Rio Espiritu Santo Waterfall

El Yunque National Forest, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico

About Rio Espiritu Santo Waterfall

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Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

The Rio Espiritu Santo Waterfall was an attractive waterfall dropping in the namesake Río Espiritu Santo (Holy Spirit River) into a boulder-fringed green pool that is sometimes called Charco Verde.

This waterfall actually sits on the western fringes of El Yunque National Forest along the PR-186 Road, which is far less visited than the main part of the rainforest.

Rio_Espiritu_Santo_069_04212022 - The Río Espiritu Santo Waterfall
The Río Espiritu Santo Waterfall

Therefore, it’s not part of the reservation system that affects most of the sights along the PR-191 Road though it also sees quite a bit less maintenance (from what I could tell).

In order to experience this attractive waterfall, I first had to drive towards the road bridge spanning the Río Espiritu Santo, which is the second road bridge (the first being the one spanning Quebrada Sonada).

Once I managed to find parking near the bridge for the Holy Spirit River (see directions below), I then walked towards the far (southern) end of the bridge.

Along the way, I looked downstream towards the Atlantic Ocean over some lower cascades on the river.

Rio_Espiritu_Santo_092_04212022 - Looking downstream over some lower cascades on the Holy Spirit River towards the Atlantic Ocean
Looking downstream over some lower cascades on the Holy Spirit River towards the Atlantic Ocean

However, when I looked upstream from the bridge, I not only spotted an obvious small cascade by the bridge, but I also noticed a taller, thinner waterfall partially visible further upstream against the morning sun.

In order to get a cleaner look at that waterfall, I then had to go on a short but risky boulder scramble starting on the right side of the bridge (looking upstream).

These boulders were both slippery and huge, and in fact, I had to leave my pack behind and crawl while pulling up with my upper body to get onto some of these boulder obstacles that were taller than me.

Only once I scaled the boulder field was I able to get a nice clean look at the Rio Espiritu Santo Waterfall as well as the Charco Verde below.

Rio_Espiritu_Santo_080_04212022 - Closer look at the kind of bouldering obstacles that I had to carefully scale in order to get a cleaner look at both the Rio Espiritu Santo Waterfall and Charco Verde
Closer look at the kind of bouldering obstacles that I had to carefully scale in order to get a cleaner look at both the Rio Espiritu Santo Waterfall and Charco Verde

There seemed to be more wedged boulder obstacles preventing anyone from scrambling all the way to the base of the waterfall, but for most people, I’d imagine swimming at Charco Verde while witnessing the waterfall woudl be enough of a reward.

Even though this was essentially a roadside waterfall, it still took me around 20-30 minutes to carefully do the boulder scrambling without having a bad accident.

That gives you an idea of how risky this experience can be despite the negligible distances.

Authorities

The Rio Espiritu Santo Waterfall resides within El Yunque National Forest near Rio Grande in the Rio Grande Municipality, Puerto Rico. It is administered by the US Forest Service. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website.

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Tagged with: rio grande, pr-186, el yunque, quebrada sonada, rio espritu santo, cascada rio espiritu santo, sierra de luquillo, puerto rico



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About Johnny Cheng

Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
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