La lancha de Cataño
| Waterway | San Juan Bay |
|---|---|
| Route | Cataño ⇆ Old San Juan |
| Carries | passengers |
| Terminals | AcuaExpreso Cataño Terminal AcuaExpreso San Juan Terminal |
| Operator | AcuaExpreso |
| Authority | Maritime Transport Authority |
| Travel time | 7–10 minutes |
| Frequency | 60 departures per day |
| Daily ridership | 1,000–4,000 passengers per day |
| Yearly ridership | about 1 million passengers per year |
The Cataño Ferry (Spanish: Lancha de Cataño) is a single route ferry service between Cataño and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Its route consists of Cataño ⇆ Old San Juan docking at the AcuaExpreso Cataño Terminal in Cataño on the route's southwestern point and at the AcuaExpreso San Juan Terminal in Pier 2 of the San Juan Port in Old San Juan on the route's northeastern point.
The ferry crosses the San Juan Bay with its services running from mornings to evenings seven days a week as the weather and maritime conditions permit. Although the service is heavily used by tourists, its primary purpose is to serve as a transportation hub for those who live nearby Cataño but work in San Juan in complementation with AcuaExpreso. Despite what the service's name implies, the service has been provided by multiple boats, not just one ship. The ferry is an icon in Puerto Rican culture.
The Cataño Ferry started operating in 1853, when the Cataño Steam Company used a small boat to transport cargo and passengers to San Juan. During its history, the ferry was managed by Férrea del Oeste and Compañía Popular de Transporte. According to passengers, the old boat was "a wooden boat; they called it the turtle because it was a small boat". In 1960, the Puerto Rico Ports Authority acquired the franchise, building a new terminal and buying five new ships.
The ferry covers only one route: from San Juan's dock to Cataño's ferry terminal. Since most people who used the service initiated the trip in San Juan, it became known as "La Lancha de Cataño", because, it is believed that people use the service mostly to travel from San Juan to Cataño.
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