Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Center

Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Center

Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Center
4
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Monday
Closed
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Saturday
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Sunday
Closed
About
Ponce is home to The Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Center, an ancient Taino village. It was initially discovered by a charcoal maker from the area, when a large flood in 1975 uncovered the buried remains--which were later shown to be a group of ceremonial plazas and ball fields. Some researchers suggest that, because of their placements, the plazas might have also been used as astral observatories. The largest indigenous cemetery, containing 186 skeletons, was also found. This site is considered to be one of the most important historical and archeological sites in the Antilles.
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.0
4.0 of 5 bubbles181 reviews
Excellent
77
Very good
58
Average
33
Poor
6
Terrible
7

yes2travel
Delray Beach, FL318 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2024 • Couples
Very well run and informative archeological site. Beautiful walk through the outdoor grounds. Besides the ruins there are native trees planted and descriptive signs posted. The museum itself is well laid out with the signage in both English and Spanish. The museum docent is OUTSTANDING! He walked along with us in the museum area and shared lots of knowledge and personal stories about the site and native people. All of this at no cost too!
Written December 6, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Pamela F
Athens, OH10 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2023 • Family
The Tibes museum was free! We were able to explore at our leisure and the original excavated artifacts were fascinating! presentation of re-created pre-Taino & Taino culture was done beautifully and with much respect. The grounds were kept very clean, and I especially loved the natural botanical gardens, explaining the flora which the indigenous peoples used in so many ways. highly recommend ((remember to bring bug spray.))
Written November 21, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Raquel T
Bayamon, Puerto Rico155 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2023 • Family
When we got to the Center, we were directed to visit the museum first.

They had a temporary exhibition (until November 2023) about tainos in America and their permanent collection about tainos in Puerto Rico. Both collections had lots of artifacts and bilingual (English/Spanish) placards that explained all about the people that lived in, and used, the area.

There was no guide, (well, a stray dog show us the road) so we just walked out to the ball fields by ourselves. After crossing a bridge, we walk along a path that they called a botanic garden where they are growing the trees that the tainos used for food, shelter, canoes and all sorts of other purposes. In the archeological area you can you’ll be able to view 2 ceremonial plazas and 7 ball fields.

I didn’t see any gift shop or snack bar. Restrooms were out of service. I would suggest sunscreen, bug spray, and water (It’s veeeery hot) when you go out on the field. Admission was free of charge.
Written April 9, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Krista M
12 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2022
Tibes was a highlight of our trip to Puerto Rico. This indigenous site and museum helped give us an understanding of the people that lived on the island long ago, and get a tangible sense of how they lived their lives. An excellent guide walked us through the museum exhibits with a helpful explanation, and then walked with us through the archeological site, which is still actively studied. His passion and knowledge really added to the experience. We visited this site before then visiting Caguana the next day and they paired really well together. Our guide at Tibes explained that the site may have been the basis for the design at Caguana, so it was great being able to see both and compare.
Written July 4, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Cultural_insights
ether2 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2022
In our 15+ years of visiting Puerto Rico the mistreatment we experienced visiting this museum was the worst.
While we'd eagerly anticipated visiting due to our interest in Taíno culture,
the benighted male "staffing" the museum exhibited behavior (& verbal insults)
which can perhaps be best understood as colonization mentality.
What a disappointing pity!
There are many better sites in Puerto Rico to explore Taíno culture.
Written March 4, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Loneostrich
Miami Beach, FL166 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2021
I genuinely enjoyed my time. I'm not sure if this is typical or not, but I was led through the museum and the site area by a very enthusiastic guide who is a trained archaeologist. He explained the uses of the plants that form a sort of botanical garden way, as well as the significance of the site and why there aren't any petroglyphs like are found in another site on the island. He also was quick to dispell myths about how the native pre-contact culture was. All in all, I learned quite a bit. It was all in Spanish, so I don't know how the experience would be for a non-Spanish speaker. I'm guessing the guide was probably quite fluent in English, but I'm not sure his passion would translate as well.
Written June 19, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jenny from Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, CA812 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2023
We spent a pleasant hour here. There's a small museum with two rooms, one of which had clearly not been updated in years. And there's an archeological site and botanical garden with very little signage. If you're looking to spend time while in Ponce, it's worth a free visit. And there's plenty of parking.
Written April 11, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Sara H
Menomonee Falls, WI306 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2019 • Family
The video presentation was very brief and I needed to hear more. I felt like more could be done with the entire facility. This ancient people may not have a lot of information about them but I would think more is there to share. I don’t think it would cost much to paint some rocks with fake designs and make a small area to display items to show how it is perceived the peoples lived. The display information in the building was good but didn’t appear well organized. I think there could be more here to share with descendants. A little oomph would go along way to making this less of a digsite and more interactive as well as interesting.
Written January 26, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

MelRoseC
Sherbrooke, Canada78 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2022 • Family
Nice center. The staff was very helpful and friendly. The museum part had some interesting things to look at. There were no huts, which I really wanted to see, but the ruins were there and they were neat. It's hard to imagine what it used to look like hundreds of years ago.

The center and museum were free
Written December 25, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Journey23537
Orlando, FL1 contribution
3.0 of 5 bubbles
We had a great tip to Tibes, but you do need to look for it. It is on the outskirts of a small town.

We enjoyed the visit, although if you don't speak spanish,you might want to mention it to the guides.

The site is beautiful, and there is a little gift shop/cafe. Just light stuff, juices, muffins, coffee and sodas, try the "Mavi" drink.

Ifyou are looking for unique souvenirs, you will certainly find plenty of them here!

Enjoy
Written January 8, 2004
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Center (Ponce, Puerto Rico): Hours, Address, Attraction Reviews - Tripadvisor

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