Fun group outing to the sugar mill pier in Aguadilla
Our friend Summer had quite an adventure in mind when we set out on Saturday to the old abandoned sugar mill and pier (Molino y muelle de azúcar) in Aguadilla. I had no idea how much of a wild ride it would be, but it was amazing! It is not the type of day trip that just anyone can do, and is certainly not for children or the faint of heart. Along with Britton and our friend Brandon, we traveled together to a neighborhood in Aguadilla where there was a “Private Property” sign that everyone, including a policeman issuing parking tickets, completely ignored.
No Pase? No Problem! Just go around the side
The abandoned sugar mill and bank-owned 30 acre property including private pier is currently for sale!
It was a short little hike around the property
Inside one of the other abandoned buildings
Inside the massive 30,000 sq ft mill was like a huge cathedral
Eerie and cool at the same time (thanks to Summer for some of the photos in this post)
We then came upon the sugar mill pier structure. This building is in complete disarray and is slowly disintegrating from lack of maintenance and lots of salinity. In order to reach the actual pier we descended through the complete dilapidation of rusted out or missing stairs, floors that had fallen through, broken glass and graffiti. It was quite dangerous, but also thrilling! I felt like we were in an adult jungle gym. The kind that they make for kids with rubber floors, only this one you could actually die if you stepped wrong or slipped.
Watch your step and hold on tight!
Literally nowhere to step
When we left we found (thanks to a helpful man behind us) that we could have rock-climbed out. I am not sure which is more dangerous! They each had pros and cons.
Like a choose-your-adventure story both are fun!
Eventually, slowly and cautiously we made our way down to the actual pier. Of course, this was in no better shape than the rest of the structures except that we would now be on a catwalk suspended 100 ft above the ocean and need to walk about 500 ft on about 2 inches of steel beam. Pretty freaky!
Where we were going!
Britton takes a breather on a portion of the bridge that actually had some grates after the successful crossing
Faces of relief, but we still had to descend to the platform
When we reached our final destination, the fun continued. We set up a swing, jumped off the piers and I even worked up enough courage to hang from a crane and drop about 60 feet into the ocean. It was exhilarating and I felt so proud of myself for working through my fear! It helped to have so much encouragement from others who had done it before. The ocean was so crystal clear and turquoise blue I was just mesmerized. We were talking about how Disney and other similar theme parks try to put something like this together, but it always comes across so fake. This was the real deal. It is also completely dangerous and officially not allowed though throughout the day many others joined us and enjoyed chilling and thrilling.
Contentment under the pier
Chillin’ on the rusted stairs
Hanging out and setting up the swing
Swinging and jumping
People would boat or jet ski from Crashboat over to the sugar pier
This was the structure we walked ever so cautiously across!
It was a fantastic day in so many ways! The island is full of adventures big and small, and some, like this one, that you will never find in any official tourist guide (probably for good reason). Disclaimer: This is just our experience. If you decide to check out this wild adventure, it’s on you. No one will probably stop you, but you are putting yourself in a lot of danger. Have fun, but stay safe out there everyone! Happy trails!
Muelle de Azúcar as seen from Crashboat Beach
Please enjoy this video I made of the adventure.