Are you searching for a nice, private beach during your visit to Puerto Rico? And, maybe one that offers some snorkeling, too? Then Playa Escondida is the beach that you’re looking for.

The beach’s name means "hidden" in Spanish. In order for it to be hidden, and virtually unused, it is in an out-of-the way place — you have to walk about 25 minues through a mangrove forest to get there. But the prize at the end is worth it — finding a pretty, secluded strip of beach like this one is always a pleasure.

This beach is located on the western side of the Seven Seas Beach cove. The DNRA (Department of Natural Resources) controls the area, and their signs say no swimming and warn of rough surf breaks. So you need to be careful when in the water as there are no life guards. But the water along this strip of beach is more calm than Playa Colora since Escondida has a large reef that breaks the waves further out. We went in January and Playa Colora was being bashed with high surf. But the ocean at Playa Escondida was relatively calm. Winter months the waves are usually bigger.

Getting to the Beach

Like I said, it is a bit of a walk to get there. As you walk into Seven Seas Beach, facing the water, start walking to your left. When you get to some rocks, you will notice a path. There are lots of mosquitoes — bring bug spray and use it liberally before starting on this path!

Here you have two choices — if it is low tide, you can continue to walk along the shore line, scrambling over some rocks or you can take the path to your left through the mangroves. Believe me — the path is much faster and easier! If you want to take the path, follow it until it comes to a T, then turn right (if you turn left you’ll end up at the Seven Seas campground). You will eventually end up on a small sandy area where the beach ends. Here you will see some trails. Take the one on the right; the other one goes about 20 feet then dead-ends at the mangrove swamp! You will walk on this path for about 10 minutes through the mangrove "forest". You will eventually get to a path and a sign for Playa Colora. Don’t turn here (unless you want to go there too). Instead, continue straight ahead on the path for about another 5 minutes. Once you come out of the woods, you are at Playa Escondida.

On the Beach

This beach area is a LONG strip of sand. It is golden in color and heavy. The water is clear. You can walk either to the left or to the right to find just the right spot for yourself. To the right, the water is very protected by the large outcropping of rock. Ray said there were trails that you could take that got you up the rock hill and he got some great pictures from there. You can see Luquillo and El Yunque very well. If you walk to the left, you come to other named beaches — Finca el Convento and then Govenor’s beach, where you will see the vacation house of the Puerto Rican politicians. You can use the beach there, just don’t go up near the house.

I have heard that this beach area (due to its remote location) has been used as a clothing optional beach. So be aware of that. You should note that nude sunbathing is not allowed on public beaches in Puerto Rico. We were there for about 4 hours and we saw only 2 other (completely clothed) families.

In the Water

Our purpose for going this day was to snorkel. First, we walked to the right. It was low tide. You could see the reef. Water was crystal clear. The reef was ugly — no live coral to speak of, and it was covered with sand. But it was alive with fish. Loads of them, all types and colors. And the water was very shallow here. I was just barely floating above the reef without touching it. Some areas had a lot of sea grass. There were many sandy bottom channels to snorkel through that followed the reef. Ray saw a barracuda and I even saw a lobster. I found a beautiful live bullmouth helmet conch and other pretty shells. There are some urchins to watch out for.

After a while of snorkeling in that area, we then moved to just opposite where the path comes out of the forest onto the beach. There is a beautiful sandy bottom swimming area. As you snorkel out (pretty far), you come to a sudden drop off — seriously it was probably about 50 feet deep. Great big walls that just went down to the darkness. Not very many fish here, not too much live looking coral and the water was a bit turbid, but it was amazing to see such deep canyons!

We then tried the snorkeling far to the left, near Finca el Convento. Not too impressive — mostly sea grass. But there were some small fish to see.

In my opinion, the snorkeling was better at Playa Colora, but the water was much calmer here. In that regard, it seemed a bit safer for families and people who might not be strong swimmers. But use your common sense and check the conditions before swimming.

Realize, you need to bring everything — there are no facilities there. Bring a beach umbrella, since there is not much shade. Also, bring plenty of fluids. And please be prepared to "pack-out" your trash so the next people can also enjoy the unspoiled beauty.

The Seven Seas balneario is open Wed-Sun, 8:30am – 5:00pm October through April, and Tues- Sun, 8:30am – 6:00pm May through September. Even if it “officially” closed, you can still enter and use the beach, just not through the main entrance.

You can locate Seven Seas Beach on our Interactive Island Map as the starting point for your walk to Playa Colora.