The Arecibo Observatory Reviews

Very cool, nice drive in the hills too. Careful of the roads though. They are very narrow with a lot of hills and blind corners with an occasional large pot hole.

Incredible! If you want to learn about the universe, you should definitely go there.

I expected more, the welcome centre is to small when they can teach more about planets, stars, etc. Need to improve it has a great potential

The jalda (slope) that you have to climb on foot is brutal. They should have a trolley

Awesome research and investigation facility. In other words Reach for the Stars ,the space is the limit.

It's a trek through the mountains and forest to get here but the drive is beautiful and worth the effort. It's hard to grasp the size of this telescope until you see it so it's well worth taking time out of your trip to see this.

If your staying in San Juan I'd budget a little over a half day to get up and back. The museum here is just so so, because of that don't think you'll spend much time inside.

Persons working at the observatory were very informative

So sad to see this great scientific instrument collapse basically due to "old age". As a child growing up in the 60's and 70's, Arecibo represented a wonderous and mysterious world of deep-space exploration that sparked the imagination. We were fortunate to visit the impressive site in February 2020 during a vacation in Puerto Rico, and indeed, it stood as majestic and proud as I had imagined. May this be a lesson for the state of much of our modern infrastructure, which we all take for granted. Best wishes to all the scientists and researches who have relied on this instrument for their livelihood and to farther human knowledge for decades past.

Fantastic place to learn about space and our own planet.

Very informative. Starts with a movie that goes into detail about the observatory and then someone guides you to the beautiful view of the observatory. There is a little gallery that you can walk through that has some exhibits. I wanted to see where the scientist do there experiments or where they actually work and that was a separate fee and I was told is just the scientist on a bunch of computers.

Great experience. The exhibitions & facilities are very nice. The personel was very attentive and informative.

Very interesting, educational and the employees are very attentive as in all of Puerto Rico.

Make sure you get the VIP tour to include the control room and the dish. Being right next top the dish really puts the size of the telescope into perspective. Seeing the technicians and scientists in the control room was amazing. This is a great place to visit and let our your inner geek.

Excellent experience! Very interesting exhibits and wonderful staff!

Wonderful experience. An adventure to get there, but once there we were fully engaged. The AO associates are friendly, courteous, well informed. We had an extended conversation with one who helped us better understand the various well presented displays. In addition to the displays, some interactive, and fun they have an informative, well produced film presentation in their auditorium. We viewed the English edition. Easy to absorb. Learned a lot. Excellent! Another highlight is the radio telescope itself. From a platform, one can view the AO RT in complete safety. It's size and the surrounding topography will take your breath away. On the platform we were graced with an excellent presentation. Most impressive, given the presentation is presented in English their second language! They have a gift shop with really cool items to choose from. Well worth your time. Have fun!

This place has a small interactive exhibition good for young and old to help understand better space and it's elements. The observatory is working fully again after damage of hurricane Maria in 2017

If I have visited it on several occasions, and it is the best for people interested in science. I think that science should be encouraged more in our educational system, pity they think it will close. Here there is never $$$ for anything, except for Mall's and Shopping ...

Science freaks will love and marvel at the engineering and capabilities of this phenome. So happy we made the trip.

i was here on 07/03/2016 i love it thanks you so much !

Amazing!!! One of the coolest places on the earth!!!

This is my second time here in Arecibo Observatory. This facility is very inspirational to me because I like space science. You need to be here to know exactly how big the dish (radio telescope) is, the second largest in the world after the one in China when it is completed.

Great for the kids and very enjoyable for adults although they were scared when an alien took my mate jim away. Got a quick snap before they teleported away to the mothership.

So long old friend, you are in our hearts and among our stars now.

The radio telescope is impressive. The museum disappointing.

Thoroughly enjoyed the observatory! There's a decent walk uphill, but you get to enjoy the planetary signs, describing the planets of the solar systems. The employees are great, and bilingual. Learned quite a bit on my visit. My whole family enjoyed it

Professionally trained staff to answer each question! Excellent very interesting place

My deepest condolences to everyone involved.

Woke up to seeing this masterpiece of engineering destroyed by gravity.

I am sorry. Truly.

Must see, looks completely unreal, in the middle of the jungle and a lot of history since 1960. Even 2 films were filmed here, at least scenes: Contact with Judie Foster and 007 Golden Eye. Two researchers have also received Nobel Prize here and medal and certificate can also be seen.

because I close the observatory I think it is very important in the whole world that I would like to visit again I'm from San Juan and I would like to go one day with my family

This is an extraordinary place which IRS contributions have impact the scientific community. It is known by the world.

The tour was very weak for the price. I would not pay for the tour you can read the 4 informational board and get the same info. You don't go anywhere on the tour that you can't go by just going to the look out observatory

Always a pleasure to visit this place,employees are knowledgeable of the history (Spanish and English. )So please stop by an visit our Puerto Rico.

LOVED the Observatory!! So cool!There were lots of schoolchildren there when we went during the weekday. But it was fine. they have a moon rock and a meteorite from Mars. It's well worth it to take the VIP tour and look behind the scenes. One of the best things we did in Puerto Rico.

Such a cool place to visit! We did the VIP tour and really enjoyed it!

I play Battlefield 4 a lot and this is the closest thing to the Rogue Transmission map in real life

Outstanding, a very unique experience at the world's oldest and 2nd largest (but best!) A ground based RF observatory.

Most rewarding scientific tourism that I have done. The place was closed after the hurricane. But, they were so kind to take groups of people by car to the visitor deck that overlooks the bowl. The antenna was damaged and lying on the floor of the bowl.

The main antenna receivers are inside the suspended group. It was really amazing to see in person the things that you have only read or heard about.

In the distance of the bowl I could see a tether for a cleaning robot that was scrubbing the bowl. The bowl was dirty and is being returned to it's normal ( or original) plain metal white.

Must go. Very nice visit. Thanks to the people that were gracious to show us around.

The largest radio telescope in the world! In my opinion, not the first thing you should see on your trip to Puerto Rico, but if you spend enough time here you can definitely manage to make the time to come out here.

I suggest going to Cueva Ventana in the morning and then going straight to here afterwards as they are close by.

Was very interesting and enjoyed the VIP tour inside the facilities, slightly geared towards children but we all enjoyed and the Telescope is a sight to behold, come see...

This is the dish that was shot in James Bond Goldeneye with Pierce Brosnan. This is a radio-frequency telescope and has a great history behind it. This telescope gives us knowledge for a better understanding of the world we live in. I highly recommend you make this a stop to visit while in Puerto Rico.

The brutal observatory is huge although you can only go to the museum, but the experience is worth it.
If you go alone, you have to be careful because you can get lost on the road since the observatory is nestled between mountains, the entrance costs $ 12 per adult and you get an "all inclusive" bracelet.
First you see a museum with meteorites and where you can leave messages for other civilizations, then you can watch a video that is shown in English and Spanish every 30 minutes and finally you can see the observatory from a viewing point.

Super friendly staff and important history is at Arecibo. Also, the meteor collection is pretty cool, and a moon rock....awesome

A great experience for those interested in astronomy & science. The exhibits are very good, but not infinite like some museums. This is located in a remote part of Puerto Rico so leave time to drive. Leave at least 2 hours to see everything, watch the film, & take the tour - more if very interested. There is food to purchase there as well. There is an uphill walk from the parking lot. You can find coupons for admission in some of the touristy guide books.

Spoiler alert!!! Nice little road trip that you can knock out under an hour but make sure you have more stuff planed. Places closest around 5ish. Before viewing the satellite you need to see a quick little 15-minute film.. oh yeah something they have a surprisingly inexpensive snack where you can buy empanadas and coffee

This place has been a favorite of mine since I was s little kid. It recently got renovated and it's even better. Might not be the biggest anymore in the world, but it's still an architectural and technological marvel.

Phenomenal. Even if you aren t drawn to astronomy or the engineering of it, the radio telescope is mind-blowing site. Well worth the twisty drive and steep stairs to the museum and observation deck (and surprise snack bar!). The staff did a More

It's on a hill so you have to climb up steps. Has a small museum consists of two floors has a gift shop. You step out and you can see the Observatory the satellites there's also food you can purchase there. There's great staff that know what they're talking about. Overall I had a pleasant visit.

This was super cool. Windy drive with awful roads to get there, but worth the nerd info and the sheer magnitude of the dish.

Arecibo Observatory is a great place to visit for anyone studying and learning about astronomy. You get to watch a short film and they give you a tour. Several movies were film here.

It was very interesting and cool to learn about space with my classmates,also it appears to be the biggest of it's kind!