Cueva Ventana

There is a little known cave in Puerto Rico called Cueva Ventana, the Window Cave. When I mentioned wanting to go there over the weekend some of my students had no idea about this local gem. Today we made a trip to the Arecibo area and on our way out of town we stopped at the cave to explore and take in the amazing view.

We hiked up a trail about a 1/2 mile and found our way to the opening of the cave. We decided to take the less dirtier route and go down some home made stairs instead of repelling down a wall with roots of a tree. I didn't pack clothes to get dirty in on this trip and I wasn't about to ruin anything nice. I'm glad we opted for the stairs but they were just as tricky to navigate. Luckily a group before us had thrown a rope down and we could use that to guide us into the opening.

Once inside we turned on our head lamps and followed other flashlights ahead of us to find our way through the cave. There was lots of mud and it was rather slippery. We entered into a larger chamber with tons of cool formations and lots of bats above us. As we moved through the chamber we could see ahead the light and the view we had come for. The view from the window cave is awe inspiring. Cueva Ventana is located in the middle of the karst country area and we could see them all around us with a river down below. The trip, mud and bats were totally worth it. We stayed for about twenty minutes just taking in the scenery before heading back into the cave to make our way back out.

Although off the beaten path I would highly recommend checking this cave out to anyone who was visiting the island. The bonus is that it is free and you will see apart of Puerto Rico most people don't seek out. The formation of the tropical karsts made the background of the window cave perfect.