olive green, but around the mouth are orange areas with striking electric blue rays. Th ...

(''Balistes vetula'') File:Sparisoma chrysopterum - pone.0010676.g135.png, Redtail parrotfish (''Sparisoma chrysopterum'') File:Panulirus argus NOAA.jpg, Caribbean spiny lobster (''Panulirus argus'') File:Queen Conch (Lobatus gigas).jpg,

Queen conch ''Aliger gigas'', originally known as ''Strombus gigas'' or more recently as ''Lobatus gigas'', commonly known as the queen conch, is a species of large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family of true conches, the Strombidae. This s ...

(''Strombus gigas'')

Marine birds

File:Roseate terns Palometas.jpg,

Roseate tern The roseate tern (''Sterna dougallii'') is a species of tern in the family Laridae. The genus name ''Sterna'' is derived from Old English "stearn", "tern", and the specific ''dougallii'' refers to Scottish physician and collector Dr Peter McD ...

(''Sterna dougallii dougallii'') File:Duck pato 005eue.jpg,

White-cheeked pintail The white-cheeked pintail (''Anas bahamensis''), also known as the Bahama pintail or summer duck, is a species of dabbling duck that is spottily distributed throughout South America and the Caribbean. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in h ...

(''Anas bahamensis'') File:Falco peregrinus on ship USFWS.jpg,

Peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known simply as the peregrine, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family (biology), family Falconidae renowned for its speed. A large, Corvus (genus), cro ...

(''Falco peregrinus'') File:Brown Pelican21K.jpg,

Brown pelican The brown pelican (''Pelecanus occidentalis'') is a bird of the pelican family, Pelecanidae, one of three species found in the Americas and one of two that feed by diving into water. It is found on the Atlantic Coast from New Jersey to the mouth ...

(''Pelecanus occidentalis'') File:Blue-Winged Teal.jpg,

Blue-winged teal The blue-winged teal (''Spatula discors'') is a species of bird in the duck, goose, and swan family Anatidae. One of the smaller members of the dabbling duck group, it occurs in North America, where it breeds from southern Alaska to Nova Scotia, ...

(''Anas discors'') File:Pipin Plover Player melódico (5840466176).jpg,

Piping plover The piping plover (''Charadrius melodus'') is a small sand-colored, Passerellidae, sparrow-sized wader, shorebird that nests and feeds along coastal sand and gravel beaches in North America. The adult has yellow-orange-red legs, a black band acro ...

(''Charadrius melodus'') File:Western Sandpiper.jpg,

Western sandpiper The western sandpiper (''Calidris mauri'') is a small shorebird. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''kalidris'' or ''skalidris'', a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The specific ''mauri'' commemorates Italian bota ...

(''Calidris mauri'')

Maps

File:Mapa de la Bahía de Ponce, Puerto Rico, por Eugene Ellicott en 1898 (DP6).jpg, October 1898 map of Bahía de Ponce File:Mapa de la Bahía de Ponce, Puerto Rico, por US Dept of Commerce, Mar 1899 (DP7).jpg, March 1899 map of Bahía de Ponce File:Mapa de la Bahía de Ponce, Puerto Rico, por US Dept of Commerce, Dec 1903 (DP8).jpg, December 1903 map of Bahía de Ponce File:Mapa de la Bahía de Ponce, Puerto Rico, por US Dept of Commerce, Dec 1929 (DP9).jpg, December 1929 map of Bahía de Ponce File:Mapa de la Bahía de Ponce, Puerto Rico, por US Dept of Commerce, Jan 1940 (DP10).jpg, January 1940 map of Bahía de Ponce File:Mapa de la Bahía de Ponce, Puerto Rico, por US Dept of Commerce, Jul 1971 (DP11).jpg, July 1971 map of Bahía de Ponce File:Mapa de la Bahía de Ponce, Puerto Rico, por NOAA, US Dept of Commerce, Jun 1975 (DP12).jpg, June 1975 map of Bahía de Ponce File:Mapa de la Bahía de Ponce, Puerto Rico, por NOAA, US Dept of Commerce, Mar 1979 (DP13).jpg, March 1979 map of Bahía de Ponce File:Mapa de la Bahía de Ponce, Puerto Rico, por NOAA, US Dept of Commerce, Feb 1984 (DP14).jpg, February 1984 map of Bahía de Ponce File:Mapa de la Bahía de Ponce, Puerto Rico, por NOAA, US Dept of Commerce, Dec 1985 (DP15).jpg, December 1985 map of Bahía de Ponce File:Mapa de la Bahía de Ponce, Puerto Rico, por NOAA, US Dept of Commerce, Dec 1991 (DP16).jpg, December 1991 map of Bahía de Ponce File:Mapa de la Bahía de Ponce, Puerto Rico, por NOAA, US Dept of Commerce, Sept 1996 (DP17).jpg, September 1996 map of Bahía de Ponce File:Mapa de la Bahía de Ponce, Puerto Rico, por NOAA, US Dept of Commerce, Feb 1998 (DP18).jpg, February 1998 map of Bahía de Ponce File:Mapa de la Bahía de Ponce, Puerto Rico, por NOAA, US Dept of Commerce, Nov 2000 (DP19).jpg, November 2000 map of Bahía de Ponce File:Mapa de la Bahía de Ponce, Puerto Rico, por NOAA, US Dept of Commerce, May 2003 (DP20).jpg, May 2003 map of Bahía de Ponce File:Mapa de la Bahía de Ponce, Puerto Rico, por NOAA, US Dept of Commerce, Oct 2012 (DP21).jpg, October 2012 map of Bahía de Ponce

Others

File:Isla de Gatas Beach in Ponce, PR (IMG 3698).jpg, Beach at Bahía de Ponce (

Club Náutico Club Náutico (‘Nautical Club’) is a building in Cuba. It is in the (city ward) of Náutico, Playa, Havana. History It was originally built in the 1920s and expanded in 1936 by its owner Carlos Fernández. Guests paid a modest fee (.10 c ...

) File:Harbor and Principal Wharf, U.S. Transports. Ponce, Porto Rico., 1899 - NARA - 530702.tif, Ships at Bahía de Ponce in 1899

Notes

Footnotes

References

External links

''NOAA's High resolution map of "Bahía de Ponce and Approaches."'' 20th Edition, October 2012. Revised: 11 September 2018. Accessed 19 September 2018.

''USS Ponce Departs Ponce.'' Story Number: NNS111118-06. 18 November 2011. Nathanael Miller, USS Ponce Public Affairs. US Navy. Accessed 19 September 2018.

''The State of Coral Reef Ecosystems of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.''
Jorge (Reni) García-Sais, Richard Appeldoorn, Andy Bruckner, Chris Caldow, John D. Christensen, Craig Lilyestrom,Mark E. Monaco, Jorge Sabater, Ernest Williams, and Ernesto Diaz, Pennsylvania State University. Accessed 3 August 2020. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bahía de Ponce Bays of Puerto Rico Geography of Ponce, Puerto Rico