Coast Guard La Puntilla

Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico

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Coast Guard La Puntilla refers to the United States Coast Guard Station San Juan, a key Coast Guard facility located in the La Puntilla sector of historic Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, at 5 Calle La Puntilla.

Established in 1993 (with the base itself dating back to 1942), it is one of only two US Coast Guard Search and Rescue stations in the Caribbean and serves as the command center for Sector San Juan, which covers a 1.3 million square nautical mile area of the Eastern Caribbean. 

The station overlooks San Juan Bay and is responsible for critical missions including search and rescue, law enforcement, drug and migrant interdiction, ports and waterways security, aids to navigation, and marine environmental protection, while also escorting cruise ships and Navy vessels entering and departing San Juan Bay. 

The historic grounds include "Quarters One," a building constructed in 1908 that was originally the home of the El Morro lighthouse keeper, and the facility became the 10th Coast Guard District during World War II before being restructured into Sector San Juan in 2004. Across the bay from the station is the Army's Fort Buchanan, and the base coordinates daily with multiple partner agencies including immigration enforcement, customs, border patrol, and Puerto Rico police forces.