SUMMATION: Odd surfing spot since it usually has wimpy waves suitable for amateurs, but difficult entries and exits for pros. Too dangerous for swimming; no large shells, but many tiny ones; too short for walking and the sand is uncomfortably soft; only good for laying on the beach and watching surfers.
NAME: Domes Beach
DESCRIPTION: Highland of Lighthouse Park blocks beach to south and rocky outcrop to north; around 100 yards long and usually broad beach. Yellow or tannish sand. No sea shells of any size, but lots of tiny gastropods (univalves), no sea glass. Coconut Palms and Indian Almonds [A] shade the beach. See PR Tourism video online, also surfing discussions online.
MY RATING: Good (3.4/5)
SIZE: around 100 yards long and usually broad, even in the winter
TITLE: “Surfing Fame” [TripAdvisor, my review #562 [1], 17 February 2016]
LATITUDE, LONGITUDE: 18°16’54.96”N, 67°21’10.80”W
DIFFICULTY LOCATING: easy
DIRECTIONS: Take PR-413 out of the town of Rincon, then left to “El Faro” on PR-4413. Dead-ends at Dome of old Nuclear Power Plant. Beach is below
PARKING: Paved parking road on left of dead-end road (4413) by Dome on north end of beach, parking in dirt to right, dirt ramp down to fairly solid parking by beach, on the south end there is the Lighthouse parking lot, also a ramp down there, but on softer sand.
OCCASION: Stopped to pick up small shells for jewelry making. We usually do not find many shells here, but there were many and varied small, univalves (gastropods) including a few we had not seen before [B].
HOURS OF OPERATION: No gates, no authorities, 24/7/365
FEES: none
VIEW: Excellent of beach, rocks, lighthouse, surfers, Desecheo Island, and in winter Humpback Whales, occasionally (better view from Lighthouse Park).
AMINITIES: No bathrooms, no food and drinks, no vendors
CELEBRITIES: Corona Extra Pro Circuit held at this beach every February
ANIMALS: no one to restrict
RECOMMENDATIONS:
(I) Intolerance for amateurs at this site has been rumored.
(II) Not a beach recommended for children.
DANGERS:
(I) Waves, undertow, rocks, submerged beach rock
(II) You are on-your-own
AWARDS: Certificate of Excellence (2016, TripAdvisor)
REVIEWS: rated Very Good, 4.41/5, 157 reviews (TripAdvisor); Very, Very Good, 4.56/5, 3 mini-reviews, 6 votes (Google)
HISTORY: The 1968 World Surfing Championship put Rincon on the map.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Plus thousands of unnumbered, critical article and book reviews for hundreds of journals. TripAdvisor, 22,000 points, detailed reviews
SPECIES:
[A] Indian Almond, Terminalia catappa, is from Asia, but has been introduced throughout the tropics. Its nut is eatable, but acidic, and leaves are used to treat aquarium water and fish parasites.
[B] Shells new to us:
West Indian Bulimulus, Bulimulus guadeloupensis, 26 specimens, 2 brown banded. This is a land snail, which washed down to the sea.
West Indian Cup-and-saucer, Crucibulum auricula, 1 large and 1 small.