There’s no doubt that Puerto Rico is full of natural marvels, but one of the most impressive and not so explored are the Rio Camuy Cave Systems.
This spectacular cave system, located in the central west region of the island, contains the third largest subterranean river in the world and it’s home to an incomparable tropical ecosystem and environment that still conserves its natural state from millions of years ago.
I had the chance to explore and go deep into the caves with Aventuras Tierra Adentro – in my opinion; they are the go-to adventure company when it comes to Zip Lining, Canyoning, and Caving in Puerto Rico. Their Caving tour was selected by the National Geographic as one of the “500 of the world’s greatest trips”.
The tour runs on Sundays with a pick up at Ventana del Mar in Condado; an accessible meeting point to any traveler in San Juan. As soon as the guys from Aventuras show up, we are greeted with a red carpet rolling out of the van accompanied by adventurous background music (with applauses).
It’s 5:45am, so I expect to sleep on the one-hour ride to Arecibo. Wrong! Rossano, main guide and owner of Aventuras, and Anibal have enough air and energy to crack jokes during the whole ride. They are fully energetic and entertaining; even when my eyes are rolling up from the lack of sleep and the few drinks I had the previous night!
Just before we arrive to the cave system, we stop at a small bakery to have breakfast and stock up on food supplies and water.
Once at the caving location, we have a short hike in the limestone karst, followed by a somewhat entertaining mid-forest crash course on rappelling and safety. Entertainment is a big part on their tours – one of the small details that make the experience even better.
Once briefed, with the rappelling equipment on, we hike even further down and reach the first thrill of this adventurous experience – the Zip-line… the point of no return!
I am appointed as volunteer to clip-on the other 8 adventurers on the tour to the safety line before they are hooked to the zip-line. The zip-line is small, but exhilarating. Once at the other end, I feel the adrenaline rushing.
I’m now standing at the edge of the 250-feet deep sinkhole that shelters the mouth of Angeles Cave. I’m ready, and thrilled, to rappel this behemoth tropical hole. But before, I get a small bonus (for being such a good volunteer?) and do an extra zip-line by myself over the sink hole; getting a bird’s eye view of its impressive drop, the steep forested cliffs, the river, and the cave’s mouth.
The rappel is more than just another activity; it is the transition between the lush-green-tropical-forest and the dark-rocky-mysterious-caves.
Once at the bottom, I change the rappel equipment and gear up with the caving equipment. Now it’s time to pass through the gloomy threshold that gives access to the environment I’ll experience for the next 5 hours – I’m now inside Angeles Cave.
Even when the chambers are big and there are no really tight spaces as in many other caves, this caving experience is no walk in the park. Scratches, cuts, and bruises are a common part of the experience. Getting extremely dirty, muddy, and wet… inevitable.
We move forward as a group, caving inside the warm dark chambers that are only lit by our helmet lights. We climb rocks, do mud slides, cross underground waterfalls, and swim in the underground river. This is just the beginning.
The whole time inside the cave is adrenaline filled, active, entertaining and educative. Rossano makes sure to educate us on the rock formations, history of the caves, fossils, conservation, living creatures (yes, there are small scorpions, crabs, cockroaches, spiders, bats, and so on), native Taino petroglyphs, and caving techniques.
To test our adventurous spirit, Rossano asks us to walk a small segment of the cave with our lights off. Pretty scary, but the subterranean scenery is jaw dropping… even when in total darkness. But then, he pushes us even further when we reach a subterranean steep drop; at its base, the river flows.
I step on the edge to have a full grasp of its 20 ft drop.
“Now, everyone, turn off your head lights!”, Rosanno says out loud.
The free fall jump to the river is in total darkness. PITCH BLACK!
I give way, jump forward and wait for the splash. I don’t feel the splash. I should be in the water already. How deep is this?
Then, splash!!!
The free fall felt way longer than what I expected. Now the adrenaline rush has skyrocketed to new heights.
We swim through the subterranean river tunnels, climb through walls, and do more free fall jumps (this time with light). Half way the tour we stop to eat our lunch at a huge chamber they’ve christened as Pandora. Once you’re there you’ll know why; I won’t spoil this surprise, among many others!
The way back is no less exciting than the way in. After going up and down some of the challenges the cave presents, we finish our caving experience with a race. Yes, a race… a mud race! One of the last chamber’s floor is a huge bed of thick mud. Should we walk slowly through it, our shoes will get sucked by this Nutella sea. So, the best way to get out is by racing through the mud like mad!
Needless to say, by the end of the race I am fully covered in mud!
Once out of the cave, the adventure is not quite finished yet… a 10 minutes hike up awaits; finishing at some well-deserved snacks, showers, and the bus. Now I can sleep and rest my sore body on the ride back to San Juan.
Few Recommendations:
- Take extra clothing to change after the tour.
- Wear comfortable sneakers with shoelaces (you don’t want to lose them sucked by the mud). Boots will be too heavy for the swim.
- Buy an extra sandwich, chips, and water at the bakery and pack them in a double zip lock bag to prevent water from ruining your food.
- A moderate physical condition is appropriate, but no experience is required.
Company: Aventuras Tierra Adentro
Email: info@aventuraspr.com
Phone: 787-766-0470
Address: #268-A Jesús T. Piñero Ave.
Urb. University Gardens
San Juan, Puerto Rico 00927
Place: Angeles Cave in Rio Camuy Cave System. Arecibo, Puerto Rico.
Cost: $170 (a bit high for budget travelers, but believe me, it’s totally worth it!)
Note: Images 1, 2, and 4 supplied by Aventuras Tierra Adentro.
Wow that looks like loads of fun!!!!!!!
Andi, it sure was loads of fun! I had such a great time doing this caving adventure!
holy crap! how did I go to puerto rico and NOT know about these! It looks awesome- can’t wait to make a trip back down there and try these out.
hahaha! Don’t worry… I lived in PR for 23 years and it wasn’t until a few years ago that I got to do it for the first time.
You should try it out, this adventure tour does live to its expectations.
this looks like fun, its like being indiana jones or tomb raider
haha! Feels like that… You get that adventurous spirit that makes you want to do everything… even pitch black free falls!
I’m still so furious that that stupid cruise liner I was on only stopped for 3 hours in Puerto Rico and that at night. The things I have missed. Clear decision made: as soon as I’m back in Miami one of my first trips is back to Puerto Rico…for as long as I please.
I know! It’s so strange that cruise docked so late! Something must have happened there… For that alone you deserve a visit back to Puerto Rico!
This looks so amazing but so scary! Rapelling into pitch black? Swimming in river tunnels? Sign me up! I can feel the adrenalin just thinking about it.
Yayyy!! You will love it!! It is scary to do all those things in the cave’s darkness… your mind is always running… “is there a scorpion here?, something in the water? will I hit the rocks?”… But the fun and the adrenaline are even more powerful. It is definitely one of the best adventure tours I’ve done so far.
WOW WOW WOW. This sounds absolutely amazing! Jumping into the river in the pitch black. omg everything about this tour just seems awesome. Definitely one to bookmark!
Hey Jozef… It truly is awesome!! If you go to Puerto Rico and have the chance to do this… I’m pretty sure you will enjoy it a lot! Jumping in total darkness is one of the scary highlights of the tour!
I really need to visit Puerto Rico! I’m still not sure that I could do this though. Looks like some cramped spaces.
Christy, there are a few cramped spaces, but just a minimal part of the whole route. Actually, the most cramped space is shown in the video when we are floating in the water. If you want to have a caving experience but are afraid of feeling claustrophobic inside them, this is a good one to start. Compared to other caves I’ve done caving, these caves’ chambers are immense!
What an adventure! But by the time I got to the “free fall jump to the river is in total darkness” part I realized that I’m probably not brave enough for this, but I sure admire you for doing it. I really would like to revisit Puerto Rico sometime. I’ve been there twice, but each time were business things and I didn’t have much time to spend outside of the resorts. Sounds like much more to see there!
Thanks Cathy! This one truly is an adventure!
Ah, so nice you’ve been to Puerto Rico. When you have a chance to revisit, do explore inland… towards the west of the island and the smaller island on the east. They give a totally different experience from the one you get at San Juan.
This looks like amazing fun!! I would love this. We did caving in South Africa in some really tight spaces but it doesn’t look half as fun as this. There is so much adventure involved. The 20ft jump in darkness would have freaked me out!!
Putting it on the Puerto Rico list.
Caz, you and Craig will LOVE this experience! True, there are not many tight spaces in these caves, but the climbs, drops, slides, and swims are a lot of fun… and a bit physically demanding in some cases. That 20ft jump… OMG… It is one of the weirdest feelings I’ve ever had! I knew how high I was… but the fall felt way longer than what I expected. I had no reference point so it was very frightening but amazing at the same time!
Superb! The snaps inside the cave are truly phenomenal…looks almost surreal!
Good to have you around Sid! Yes, the caves have a lot of surreal environments! Truly amazing!
this has got to be in the top 5 fun outings i’ve read about! the dive in pitch black?! holy crap! great work on the video too- love how you can hear the splash. in love with this post all around- photos, writing, recommendations, video- love it!
That looks like an amazing experience and also scary. I might get a little claustrophobic in there!
Breathtaking cave. Kind of remind me the cave they discover in Vietnam. Beautiful adventure.
Are you kidding me? INCREDIBLE!! Such great video editing as well – we are currently stockpiling all the place we’d like to go this year and must say this is VERY enticing –
-Carrie and Ben
Thank you so much Ben and Carrie! Yes, if you like extreme sports and active adventures, then this is a must in Puerto Rico. Hopefully it will make the cut on your list of places. Let me know if you need any tips or advice.
Omg that video is amazing! Incredible Post man!!
Thanks Marcello! If you go to Puerto Rico and are into Caving… I totally recommend you do it! You’ll love it!
wow, the cave looks cool. Was it free to have a look around in the cave or did they asked some fee? i ask this because I went to curacao and over there they are asking for a fee, just curious!
By the way great post, I like the video.
Thanks! This cave system is huge and there are areas where you can enter by yourself without paying any fee. But for this type of activity you have to pay either this tour or the regular tour which is very light and easy to walk.
This looks AMAZING. I can just add this to the list of reasons I have to get to Puerto Rico!
Hey Rease! Nice to see you around! Caving is amazing! Such an experience… When you go to Puerto Rico, give it a shot. You’re gonna love it!
Hi there Norbert! I am so excited to do this your. It looks out-of-this-world amazing. However, I have no rapelling or climbing experience. Is it necessary? I am physically fit and all the way gung-ho for anything. Hopefully this is enough hey?!
Hi Alexandra! This tour is amazing, so I’m really excited that you’re doing it! You will be fine doing it with no experience. They will guide you step by step on how to work the ropes, rappel, and make your way inside the cave. So, no need to have climbing or rappelling experience. You just need the adventurous spirit to have a great time down there.
Hooray! Would you recommend wearing sneakers (mine have little traction) or something more pliable, like water shoes with laces?
I would recommend wearing comfortable sneakers that can get dirty and damaged, in case. You can also use water shoes as long as they are closed and with laces. The reason for the laces is because you will walk through a pool of mud, so your shoes might get sucked in if they are not tied tight. I wore old running sneakers, more less with little traction too, and I was fine with it. Actually, the limestone does add traction as the calcite created by the water is very porous, so the stone themselves have good grip.
We’re doing this on Sunday! Can not wait!
Hey Coconutwire… How did it go?!