Bahía de Ponce (Ponce Bay) is a bay in Barrio Playa, Ponce, Puerto Rico. The Bay is home to the most important commercial harbor on the Puerto Rico south coast and the second largest in Puerto Rico. The Cardona Island Light is located on the Bay to mark the way into the Bay from the nearby Caja de Muertos Light.

Bahía de Ponce is located in southern Puerto Rico, about midway on the southern coast. It has a width of , a length of 1.5 miles, its shore is about and its area is approximately . Typical bay depths are in the -to- range, but these dip to at the drenched piers.

The Bay provides recreation, sightseeing and tourist attractions. It also provides for commercial and industrial activities. The Rafael Cordero Santiago Port of the Americas is located here as well as the La Guancha Recreational and Cultural Complex, the La Guancha Boardwalk, and Club Náutico de Ponce. The annual Cruce a Nado Internacional swimming sports event is held at this Bay every September.

History

The history of the Bahía de Ponce is closely tied to the history of Barrio Playa, the populated place that lines Bahía de Ponce's shores. As the major means of external communication for the settlement at Ponce, barrio Playa has, in turn, a history that is as old as the history of the city of Ponce itself, dating to the 16th century, when Barrio Playa used to be called Montones.Eli D. Oquendo-Rodriguez. Pablo L. Crespo-Vargas, editor. A Orillas del Mar Caribe: Boceto historico de la Playa de Ponce – Desde sus primeros habitantes hasta principios del siglo XX. First edition. June 2017. Editorial Akelarre. Centro de Estudios e Investigaciones del Sur Oeste de Puerto Rico (CEISCO). Lajas, Puerto Rico. Page 21.

During the 1600s and 1700s, significant contraband took place near Ponce shores as well as attempts to attack, ransack, and invade the Playa settlement. A lookout post was set up in the El Vigia Hill, located immediately north of the city to warn the city of the need of help in the Playa harbor, a small port settlement at the time. Despite the threats, the Port of Ponce started operations at Bahía de Ponce under Spanish sovereignty in February 1789 and in just a few years became Puerto Rico's most important port.Un operador busca transformar el Puerto de las Américas de Puerto Rico. The San Diego Union-Tribune. 14 September 2015. Accessed 28 September 2018.

But threat from sea upon the Puerto Rican shore settlement continued. In both August 1800 and October 1801, for example, a fleet of British warships attempted to capture the shore settlement but were repelled by the Municipal Guard and Ponce militia.Historia de Puerto Rico. Paul G. Miller. Chicago and New York: Rand McNally & Compañia. 1992. Page 235. The Port of Ponce was officially founded in 1804 by Order of the Spanish Crown, but it was not until 1811 that the Order was carried out, when Ramon Power y Giralt obtained a Royal Decree to enable the port.Historia de Puerto Rico. Paul G. Miller. Chicago and New York: Rand McNally & Compañia. 1992. Page 186. The Port was built with municipal fundsHistoria de Puerto Rico. Paul G. Miller. Chicago and New York: Rand McNally & Compañia. 1992. Page 451. and, unlike all other ports in Puerto Rico, it is not administered by the Central Government in San Juan but by the Ponce Municipal Government.Ley de la Autoridad del Puerto de Ponce para crear la Autoridad del Puerto de Ponce (Ley 240 del 12 de diciembre de 2011) Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico. 12 December 2011. Page 4. Accessed 28 September 2018.

The waters off Bahía de Ponce saw significant amounts of piracy during this period as well. In 1825, the last major pirate in the Caribbean, Roberto Cofresí, was apprehended after two armed Spanish sloops docked at Bahía de Ponce and the American schooner Grampus hunted down pirate.Historia de Puerto Rico. Paul G. Miller. Chicago and New York: Rand McNally & Compañia. 1992. Page 253.

By the 1830s, La Playa had one of the best roads in Puerto Rico (today's Avenida Hostos), connecting the shore settlement to the city proper, and La Playa was the center of Ponce's commercial activity.Declaracion de Impacto Ambiental: Estrategia. Centros Urbanos de Ponce. Sectores VII & VIII, La Playa y la Avenida Hostos. (Plan de Area de los Centros Urbanos. PL.E.6 La Playa, PL.E.7 La Avenida Hostos.) Municipio de Ponce. Oficina de Ordenación Territorial. January 2009. Page 21. Accessed 1 October 2018. As a result, most advances, innovation and progress often happened in La Playa before it happened in the city of Ponce. For example, Barrio Playa subsequently also got the first phone line in Ponce and was also the first one to get railroad service from downtown Ponce.Aida Belen Rivera Ruiz, Certifying Official, and Juan Llanes Santos, Preparer, Puerto Rico Historic Preservation Office. (San Juan, Puerto Rico) 26 February 2008. In National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form – McCabe Memorial Church. United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (Washington, D.C.) Section 8. Page 15. Listing Reference Number 80000283. Published 11 April 2008.

In 1845, however, La Playa experienced a major fire that destroyed Barrio Playa and most of the Ponce vicinity.Eduardo Neumann. Verdadera y Auténtica Historia de la Ciudad de Ponce. 1913. Reprinted by the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. 1987. Page 194. (In Spanish) It significantly damaged the Spanish Customs House in Ponce, this being one of the few building left standing after the fire.James C. Massey, Exec. Vice Pres., and Shirley Maxwell, Associate, National Preservation Institute (National Building Museum) Washington, D.C. and the Federal Historic Preservation Office, U.S. Department of the Treasury. (Washington, D.C.) 7 January 1988. In National Register of Historic Places Registration Form – U.S. Custom House, Ponce. United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (Washington, D.C.) Section 8, Page 3. Listing Reference Number 88000073. 10 February 1988. The fire burned down the major buildings of the "Marina de Ponce" (Ponce port) as well.Eduardo Neumann. Verdadera y Auténtica Historia de la Ciudad de Ponce. 1913. (In Spanish) Reprinted by the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. 1987. Page 194. (In Spanish)

In 1887 the Spanish government built the Caja de Muertos Light on an island by the same name just off the coast of barrio Playa.National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form – Isla Caja de Muertos Light. United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (Washington, D.C.) Page 2. Listing Reference Number 81000690. 22 October 1981. This was followed by the building of Cardona Island Light lighthouse in 1889, on a small island called Isla Cardona located at the entrance of Bahía de Ponce.National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form – Cayo Cardona Light. United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (Washington, D.C.) Page 2. Listing Reference Number 81000691. 22 October 1981. Both of these islands are part of barrio Playa.General Purpose Population Data, Census 2000. Unidad de Sistemas de Información Geográfica, Área de Tecnología de Información Gubernamental, Oficina de Gerencia y Presupuesto. Gobierno de Puerto Rico. Retrieved 16 February 2010.US Census. 1930 Federal Census Team Transcription. Retrieved 23 February 2010.Puerto Rico 2000: Population and Housing Unit Counts. U.S. Census Bureau. Publication Number PHC-3-53. Published November 2003. Page F-17. Retrieved 22 September 2011.

In 1898, Bahía de Ponce was the entry point of the invading forces of the United States on 27 July.Historia de Puerto Rico. Paul G. Miller. Chicago and New York: Rand McNally & Compañía. 1992. Page 390. Relative to the other ports on the Island at the time, the Port of Ponce had better facilities and its harbor could accommodate large ships.In 1911 the U.S. Federal Government granted the City of Ponce a perpetual franchise to operate the Port. During the second decade of the 20th century (1910s), a new harbor was built. (See La Vuelta de la Feria: Segunda Parte del Juguete Cómico "Los Jíbaros Progresistas o La Feria de Ponce", Original y en Verso." Ramon Mendez Quiñones. Tipografía "El Vapor". Ponce, Puerto Rico. 28 July 1882. Archivo Digital Nacional de Puerto Rico. p. 244 (footnote). Accessed 5 April 2019.) The new Port of Ponce was built on Punta Peñoncillo, where it currently (2019) stands. It was also used by U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt on 21 November 1906 in his visit to the island. The American forces in Puerto Rico built a new pier at Avenida Hostos Final for his visit, though this pier no longer exists.Declaracion de Impacto Ambiental: Estrategia. Centros Urbanos de Ponce. Sectores VII & VIII, La Playa y la Avenida Hostos. (Plan de Area de los Centros Urbanos. PL.E.6 La Playa, PL.E.7 La Avenida Hostos.) Municipio de Ponce. Oficina de Ordenación Territorial. January 2009. Section 3.1.1 (Page 68). Accessed 1 October 2018. In a speech to Congress three weeks later President Roosevelt explained "I could not [dis]embark at San Juan because the harbor has not been dredged out and cannot receive an American battleship."December 11, 1906: Message Regarding the State of Puerto Rico. Theodore Roosevelt. 11 December 1906. Presidential Speeches: President [Theodore] Roosevelt reports to Congress on his trip to Puerto Rico. (Transcript) University of Virginia Miller Center. 2018. Accessed 26 September 2018.

By 1913, Playa was "a dynamic neighborhood with a self-sustained urban development with a population of 5,169 distributed through a residential area dominated by wooden houses, sugar cane farms, churches, schools, hospitals, a cemetery and local industries that promoted the formation of a strong artisan and industrial workers class."Aida Belen Rivera Ruiz, Certifying Official, and Juan Llanes Santos, Preparer, Puerto Rico Historic Preservation Office. (San Juan, Puerto Rico) 26 February 2008. In National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form – McCabe Memorial Church. United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (Washington, D.C.) Section 8. Page 15. Listing Reference Number 80000283. Published on 11 April 2008. Playa has been called "Puerto Rico's first planned suburban area".Diana Lopez Sotomayor. Edificio Municipal de la Playa de Ponce. National Register of Historic Places. Registration Form. Number 13000639. 3 July 2013. p.7.

In 2009, Barrio Playa was a mostly working class barrio of Ponce,Declaracion de Impacto Ambiental: Estrategia. Centros Urbanos de Ponce. Sectores VII & VIII, La Playa y la Avenida Hostos. (Plan de Area de los Centros Urbanos. PL.E.6 La Playa, PL.E.7 La Avenida Hostos.) Municipio de Ponce. Oficina de Ordenación Territorial. January 2009. Page 22. Accessed 1 October 2018. with a modern shopping mall, a 4-star hotel, several parks, and numerous sports and recreational facilities, among others, and its bay is home to the most important commercial harbor on the Puerto Rico's Caribbean coast and the second largest in the island.Regional inventory report, South Atlantic-Gulf region, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Inventory report. United States. Army Corps of Engineers. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1973. Page vi.Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) for Port of the Americas, Puerto Rico, Appendix D: Amended Biological Assessment (Biological characterization and mapping of marine habitats in Ponce Bay). CSA Group (San Juan, PR). Page 4. October 2003. Accessed 2 October 2018.

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