scubish.com: Scuba diving Guanica - Puerto Rico

Guánica (GWAH-nee-kah) is a municipality in southwestern Puerto Rico located on southern coast, bordering the Caribbean Sea, south of Sabana Grande, east of Lajas, and west of Yauco. The municipality of Guánica consists of seven wards as well as Guánica Pueblo, the principal town and administrative center of the municipality.

Guánica's postal zip code is 00653 and telephone area codes are 787 and 939.

Guánica is also the name of the principal town of the municipality. The town's population in 2000 was 9,247 persons among 3,808 housing units over a land area of 2.49 square miles. The town is located on a deeply indented harbor of the same name. The harbor resembles a tropical fjord, narrow and bordered by rugged hills, barely a quarter-mile wide, but about two miles from mouth to the town. The town is about 100 miles and over two hours driving distance from San Juan, the capital city of the island, and about 20 miles west of Ponce, another principal city of the island commonwealth.

History

Settlement

Juan Ponce de León landed in the Guánica harbor on August 12, 1508 and founded a town called Guaynía, a word derived from the Taíno indigenous culture that possibly meant "Here is a place with water". The town, considered the capital of the island of Puerto Rico (which was at that time named Isla de San Juan Bautista), was destroyed during the indigenous uprising of 1511, and the area was abandoned by Europeans for some years, during which time San Juan (itself at first called Puerto Rico) became the capital of the island. The refounded town of Guánica was at first a part of the municipality of Yauco until Guánica was established as a separate municipality on March 13, 1914. Víctor Ángel Sallaberry Safini was Guánica's first mayor.

Invasion

On July 25, 1898 USA troops (who included the young poet-writer Carl Sandburg and were led by General Nelson A. Miles) landed in Guánica as part of the course of the Spanish-American War. This invasion led to Puerto Rico being acquired by the United States. The invasion, just one small part of the war between Spain and America, occurred in Guánica due to its sheltered harbor and proximity to Ponce, besides being such an unexpected site for such an attack, which had been anticipated at the heavily fortified city of San Juan. The invasion is commemorated by a contentious monument on the waterfront; along a broad paseo (el malecón), there is a large coral boulder marked by the carved words, "3rd Battalion, 1st U.S.V. Engineers, Sept. 1898."

Today

Guánica is a modern town that maintains roots and connections to a traditional past. Known as el pueblo de la amistad (the friendly town), is also occasionally referred to as el pueblo de las doce calles (the town of the twelve streets). The central part of town consists of five streets running north-south crossing seven other streets that run east-west, resulting in a compact grid of 24 square blocks, one of which is the town plaza. Facing...