Playa Escalera - Reserva Marina Tres Palmas — Attraction in Rincón

By far the best snorkeling I found on the island. My experiences here topped Shacks beach and also the outer reef at Parguera.

In my opinion there is only one safe entry and exit point - right where the parking lot let's you out onto the beach. Enter between the curvy palm tree and the crack in the stone. There are no sea urchins and no dangerous cracks at this location.

If you are sitting on the rock outcrop directly at the shore you can't fall. Sit, put on your gear turn on your belly, eyes in the water, and snorkel in. Safe entry, safe exit with no urchins or falls.

My two favorite spots are:

South. Kick south untill you see the small piece of concrete on the shore painted with a graffiti heart. There you will sea a slope out to sea and LOTS of hard and soft coral.

North. Kick north untill you see the PR flag. If you line up just north of the flag and the northern most point you will find a piece of underwater geography with several overhangs. Here on two occasions I observered nurse sharks sleeping under the stone.

In June 2022 at Steps Beach my family and I observered several Hawksbill and Green sea turtles, spotted drum fish (under rocks), enormous tarpon, great barracuda, porcupine fish, trumpet fish, file fish, stingrays and black durgon in addition to the large schools of blue tang and several variations of parrot fish.

Please take all trash home with you and do NOT collect shells. This is a nature reserve (Tres Palmas) and the hermit crabs need those...

we visited at the last day of March; it was a bit windy with 2–3 feet of surge, and we were there at the low tide. What we found was that the rock line between the sand and the water were fully exposed with no fish visible in sight. The worst part was that there were no safe ways to get into the water, as the rocks were super slippery that you could not walk through them without slipping into the crushing waves. I could imagine that at high tide the fish might come in to the rocky area, and the water in rocky area would be clear. However, while we were there, the stirring water made the water very murky, and when I swam to the coral reefs a little bit off shore, I could barely see anything. I was fully suited up with a protective wet suit, only the hand I used to operate a small underwater camera was not wearing a protective glove; ended up with multiple bleeding cuts on that hand when I tried to get off the water over the rock line. In general, I do not recommend this beach unless it is at Summer time with much quieter water and at high tide —and only if you stay nearby. It does not worth the 2 hour drive from San Juan. Visit Escambron Beach instead for great snorkeling and relaxation if you stay near San Juan. The only good thing the narrow stretch of the Steps Beach is a plenty of tree shade and lack of crowd. We napped on the beach for a good part of...

Good beach for a day of snorkeling. You see many different Marina fish, sea urchin and I even got to see mid size brown spotted eel. Others have pictures of sea turtles and stingrays but that wasn't so on my visit there.

Once you pass the rocky beginning part of the beach shore, the beach is also very swimable. There's street parking available so get there early, if not you'll be parking on the road side. You also have shaded areas for the not so much sun worshippers. Take your pictures by the steps and look for the swing for more selfies. At the main road that leads into the beach, you have a mid size kiosko that offers some finger food with beverages and a few amenities like snorkeling gear and paddle board rentals.

Opposite from the kiosko, there's a large grassy area with a few cows and one mean bull who doesn't have horns. Be careful, he will try to kick you if you try to pet him...