The Coamo Hot Springs

Geothermal water rises here at around forty degrees, and the Taíno used the springs long before Spanish settlers built baths around them in the eighteenth century. Coamo became a spa resort in the nineteenth, with a hotel drawing visitors from across the Caribbean, and the story that these were the waters Ponce de León was looking for when he went to Florida has been attached to the place for so long that it has become part of the local identity, whatever the history. There are two ways to soak: a simple set of public pools by the river, cheap and used mostly by locals, and a more developed hotel spa alongside. Coamo town itself is one of the oldest on the island.

What you actually see

• The public baths - simple thermal pools beside the river.
• The old spa buildings - remains of the nineteenth-century resort.
• Coamo town - one of the oldest settlements, with a 1780s church.
• The dry southern hills - a different landscape from the green north.

When to go

November to April is cooler, which makes a hot soak more appealing; the south coast is hot and dry year-round. Weekends are busy at the public pools. The San Blas half marathon in February fills the town.

Honest expectations

The public baths are basic concrete pools rather than a scenic natural setting, and can be crowded and scruffy at weekends. The water is warm rather than hot and smells faintly of sulphur. The fountain of youth story is folklore, not history, and is sold heavily. Facilities are minimal at the free side.

Nearby

Coamo's old town and church are five minutes; Ponce is 40 minutes west.