Las Paylas (Las Pailas)

Town of Luquillo, Luquillo, Puerto Rico

About Las Paylas (Las Pailas)

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Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

Las Paylas (or Las Pailas) is the name of a natural water slide on the Río Pitahaya (according to GoogleMaps) or Río Sabana (according to Garmin, which has the Pitahaya River in the next drainage to the east).

It’s pretty straightforward to visit as all I had to do was to show up to the private property providing access (see directions below), and then pay the $5 per person admission before walking a few minutes down to the river.

Las_Paylas_018_04152022 - The water slide at Las Paylas
The water slide at Las Paylas

Unfortunately, my mid-afternoon experience was complicated by a heavy downpour just when I showed up, which forced me to wait it out, and that made most of the people there leave in the meantime.

So I didn’t get a chance to see people actually sliding down la chorrera (Puerto Rican Spanish for “the slide”) nor making the climb up to the top of the slide.

In fact, in the aftermath of the heavy rains, I was all alone at Las Paylas even though I showed up on Good Friday (i.e. the Friday before Easter Sunday).

From what I could tell, all the rocks were very slick and wet, which didn’t make it obvious for me to see how to get up to the top of the slides.

Las_Paylas_040_04152022 - The developed path leading down from the private property down to the river and the water slide
The developed path leading down from the private property down to the river and the water slide

In addition, the plunge pool at the bottom of the slide of Las Paylas became murky with the storm runoff.

I also noticed quite a bit of litter around the pool at the base of the water slide.

I’m not sure if this is something that the owners actively maintain or if other people figured out a way to get here without going throug the property and depositing litter.

I didn’t do any additional scrambling to see if there were more cascades further downstream, especially given how slippery and prevalent the rocks in the river were.

Las_Paylas_035_04152022 - Looking downstream at the very slippery (from the downpour) rocky riverbed beyond Las Paylas
Looking downstream at the very slippery (from the downpour) rocky riverbed beyond Las Paylas

Overall, I only spent about 30+ minutes away from the car as another round of rain was threatening, but I easily can envision myself staying longer under more benign conditions for going down that water slide!

Authorities

Las Paylas reside on either the Río Sabana or Río Pitahaya (depending on which map you believe) in the municipality of Luquillo, Puerto Rico. As far as I know, parking and access is through private property.

According to the helpful Puerto Rico Day Trips website, the owner of the property with the most convenient access is named Carlos Concepción, who is usually there except Thursdays. There may also be alternative access from neighboring properties, but I can’t substantiate that. You may want to consult that website for the latest information since it is run by Americans who have moved from New Jersey to Río Grande. Thus, they can reconn or have connections to locals and can provide updates to the latest conditions and ownership situations.

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Tagged with: rio pitahaya, pr-983, chorreras, water slides, waterslides, luquillo, las pailas, puerto rico



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