Ponce Regions Guide - $section

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Lying a few miles inland in the centre of Puerto Rico's south coast, the attractive city of Ponce is rich in Spanish colonial heritage and architecture with a well-preserved 17th century historic heart. Pretty colonial homes and majestic churches surround the lovely city plazas where fountains play.

The preservation of its neo-classical architectural heritage and several interesting attractions makes Ponce a worthy port of call for Caribbean cruisers and holidaymakers. The city has a busy port: the nearby Playa de Ponce Port is Puerto Rico's principal trade port. Tobacco, coffee, rum and sugar cane from all over the Caribbean are loaded aboard vessels here, and floods of sightseers are disgorged regularly from an increasing number of cruise liners that have added Ponce to their itineraries.

The city, dubbed 'the pearl of the south', also offers some interesting excursions and a short drive out of town is the lovely white sandy Playa de Ponce where the clear waters are good for snorkelling. The city's built-up beachfront promenade area, a few miles south of the centre, is called La Guancha. The boardwalks, bars, souvenir shops, restaurants and snackeries surround hundreds of yachts and small boats moored in a saltwater estuary, and the area becomes very crowded with locals and visitors at weekends and holiday periods.