Arecibo Observatory in Fajardo

Always wanted to go see this place. Too bad it collapsed in 2020. Still cool to see and the tour/ video was great.

Very cool spot! I hope they get the funds to rebuild the dish. Visitor center is open with info and tours.

Very informative and a must see place if you are into science, physics, astronomy.

Very beautiful spot. Very informative museum and presentation. Very cool if you love space!

We loved Arecibo, we drove from San Juan because my boyfriend and I love space. It was dad to see such an amazing site destroyed but it was still amazing and it is just something you cant convey through pictures, how grand it is. My dad doesnt know much about space and he had a great time and said he learnt a lot. They also had a sale on shirts which was nice. So many cool little activities for children but enjoyable for adults too. Great place to explore for a couple of hours.

The tour needs to be longer and a little more entertaining. The people are very nice and knowledgeable and are doing the best they can. This place has a lot of potential. Just needs some help. An observatory and a planetarium would be great.

Its a shame that the radio telescope is no longer functional, but the facility is still an active research institution as well as offering an engaging and informative visitor center. The selwction at the gift shop was a bit disappointing, but the visit was very much worth the journey. Some of those back roads to get there are steep and narrow, but its all smooth and paved.

Arecibo is such a massive disappointment. I’ve wanted to go here since I was a little kid. Always wanted to be an astronomer. 15 bucks per person for basically an 8 minute Youtube video and then a decent view outside. Of course there’s a gift shop here to get more money lol. Absolute rip off. You’re honestly better off just spending time watching a YouTube video at home. The drive up the mountain to get to the observatory is the most interesting part.There is a massive hill to get up to the visitor center as well but all you have to do is ask the security guard to call the van to take you up to the top. A lot of people who write these reviews clearly don’t have common sense lol. If you’re scared to go up the hill, ask for help.

Nice place to visit but you have to pay

We came here for a rainy day activity, but glad we did! It is a troop to walk up there, but you will leave learning something new about Puerto Rico and outer space.

Sad but also beautiful to see. The Arecibo dish was the biggest in the world from 1963 all the way to 2016. Now of course the biggest one is in China.In addition to seeing the remains of the dish, they have a really good museum with several interactive exhibits that are very kid friendly.

We went for an asteroid observation event. The website didnt really say what it was, but we were in Puerto Rico for vacation and it sounded cool. It turned out mostly to be an educational event. We toured the new visitor center, heard a fun speaker talk about an asteroid that will NOT hit the earth in 2029, and then got to look out some telescopes. It was a unique experience and Im glad we went.

I was so sad to hear and see that the telescope had collapsed and was destroyed! I did not know about it. It happened in 2020. I remember going in 2006 for the 8 millionth time to see it and it was always a marvel. I’m just sad that I finally got to take my wife and kids and it wasn’t there! The tour guide was great and the place is still worth going to.

When it was open the observatory was wonderful. It had childrens activities and a great video presentation with knowledgeable staff QA after.

Awesome place to visit even though the big radio telescope is damaged. The little museum inside is small but well maintained and the staff is very friendly. There is a very nice visitor presentation about the sites history in the auditorium.

The learning center was amazing and the people working there were VERY helpful and informative. Very glad we made the drive up

Sad to see the radio telescope in ruins. An accidenral snap dropped the dome to the paraboluc reflector and destroyed it. It happened in December 2020. Any picture taken after Dec 2020 would like the one beliw. The government is no longer funding the project. I assume priorities have changed. The guides working there gave good information. We wondered what a Chines firm is doing in that lab.

Had an excellent time traveling here and marveling at the dish. Lots to learn and beautiful to behold. Im sad to hear this site is closing for good. It was a wonderful experience to share with my best friend and wont soon be forgotten.

What an amazing place this used to be. Unfortunately yesterday was a sign of the times. Arecibo has been left unattended for years now and that is a real shame. I first came to the Arecibo Observatory in the 1980s when my father was working in Puerto Rico and it was such a marvel for its time. Just the thought of observing the stars or catching an interstellar message was enough to have my mind wander for hours. Funding is going by the wayside in terms of our space exploration which is sad for our up and coming astronomical youngsters. Loads of information on the tours and you can see the old pictures of how it was assembled and built. This is a sad day after witnessing the collapse on Tuesday December 6 2020...

Great experience. Loved the radar! Amazing engineering feat. And the science was fascinating - lots of gadgets for kids (young & oldto play with and learn. The guides were all super helpful and friendly too! Id give it 7 stars if I could!

One of my very favorite places to see in PR. The VIP tour was very worth the extra fee for me. We got to see the control room and the scientists doing their work. The museum was really neat.The staff and guides were very friendly and very knowledgeable.It’s a bit of a walk uphill from the parking lot to the observatory. It gets hot up there so drink lots of water.I was really enjoying my nerd day out but it’s not required to be a card-carrying geek to enjoy this achievement of humanity.

The Observatory is a must see for anyone visiting, especially if science interests you. Understanding the work that has gone into this place and the scale of the telescopes size are both awe inspiring.

Only one word describing this is WOW! If you go to Pureto Rico this is a must see but drive up there with caution, the roads are full of alot of sharp turns and steep hills that you cant see over the top of.

This place is just amazing. A huge, 1,000 ft diameter spherical (as opposed to parabolicantenna, basically in the middle of the jungle, located within the karst mountains of Puerto Rico, a very distinct looking area, reminiscent of a smaller version of the mountains of Guangxi in China. A major feat of engineering from the early sixties, this place has lost none of its relevance for science and none of its coolness factors. No wonder it was chosen as a bad guy lair in the James Bond movie "Goldeneye", and also appeared in "Contact". I especially enjoyed two VIP tours, one to see the control center, which I would almost describe as quaint, as it still has some decades-old equipment (or at least rackmounts), combined with modern linux, windows and apple workstations. The other tour leads down directly to the antenna that was built in an existing sinkhole, which is constantly monitored for activity. This place is well worth the approximately one hour drive from San Juan.

Worth the trek into the hills!We parked and hiked up the stairs to the dish, after declining to ride in the suv they were using to shuttle people up the steep hill. From the parking lot (the sunwas a scale model of the solar system along the steps. Pretty neat feature. Right after paying you walk through a neat little hands on physics, space, type learning center. Mostly kid oriented, but I had fun with some of the contraptions as well. There was an auditorium, but we skipped it since we had the baby with us. You then walk out to a guy making hot dogs, and a giant crater in the mountains filled with concrete panels that make up the reflector of a massive radio telescope.This device is how we know definitively the Earth is flat.

Was very interesting and enjoyed the VIP tour inside the facilities, slightly geared towards children but we all enjoyed and the Telescope is a sight to behold, come see...

Very interesting place to visit. The staff are great, mostly students assisting with the tours. You can pay extra and go to the operations center and control room to speak with the scientists and ask questions about the over all processes.

Thoroughly enjoyed the observatory! Theres a decent walk uphill, but you get to enjoy the planetary signs, describing the planets of the solar systems. The employees are great, and bilingual. Learned quite a bit on my visit. My whole family enjoyed it

Family enjoyed it. Enroute one can still we the damage from the Hurricane. My wife and son enjoyed it, their first trip to Puerto Rico. Wife found it educational. Been there before, over a decade ago with my daughter, she enjoyed it as well, back then.

Its truly inspiring been in a place where so many discoveries were made, we took the private tour and the guide was very nice and knowledgeable

Definitely worth the trip! Free parking. Security at bottom of the stairs is there if you require additional assistance with the trip up to the observatory, just ask they will provide shuttle service from bottom parking lot. The admission was under $10. They have vip tours for $15 extra, that takes you down to the edge of the dish. Very informative movie presentation, personal guided tour, guides are bilingual. Mine was working on her third language (French). Very good experience. A must go! Check hours before you go! 10a-3p.

Beautiful place that still carry an important scientific legacy. Worth visiting if you are into science. VIP tour was the best

LOVED the Observatory!! So cool!There were lots of schoolchildren there when we went during the weekday. But it was fine. they have a moon rock and a meteorite from Mars. Its well worth it to take the VIP tour and look behind the scenes. One of the best things we did in Puerto Rico.

Fantastic place to visit! Its a fun drive getting out to the observatory, thats half the fun! Its $12 a person for the info center and $25 for the VIP tour.The info center is a bit small but well worth it since you get semi up close to the dish. There is also a well put together history video you watch in both Spanish and English.

Awesome place to visit. The staff is very friendly and knowledgeable and the exhibit is cool and interactive for anyone of any age. It’s a bit of a hike up a hill from the parking lot if you need to know but well worth it.

If there is no close parking its a 7 minute walk up to a 500 step stair case up to the visitors center / museum. If you cant make the walk they have a van drive you up the road from parking.The museum does a presentation every 30 mins in English or Spanish. Then they take you out to the observation deck where you can see the dish.

It was worth the visit to see the this large telescope. We had to turn off the cellphones when we entered the parking lot area and had to walk up the hills to get to the visitor center..The introductory movie did a good job of explaining the history and the functions of the telescope. After the movie, the guide took us to the view point where she explained more about the telescope and answered questions. They also had small exhibits about the space, galaxy, and telescopes.

Its ok, the history was nice, but the tour was just so so. I think the biggest thing about seeing it was knowing a movie had been based off the facility and seeing it in person. If I was a kid I dont think I would get that excited about it except for maybe the history movie and the gift shop, but thats just my opinion.

A great place to visit, the site has a very nice set of meteors, labs with lots of information and the radio telescope is really impressive. Guided tours are on both English and Spanish.

Very informative. Starts with a movie that goes into detail about the observatory and then someone guides you to the beautiful view of the observatory. There is a little gallery that you can walk through that has some exhibits. I wanted to see where the scientist do there experiments or where they actually work and that was a separate fee and I was told is just the scientist on a bunch of computers.

Absolutely fantastic facility. Many interactive displays in the learning area, and our tour guide Melissa was informative and polite. She answered all of our questions, even going out of her way to get answers to things she didnt know for certain.It was interesting to get to see the dome in the process of being pressure washed. Its currently half silver and half black from tarnish. They explained that the fully does not affect operation, it just looks nicer when it is clean.

This is the dish that was shot in James Bond Goldeneye with Pierce Brosnan. This is a radio-frequency telescope and has a great history behind it. This telescope gives us knowledge for a better understanding of the world we live in. I highly recommend you make this a stop to visit while in Puerto Rico.

Worth the drive. Call to see what the hours are. I found the public hours different than what the website said. There is a nice museum, a 17 minute video and a presentation outside overlooking the antenna and reflector. Otherwise an amazing and large scientific instrument!

One of my favorite places in the world. Amazing scientists, amazing tour guides, amazing visitor center. This place has so much history and science discoveries.

Well worth the trip. Once you get off the highway the ride is a little rough. This place is awesome and the young staff will answer your questions in Soanish or English. This is a great place to bring the children. Theres lots of interactive things for them to do.

I am a nerd for space and movies. The fact that this observatory meets both of my nerdy requirements is outstanding. First of this place is simply amazing in that it helps in the study of space and our atmosphere. Science it is fact. Secondly, this place was used in the James Bond Movie Golden Eye. Great movie and great use of a natural location. I suggest coming here just to see the beautiful mountains that surround the dish built of a natural sink hole.

If you have an interest in "outer space" than this is worth the trip and to see one of the largest radio dishes in the world. NOTE* if you want to shoot pictures you have to have a normal digital camera because you can not have any cell phones on because it causes interference with the observatory. You have to walk up the steps and should only take you about 15-20 minutes to do but it is all up hill. Once you are up there you will have to get a ticket to go into the museum / theater which also lets you go out to the area to view the dish. There is a lot of information why it was built here and what scientific work it has done to date. Also the movies "Goldeneye" James Bond 007 and "Contact" with Jodie Foster was filmed here.

As other reviews mentioned, there is only one vantage point of the telescope. This is just outside of the museum. The museum is small and the guide we had didnt know much more than what was on the signs.

Its on a hill so you have to climb up steps. Has a small museum consists of two floors has a gift shop. You step out and you can see the Observatory the satellites theres also food you can purchase there. Theres great staff that know what theyre talking about. Overall I had a pleasant visit.

This place has been a favorite of mine since I was s little kid. It recently got renovated and its even better. Might not be the biggest anymore in the world, but its still an architectural and technological marvel.