Explore the Old Aguadilla Lighthouse Ruins
For all you lighthouse folks, photographers, or people who want to explore some off-the-beaten-path places — we found the old lighthouse ruins in Aguadilla (or, as they are referred to here, Las Ruinas) pretty cool. There is not much left of this lighthouse (only parts of 2 walls, really), but it provides a setting for some beautiful photos.
Some Lighthouse History
Officially known as the Borinquen Point Lighthouse, this structure was built in 1889 by the Spanish. Made of brick, it had a tower with the light and a living area for the light-keeper. Like many of the lighthouses of its time, it was pretty elaborate in architectural details. However, in 1918, there was a major earthquake in the north-west that severely damaged the lighthouse beyond repair. It was abandoned, and a new concrete lighthouse was built in 1922 by the US Coast Guard in a different location — a little more to the north-east in Aguadilla.
What remained of the ruins were left to be further destroyed by time and vandals. But still you can see the beauty that was once a mighty lighthouse. And the views through the hollow windows to the west, overlooking the ocean are breathtaking.
Getting to the Lighthouse
This was the fun part of the trip — we actually had to go through the golf course. If you want go go: From Aguadialla, take Route 107 north. You will be close to the airport and you will see large, golfball-shaped domes (at the airport). A little past that, you will see a small road on the left that will take you through the golf course. Keep following it until you get to the very end, where it deteriorates to a terrible dirt road.
You can park your car and walk down the dirt road toward the water. You will see the ruins. We did see some cars go past us on this dirt road, so I assume there is a beach down there somewhere (it’s called Playa La Ruina), but we didn’t want to risk damaging our car to explore it.
Details
Allow 15-20 minutes to explore around the lighthouse and take some photos. Plan on it taking about 10-15 mins on the golf course road to get there.
You can locate Aguadilla Lighthouse Ruins on our Interactive Island Map
Use this map to locate places mentioned in this article. You can click on a placemark to view the GPS coordinates for that place.
At a point in time I think this point of interest was an amazing site to see but recently I visited the place and it was pretty scary. The area is completely unsafe, the road can do serious damage to your car and the location is very tricky to find. I would avoid the area in the evening/night time at all cost.
Comment by Syd on January 12th, 2011 at 12:30 pmI think that if the town takes an interest and cleans up the area there is great potential to make these place a once again amazing point of interest as the area is surrounded by beautiful beaches.
This was a complete dissapointment to my friends and I who looked forward to visiting it.