Overview

Hype:

The River Caving Tour starts off with a short hike through the jungle down to the Tanama River. After a short wade downstream, visitors arrive at Cueva el Arco (Arch Cave), which is a scenic natural bridge that the river flows through. Visitors then wade upstream for about 0.7 miles to a point where the guide company has their kayaks stored. Everyone gets on their kayaks and paddles upstream through Portillo Cave, a 1,000-foot-long tunnel that the river flows through. On the other side, the guides encourage everyone to drink from a spring of questionable cleanliness, then visitors paddle back through Portillo Cave. Once the kayaks are stowed, visitors cross a cable bridge and hike 0.45 miles along a dirt road back to the trailhead.

Time: 4 hours

Length: 2.1 mile loop

Fees: Tour fee

Recommended Ages:

	0-3
	4-11
	12-19
	20-49
	50-69
	70+

Recommended Months to Visit:

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Links: https://bateydelcemi.com/adventures/river-caving-tour/

Getting There

Navigate to 18.295666, -66.778230.

Meet at the Batey Adventures business.

Maps

Closest City or Region: Utuado, Puerto Rico

Coordinates: 18.314340, -66.779651

Interactive Guide Map

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March 27, 2024 Trip Report

By Jeremy Dye

Trip Members

Jeremy Dye, Tara Dye, Madilyn Dye,

Story

We woke up at 6:30, which felt like 4:30. We drove about an hour to Batey Adventures. We did a river kayaking tour with them, which was a lot of fun. We hiked for about 15 minutes to get down to the river then we walked up the river a short distance to an arch/tunnel that the river flows through. That one was fairly short but still fun.

Then we walked up the river and swam in a couple spots to get to the mouth of the other cave, El Cuevo de Arco. We got our kayaks and headlamps then paddled upstream through the cave for about a thousand feet. There were a lot of bats inside the cave and it was a long straight tunnel that followed a fissure in the rock. Once at the upper entrance of the tunnel, we got out and waded across the river to a spring. Madi especially liked the big plant leaves that were hydrophobic that you could use as a drinking cup to collect the spring water. I've gotten sick too many times to want to risk it, but Tara and Madi both drank from the spring.

As we were putting the kayaks away, I dropped my phone on a rock and broke the screen in two places. It stopped reading finger touches on the left 40% of the screen. That made it tricky to get around because Tara's phone didn't have the international plan activated on it.

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Pictures