What you can see on the Maricao cam
The camera looks from a coffee farm on the slopes above town, past a radio mast and power poles, over the green hills to the houses of Maricao scattered across the valley. Clouds pour over the ridges and showers sweep the valley in the afternoon, and on clear mornings the view opens far over the mountains of the west.
Clouds and rain over the hills of Maricao
From a coffee farm on the slopes above town, this camera looks past a radio mast and a row of power poles over steep green hills to the houses of Maricao scattered across the valley, with the ridges of the western Cordillera Central behind.
It is a weather cam more than a view: you can watch the clouds pour over the ridges and the rain curtains sweep across the valley, and see whether the mountain roads are in sun or in a downpour.
Coffee and forest
The cool, wet climate of these mountains made Maricao coffee country in the 19th century, and the harvest is still celebrated every February with its coffee festival. Above the town, the Maricao State Forest protects one of the most diverse forests on the island, on unusual serpentine soils, with many plants and birds found nowhere else, and a state fish hatchery breeds fish for the island's lakes.
When to watch Maricao
Puerto Rico keeps Atlantic Standard Time all year, four hours behind UTC. In the mountains the mornings are usually the clearest; clouds build over the ridges by midday and the afternoon showers come and go, especially from May to November. For people in the west of the island, the cam is a quick way to see whether the rain has reached the mountains.
Nearby
The coast of the south-west, with the beaches of Cabo Rojo and the fishing village of La Parguera, is under an hour's drive away, and Mayagüez, the main city of the west coast, about 40 minutes.
Getting there
Maricao is reached by narrow, winding mountain roads from Mayagüez, San Germán and Sabana Grande. Cars drive on the right; the drive is slow, especially in the rain, and the roads can be closed after landslides.
