La Parguera Nature Reserve

La Parguera Nature Reserve
Reserva Natural de la Parguera
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
La Parguera cays
Location in Puerto Rico
LocationParguera, Lajas, Puerto Rico
Nearest cityLajas, Puerto Rico
Coordinates17°58′36″N 67°0′44″W / 17.97667°N 67.01222°W / 17.97667; -67.01222
Area652.03 cda (633.27 acres)
EstablishedSeptember 20, 1979
Governing bodyPuerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DRNA)

La Parguera Nature Reserve (Spanish: Reserva Natural de la Parguera) is a protected area located in the southwestern Puerto Rico, primarily in the municipality of Lajas but also covering cays and islets under the municipal jurisdictions of Guánica and Cabo Rojo. The nature reserve is itself a unit of the Boquerón State Forest and it protects the Bahía Montalva mangrove forest in addition to mangrove bays, salt marshes and lagoons located along the coast of the Parguera barrio of Lajas, including its numerous cays and coral reefs. The reserve is mostly famous for its bioluminescent bay, locally called Bahía Fosforecente, (Spanish for 'phosphorescent bay'), one of the three of its kind in Puerto Rico and one of the seven year-round places where bioluminescent can be seen in the Caribbean.