A Visit to El Faro de Punta Figuras and El Tren del Sur in Arroyo, PR

On my first pass of Arroyo, I did not make it out to the lighthouse.

Our Photo MeetUp group wanted to check out the Tren Del Sur ‘Train of the South’ so this was a good opportunity to try a few new photo ideas.

I have covered both the town of Arroyo and the ‘defunct’ Tren Del Sur in two previous posts. I love this part of the island, especially since we don’t live too far away.

The weather was perfect… we had a good breeze for the day.

I can say they have kept the grounds around the Tren Del Sur in nice shape. The small yellow building that was in such bad shape has been demolished and only the tiled foundation remains. The old passenger cars were also pretty spotless too.

The black and white shot was from the field behind the old train.

We did make a couple of other stops… An old abandoned sugar processing plant that we could see from the old train, but did not go in. We also stopped at an old red brick sugar mill about half way down a Camino Vecinal on the way to the beach. A classic example of ruins from the early period, before steam engines came into use. The MeetUp group stopped briefly on the public beach for a group shot. From there, we could see the top of the lighthouse.

On to the Lighthouse-

Camino Vecinal turns into Carretera Cangrejos, a narrow road which takes you past a few homes and a public beach before hitting a small guard shack.

The station was empty so we drove on past to the lighthouse.

Faro Punta Figuras De Arroyo

My first impressions were of it being abandoned ‘again’. I say that since I found old shots online of the lighthouse without a roof, before it was restored to the condition it’s in now. Unfortunately, all of the renovated exterior wood shutters have lost their finish and have started to decompose. Untreated wood does not last long in this hot, moist climate and all of it was starting to show. I’m only guessing, but I don’t think there has been much maintenance done to it since it was originally restored… back during Governor Sila Maria Calderon’s term of 2001-2004. There is a plaque on the front of the building commemorating the event.

I should be clear, this is no longer a functional light house.

It was restored for tourism value. The lighthouse stairwell and super structure (with plexiglass cover) is constructed of aluminum plate. Nothing remains of the fresnel lens or light source.

A little History-

The lighthouse was built in 1893 to cover the ports of Arroyo and Patillas. The lanturn had a range of 12 miles and was fixed… it did not rotate. The structure was built of stone and brick which was typical of the day. Something unique- it has a decorative border around the top edge, you do not see on any of the other lighthouses built during this time. I noticed it right off and thought it had been added during restoration, but not so.

The old photo confirms it.

The lighthouse discontinued service in 1938 and was abandoned like so many other government buildings. It did see use as an observation point during World War II and abandoned again in 1963. Evidently, the lens and lantern was destroyed by vandals in 1969. Formal restoration is dated to 2003 at the cost of $2.3 Million US.

Partial Overview of Centro Vacacional Punta Guilarte Arroyo from the Top of Punta de las Figuras Lighthouse in Arroyo

About the Resort-

Centro Vacational Punta Guilarte Arroyo

The lighthouse sets at the entrance of a government owned tourist resort featuring 28 cabins and 32 villas. There is public space for staging weddings and private events as well as a large pool. That said, it does not look like it is open for business anymore.

This article is not about this facility, but I wanted to pass on what little I was able to find out about it.

We did not venture onto the grounds, though the gate was open. Nor did we see anyone that looked like a caretaker, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t one. The pool was half full of rain water. Much further down is a picnic area and open beach. I could see those details from the GoogleMaps image.

There are several of these kinds of facilities here in PR run by the Parks, but they are not really intended for vacationers from off
the island…
more for the locals.

This is typical of facilities run by the government owned Compañia De Parques Nacionales. Part of the reason I’m having such a hard time getting over to Mona.

ALL communication with the parks group is in Spanish as is the funky website they maintain. I tried to determine if this facility was open by trying to make reservations online. I tried two sets of dates, but it would never confirm reservations for January or any time in July. It simply said these dates were not available. I don’t think ‘any’ dates are available.

Other locations on the island worked just fine.

What’s more, the page dedicated to this facility would not show any photos via it’s ‘Flash’ driven slideshow. We called both phone numbers listed during business hours, but no one answered the phone. This is the same information presented over on the dedicated FaceBook page. It was updated in December of 2012, but one has to ask why? That does not mean it will not open for the summer crowd which is who the resort caters to. BUT it looks like it needs a bunch of maintenance.