Aguadilla

Once a fishing village and now a manufacturing center, the city is perhaps best known for its world-class surfing beaches, with colorful names such as Gas Chambers, Survivor and Wilderness. The most popular is Crashboat Beach, prized for its crystal-clear water. Parque de Colón, or Christopher Columbus Park, is on the southernmost beach and features monuments, a boardwalk, a playground and a banyan tree house. A statue of composer Rafael Hernández, who was born in Aguadilla, stands on the town square.

Six miles north at Punta Borinquen, Ramey Air Force Base operated 1939-1971. It boasted one of the longest runways in the Caribbean—more than 2 miles long. Planes flying into the western part of the island now land on this runway at Rafael Hernández Airport. The Punta Borinquen Lighthouse was destroyed by the tidal wave of 1918; ruins are still visible. The Coast Guard light station that replaced it is not open to the public.