San Juan bay - wikipedia San Juan bay San Juan Bay Bahía de San Juan Mercator projection of San Juan Bay Location San Juan, Puerto Rico Coordinates Coordinates : 18 ° 27 ′ 7.95 '' N 66 ° 6 ′ 51.04 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 18.4522083 ° N 66.1141778 ° W ﻿ / 18.4522083 ; - 66.1141778 Type Bay Ocean / sea sources North Atlantic Ocean Managing agency Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, Puerto Rico Ports Authority San Juan Bay ( Spanish : Bahía de San Juan ) is the inlet adjacent to Old San Juan in northeastern Puerto Rico. It is the largest body of water in an estuary of about 150 square miles ( 390 km ) of channels, inlets and eight interconnected lagoons. Puerto Rico 's deepest bay contains the island 's busiest harbor, and since 1508 it has been historically significant. Contents 1 Geography 2 History 2.1 European conquest and settlement 2.2 Colonial period 3 Present day 4 Gallery 5 See also 6 References 7 External links Geography ( Edit ) The bay is a semi-enclosed body of water with an elaborate system of loops, basins and channels at the center of Puerto Rico 's most significant historical monuments and largest communities. San Juan Bay provides recreation, sightseeing and tourist attractions, and its curved shape offers a variety of docking facilities for watercraft. Because of commercial expansion and environmental stress on the region, the estuary has been the focus of restoration ecology projects. In 2015, the San Juan Estuary Program ( Programa del estuario de la Bahía de San Juan ) began using green flags to mark the condition of the bay 's waters. On a map, San Juan Bay appears to connect two adjacent lakes. This impression comes from a neck of land, Puntilla ( `` small point '' ), which projects from the Islet of San Juan Bautista into the center of the bay and approaches another protuberance ( Punta Cataño ) stretching from the other side of a larger island. The illusion demonstrates the bay 's irregular shape. Next to Puntilla are docks which are reportedly the busiest in the Caribbean. Part of the Port of San Juan, they are on the Islet of San Juan Bautista at the entrance to San António Channel. Three bridges between the islet and the mainland cross the channel, which connects the bay to Laguna del Condado ( Condado Lagoon ) and the Atlantic Ocean. One of these bridges is the historic Bridge of Two Brothers. Before their construction, the Condado Lagoon was the bay 's narrowest entrance. On the other side, across the Isla Grande peninsula, the bay 's interior is shaped like a triangle. It contains the busy Bahía de Puerto Nuevo ( New Port Bay ), which is closer to inland transportation networks than the Port of San Juan. The bay is fed by the Río Piedras, which empties into the bay via the Canal Martín Peña. The 3.75 - mile ( 6.04 km ) channel connects the bay to other lagoons and the city of Río Piedras. History ( Edit ) European conquest and settlement ( Edit ) Rodrigo de Figueroa 's 1519 sketch of the Villa de Puerto Rico, before Caparra 's settlers relocated to the harbor The Spanish conquistadors of the New World thought in terms of urban landscapes and municipal organization. They did not launch their conquista de las Indias from ocean - going caravels or itinerant campsites. The Spanish needed solid dwellings, preferably surrounded by rock walls, as they had in Europe. Juan Ponce de León spent days searching for the best place to build a villa, the blueprint for a colonial city. Santo Domingo governor Nicolás de Ovando had appointed him to pacify and evangelize the nearby island, which Christopher Columbus had named `` San Juan Bautista '' during his second voyage to the Americas. A frontier with dreaded, reportedly - cannibalistic Caribs on its coast, it was an opportunity to demonstrate machismo and glorify God and country. Following de Ovando 's recommendation, Ferdinand II of Aragon made Ponce de León an adelantado and authorized him to conquer the Taíno island. Boriquén, the indigenous name for Puerto Rico, would be the second Caribbean island to become part of the Spanish Empire. In 1508 Ponce de León sailed into the Bay of Guanica, on the west of the island, where local cacique Agüeybaná I welcomed his men as allies against the Caribs. However, the Spanish did not find a suitable place to settle there. The adelantado and his small team of hidalgos traversed the island until they saw a spacious, almost - landlocked bay on the northeastern shore. No indigenous peoples seemed to claim the area, since it was subject to Carib raids. Ponce de León named the body of water the Bay of the Wealthy Port ( Spanish : Bahía de Puerto Rico ). 1919 drawing of the San Antonio Bridge in 1597 Ponce de León pushed inland and ordered the first Spanish settlement on the island, 3 miles ( 4.8 km ) from the bay. Following de Ovando 's suggestion, he named the settlement Caparra. The explorer chose the site because of its proximity to the sea and `` to the gold mines and farms of the Toa Valley ''. Caparra proved to be an inauspicious venture. Mendicant friars appealed to Ponce de León to move the settlement closer to the bay ( and its sea breezes ), saying that its present location was lethal to children. The governor was adamantly opposed, since he had had a house built in Caparra. In 1511 the crown appointed a new governor, Juan Cerón, who received royal permission to relocate the village. According to Rodrigo de Figueroa 's map, the villagers resettled on a three - mile blustery, wooded islet at the bay 's entrance. In 1521, the residents completed the resettlement and named the new village `` Villa de Puerto Rico ''. Several years later, after a royal upgrade, the settlement was renamed `` Ciudad de Puerto Rico ''. Colonial engineers fortified the islet with walls and castles, connecting it to mainland Puerto Rico with the San Antonio Bridge, and it came to be known as `` the walled city ''. Sixteenth - century Spanish historian and indigenous activist Bartolomé de las Casas described the bay and its surrounding area names different from those presently used : La isla que llamamos de San Juan, que por vocablo de la lengua de los indios, vecinos naturales della, se nombraba Boriquén... tiene algunos puertos no buenos, si no es el que llaman Puerto - Rico ( `` That island we call San Juan, which according to the native Indian language was called Boriquén, has but a few inferior harbors, except the one called Puerto - Rico '' ). According to de las Casas, the Indians called their island `` Boriquén '' ; the Spanish called it `` San Juan '', and its harbor `` Puerto Rico ''. Over time, the island became Puerto Rico and its harbor ( and bay ) San Juan ; the Indian name changed to Borinquen, with no diacritic and an extra n. Colonial period ( Edit ) Although the Atlantic winds may have provided a healthier climate on the islet, moving the village from Caparra to the bay did not protect the settlers further from Carib attacks. The Caribs, understanding the impact of European colonization on their survival, stormed the new settlement fiercely. By the eighteenth century the population of the islet had expanded into the Atlantic City of San Juan, largely due to the proximity of the bay and its port. The city and the bay 's entrances were fortified ; the bay and its walls isolated the Spanish inhabitants from the rest of the island 's population, encouraging a casta. For the last 500 years the bay 's most important function has been to link Puerto Rico and the outside world, and detachments of the Spanish treasure fleet connected the island colony to the Spanish colonial network. With its strategic location, it was a target for pirate attacks and a site for imperial powers to demonstrate military might. On the east side of the bay 's mouth, the Castillo San Felipe del Morro still guards its narrow entrance. Isleta of San Juan from the Bay Present day ( Edit ) View of the bay from the pathway at Pier 8 The Port of San Juan, on the islet at the bay 's northern side, is among the busiest Caribbean ports. Thousands of fishermen ply the brackish waters where fresh water meets the sea. San Juan Bay 's beauty and ecological diversity attracts tourism and a variety of recreational activities. A result of exploitation, however, has been the degradation of a significant portion of the bay 's natural resources ; the area is also susceptible to seismic activity. A restoration project has returned the bay 's water to `` safe at contact '' status and has integrated the city 's renovated coastal infrastructure into the bay 's shoreline. Gallery 1922 sketch map The Ciudad Amurallad ( Walled City ), seen from the bay Cruise ship entering the bay Sunset Narrow entrance, seen from the Isla de Cabras U.S. Coast Guard ship entering the bay Sailboats in 1901 Bay entrance, seen from El Morro View from the city walls 1766 map by Isaak Tirion See also ( Edit ) Puerto Rico portal Geography portal Wikimedia Commons has media related to San Juan Bay. Battle of San Juan ( 1595 ) Fortín San Juan de la Cruz References ( Edit ) Jump up ^ Miller, Paul Gerard ( 1922 ). Historia de Puerto Rico. Chicago : Rand, McNally y compañía. pp. 55 -- 57. Jump up ^ Negroni, Héctor Andrés ( 1992 ). Historia militar de Puerto Rico. San Juan, PR : Sociedad Estatal Quinto Aniversario. p. 496. ISBN 8478441387. Jump up ^ `` Coast Guard to deploy vessel of opportunity oil skimming system during training exercise in San Juan Bay ''. News Report. U.S. Coast Guard. November 8, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2016. Jump up ^ Pérez - Villalona, Hamlet ; Jeffrey C. Cornwell ; Jorge R. Ortiz - Zayas & Elvira Cuevas ( 2015 ). `` Sediment Denitrification and Nutrient Fluxes in the San José Lagoon, a Tropical Lagoon in the Highly Urbanized San Juan Bay Estuary, Puerto Rico ''. Estuaries and Coasts. 38 ( 6 ) : 2259 -- 2278. doi : 10.1007 / s12237 - 015 - 9953 - 3. Jump up ^ `` EPA Approves Puerto Rico 's List of Impaired Waters : New Pollutants Included for Waters of San Juan Bay Estuary, Rio Bayamon, Rio Grande de Arecibo ''. News Report. Environmental Protection Agency. September 29, 2010. Retrieved January 20, 2016. Jump up ^ `` What communities are doing : Caño Martín Peña, San Juan, Puerto Rico ''. News Report. Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved January 20, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Banderas indican si son seguras las aguas de la Laguna del Condado ''. News Report. Programa del Estuario de la Bahía de San Juan. May 2015. Retrieved January 20, 2016. Jump up ^ Costa, Juan R. ( May 5, 2015 ). `` Banderas alertarán condiciones bacteriológicas de la Laguna del Condado ( galería ) ''. News Report. San Juan, Puerto Rico. Noticel. Retrieved January 20, 2016. Jump up ^ Monie, Gustaaf, Frank Hendrickx, Karel Joos, Lars Couvreur, and Chris Peeters ( 1998 ). Strategies for Global and Regional Ports the Case of Caribbean Container and Cruise Ports. Boston, MA : Springer. pp. 116 -- 121. CS1 maint : Multiple names : authors list ( link ) Jump up ^ Albert Hoyt, Edward ( 1943 ). A History of the Harbor Defenses of San Juan, P.R., Under Spain, 1509 - 1898. San Juan, Puerto Rico : Puerto Rico Coast Artillery Command. p. 144. Jump up ^ García Leduc ; José Manuel ( 2002 ). Apuntes para una historia breve de Puerto Rico : desde la prehistoria hasta 1898. San Juan, PR. pp. 104 -- 126. ISBN 1881715965. Jump up ^ Pabón - Charneco, Arleen & Eduardo A. Regis ( 1997 ). Guánica : el origen de su memoria. Guánica, PR : Oficina Estatal de Preservación Historica, Oficina del Gobernador de Puerto Rico,. pp. 9 -- 75. Jump up ^ Cerezo Martínez, Ricardo ( 1994 ). La cartografía náutica española en los siglos XIV, XV y XVI. Madrid : Editorial CSIC. p. 152. Jump up ^ Tió, Aurelio ( 1961 ). Nuevas fuentes para la historia de Puerto Rico ; documentos inéditos o poco conocidos cuyos originales se encuentran en el Archivo General de Indias en la ciudad de Seville, España. San Germán : Ediciones de la Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico. p. 645. Jump up ^ Stark, David M. ( 2008 ). `` '' There Is No City Here, but a Desert, '' The Contours of City Life in 1673 San Juan ``. The Journal of Caribbean History. 42 ( 2 ) : 257. Jump up ^ Domínguez Cristóbal, Carlos ( 2000 ). Panorama Histórico Forestal de Puerto Rico. San Juan, PR : University of Puerto Rico. p. 85. ISBN 0847702979. Jump up ^ Alegría, Ricardo E. ( 2009 ). Documentos históricos de Puerto Rico : 1581 - 1599. San Juan, PR : Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Puerto Rico y el Caribe. p. 135. ISBN 1934461458. Jump up ^ Simón, Pedro ( 1626 ). Noticias historiales de las conquistas de Tierra firme en las Indias occidentales, Volume 1. Madrid. pp. 82 -- 84. Jump up ^ Lopez Nieves, Luis ( 1996 ). `` La verdadera muerte de Juan Ponce De León ''. Inti : Revista de literatura hispánica. 1 ( 43 ) : 421 -- 435. Jump up ^ Marley, David ( 2005 ). Historic Cities of the Americas : An Illustrated Encyclopedia... Santa Barbara, CA : ABC - CLIO. Jump up ^ Abbad y Lasierra, Iñigo & José J. Acosta. ( 1866 ). Historia geográfica, civil y natural de la isla de San Juan Bautista de Puerto Rico. San Juan, PR : Impr. y librería de Acosta. p. 116. Jump up ^ Zapatero, Juan Manuel ( 1989 ). `` Las fortificaciones históricas de San Juan de Puerto Rico Edit. Universidad Complutense. Madrid, 1989 ''. MilitariaRevista de Cultura Militar ( 1 ) : 141 -- 175. Jump up ^ Siegel, Peter E. ( 2005 ). Ancient Borinquen : Archaeology and Ethnohistory of Native Puerto Rico. University of Alabama Press. pp. xviii. ISBN 0817352384. Jump up ^ Viala, Fabienne ( 2014 ). The Post-Columbus Syndrome : Identities, Cultural Nationalism, and Commemorations in the Caribbean. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 122. ISBN 1137439890. Jump up ^ las Casas, Bartolomé ( 1875 ). Historia de las Indias, Vol. 3. Madrid : Imprenta Miguel Ginesta. p. 234. Jump up ^ de las Casas, Bartolomé ( 1876 ). Historia de las Indias escrita, Vol. 4. Madrid : Imprenta de Miguel Ginesta. p. 321. Jump up ^ Arrom, José Juan ( 2000 ). Estudios de Lexicología Antillana. San Juan, Puerto Rico : Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico. pp. 131 -- 138. ISBN 0847703746. Jump up ^ Cruz Soto, Marie ( 2009 ). Inhabiting Isla Nena, 1514 -- 2003 : Island Narrations, Imperial Dramas and Vieques, Puerto Rico. Ann Arbor : University of Michigan. p. 56. Jump up ^ Scarano, Francisco ( 2013 ). `` Imperial decline and adaptation, '' a chapter in The Caribbean : A History of the Region and Its Peoples. Chicago : University of Chicago Press. pp. 180 -- 183. ISBN 0226924645. Jump up ^ Flores Román, Milagros, Luis A. Lugo Amador, and José Cruz de Arrigoitia ( 2009 ). San Juan, ciudad de castillos y soldados = San Juan city of castles and soldiers. San Juan, P.R : National Park Service. pp. 21 -- 25. ISBN 9781934461655. CS1 maint : Multiple names : authors list ( link ) Jump up ^ Barrientos, Andrea ( 2008 ). Por las Calles del Viejo San Juan ( PDF ). San Juan, PR : Mapfre. pp. 26 -- 35. ISBN 9780615240947. Jump up ^ `` NOAA 's Newest Chart Supports Puerto Rico Maritime Economy ''. News Release. NOAA, Office of the Coast Survey. October 13, 2011. Retrieved December 11, 2015. Jump up ^ Organization of American States. ( 1988 ). Caribbean Cruise Ship Study. Washington, DC : General Secretariat OAS. p. 21. Jump up ^ Gulliksen, Vance ( August 2008 ). `` The Cruise Industry ''. Society. 45 ( 4 ) : 342 -- 344. doi : 10.1007 / s12115 - 008 - 9103 - 7. Jump up ^ Vengesh, James, Jeffrey Bachhuber ( 2005 ). `` Liquefaction susceptibility '' a chapter in, Active Tectonics and Seismic Hazards of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Offshore Areas. Austin, Texas : Geological Society of America. pp. 249 -- 262. ISBN 081372385X. CS1 maint : Multiple names : authors list ( link ) Jump up ^ Bauzá - Ortega, Jorge. `` The San Juan Bay Estuary and its Initiatives toward a Climate Ready Estuary '' ( PDF ). San Juan Bay Estuary Program. Jump up ^ `` Ruta urbana para disfrutar del mar Redescubre la extraordinaria belleza del mar así como de otros cuerpos de agua en la zona metropolitana ''. News release. San Juan, Puerto Rico. El Nuevo Dia. July 22, 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2015. External links ( Edit ) San Juan National Historic Site Estuario de la Bahía de San Juan ( in Spanish ) PRFFrogui : Estuario de la bahía de San Juan ( in Spanish ) Casa Blanca : residencia de los decendientes de Juan Ponce de León, colonizador de Puerto Rico ( in Spanish ) Puerto Rico articles History Chronology Pre-Columbus Grito de Lares Intentona de Yauco Foraker Act Jones -- Shafroth Act Immigration to Hawaii Migration to New York World War I World War II 1950s Nationalist Party revolts Vietnam War Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Center Military history Women 's history Immigration African Chinese Corsican French German Irish Jewish Geography Barrios Dry forests El Yunque National Forest Islands Desecheo Isla de Cabras Mona Island Isleta de San Juan Mayagüez Bay Municipalities San Juan Rivers San Juan Bay Puerto Rico Trench Ecology Endemic flora Fauna Amphibians and reptiles ( Herpetofauna ) Birds Vieques Island Endemic Elfin woods warbler Golden coquí ( frog ) Mona ground iguana Monito gecko Puerto Rican amazon ( parrot ) Puerto Rican crested anole ( reptile ) Politics Commonwealth ( government ) Constitution Debt crisis Governor Independence movement Law Legislative Assembly Military Police Political status Political parties Resident Commissioner Supreme Court Economy Agriculture Dollar ( currency ) Manufacturing Operation `` Bootstrap '' Real estate Tax Telecommunications Tourism Transport Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport Welfare Society Crime Demographics Education Health Religion Puerto Rican scientists and inventors Puerto Ricans in the United States Space Program Culture Art Buildings and structures Casinos Cinema Colloquialisms Cuisine Flag Literature Media Music Public holidays Sports Outline Index Book Portal Did You Know ? Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=San_Juan_Bay&oldid=819853212 '' Categories : Bays of Puerto Rico Geography of San Juan, Puerto Rico Puerto Rico geography - related lists Hidden categories : CS1 maint : Multiple names : authors list Coordinates on Wikidata Articles containing Spanish - language text Commons category with page title different than on Wikidata Articles with Spanish - language external links Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 11 January 2018, at 17 : 08 ( UTC ). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: what body of water is san juan puerto rico on
Answer: San Juan Bay