Punta Guaniquilla Nature Reserve

Punta Guaniquilla is a headland on the southwest coast of Puerto Rico, home to one of the island's most extraordinary landscapes: the otherworldly karst rock formations rising from the waters of Laguna Guaniquilla. These formations are part of the southern karst belt and date from geological processes over 11 million years ago, when the nearby Sierra Bermeja was a separate island in the Puerto Rican archipelago. The reserve protects a mosaic of dry forest, grasslands, salt flats, mangroves, coral reefs, and the Laguna Guaniquilla, an important refuge for federally and locally protected migratory birds that arrive each winter from as far as the Canadian Arctic tundra. It is home to at least 81 bird species — including the endemic West Indian whistling duck (chiriría) — and 15 of Puerto Rico's 17 endemic bird species. The reserve also preserves Taíno archaeological sites and the ruins of Hacienda La Romana, a 19th-century sugarcane plantation. Established in 1977 under Puerto Rico Law 150, it is co-managed by the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico (Para la Naturaleza) and the DRNA, and is designated a NOAA Critical Coastal Wildlife Area.