Tag: bioluminescence

Mosquito Bioluminescent Bay – Vieques

On March 18, 2024

Photo by Kevin Wolf on Unsplash

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Mosquito Bay in Vieques, Puerto Rico is known as the brightest bioluminescent bay in the world. When we ironed out our plans for our recent trip to Puerto Rico, I made reservations for our kayaking tour to experience the bay right away. While we were getting ready to board the ferry to Vieques, Chris asked me when our tour was, and I discovered that I booked our tour for the day after we arrived back on the Puerto Rican mainland. I quickly logged on to Viator to see if I could find another tour with availability. Luckily, I was able to find a tour with availability, but it wasn’t with the highly-rated tour company I had originally booked with.

We did a bioluminescent bay tour in Fajardo, in mainland Puerto Rico on our previous trip to the island. We enjoyed the evening paddle through the mangroves, but the bioluminescence experience was underwhelming. On that trip, we met our guide at a beach in Fajardo, we hopped in our kayaks and paddled into the bio-bay. In Vieques, the experience was a little different. Our guide picked us up in the town of Esperanza, crammed us into a rickety van, and drove without speaking to a pitch-dark parking lot where we stood in the mud waiting for someone to tell us what to do (remember, this was not one of the highly rated bio-bay tour companies).’

Eventually, a guide showed up and started directing us where to go. We ended up being the first in our group to get into a kayak. We sat down, paddled away from the shore, and immediately we saw the water light up. Our guide took us to the middle of the bay where we got time to explore this light-up water phenomenon on our own. We could see the fish, stingrays, and maybe even sharks swimming beneath us because the water glowed when they moved. It was an incredible experience, unlike anything I had ever seen before. Words and photos do not do it justice.

This bioluminescent bay is heavily protected because chemicals on our skins and in boat motors will kill the dinoflagellates that cause the water to glow. Swimming and gas-powered motors are not allowed in the bay. The only way to see it is by kaya with a licensed guide. The area is also protected from light pollution. There are not many streetlights near the bay and the ones that are nearby have red lights instead of white.

Overall, the transportation to the bay on our tour left something to be desired, but once we got out of the water, it was an unforgettable experience. It is a must-do if you are visiting Vieques, and if you are planning a longer stay on the Puerto Rican mainland, I recommend you plan a night in Vieques, just to see the bio bay. I recommend this highly-rated tour that we had originally booked on Viator, not the one we ended up on.

Thanks for stopping by! Check out our NEW Go See Do Explore Podcast, available wherever you listen to podcasts. To read more about our time in Puerto Rico, check out my Circle Tour of the Island. To read about some of our previous trips, visit my Trips Page. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram! For my list of gadgets to make your travels easier, click here. To see inside my camera bag, check out my Gear Page.

Kayaking in a Bioluminescent Bay

By Ashleigh

On March 27, 2023

In Travel

Fajardo Bio Bay Kayking

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There are five bodies of water in the world where you are able to experience the magic that is bioluminescence year-round. Three of them are in Puerto Rico. The glow-in-the-dark effect known as bioluminescence is caused by microscopic organisms known as dinoflagellates that absorb energy from the sun and then will light up at night when the water is disturbed by a paddle or hand. You are not permitted to swim in these “bio-bays” because sunscreen and other products that we put on our skin will kill these organisms. Some of the bays are noticing a dimming because of this and also pollution from boats.

You are able to experience this bioluminescence in Puerto Rico on kayak tours. We regretted not being able to experience this on our first trip to Puerto Rico so it was one of the first things I booked after we had our flights. For the best experience, it is recommended that you take your tour as close to the new moon as possible. Since we had less than a week in Puerto Rico, we picked a day that fit best in our schedule and the tour organizers covered us up with tarps so we could best experience the glowing.

Since we were staying in Fajardo, we chose a tour of Laguna Grande. We met at a beach near the bio bay where we got a brief safety demonstration and basic kayak instructions before loading into our kayaks and getting a paddle-away picture taken (top). At the beginning of the tour, we paddled along the beach until we came to the opening of the lagoon and we waited for the groups ahead of us to paddle through. The sun was setting at this point, and paddling through the mangroves was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. It is probably silly to compare a real-life experience to a Disney ride, but it made me think of the Jungle Cruise. I kept waiting to see the backside of water.

When we got through the mangroves, we huddled our kayaks together for an explanation of what we were about to see as our guides searched for the best bioluminescent activity. When we re-grouped where the light could be seen the most, the guides passed out tarps for us to huddle around so we could experience the glow-in-the-dark activity without the light from the moon interfering. It was not super comfortable under the tarp, so I didn’t stay under very long. This phenomenon is not easy to photograph so I didn’t even attempt it. I left my phone in the car and just enjoyed the experience. That is why the only picture I have is the one they took for me.

Laguna Grande is not the most active bioluminescent bay in Puerto Rico but it is very convenient if you are staying near San Juan. If you want the best experience, you have to go to the island of Vieques. Honestly, the bioluminescence was not the highlight of this experience for me. I really enjoyed the paddle through the mangroves at dusk. It made me realize that I need to figure out how to go night kayaking at home when the weather warms up.

We chose Yokahu Kayak Tours on Viator and I would recommend them to anyone considering a bio bay tour from Fajardo. One thing to note is that most of these tours only have tandem kayaks. For seasoned tandem kayakers like us, this is not a problem, but my mother-in-law was traveling with us and as an odd number, she got paired off with a teenager she didn’t know and had never kayaked with before. She had more of a challenge with this tour and did not enjoy it as much as we did. In hindsight, one of us probably should’ve stayed with her and one of us stronger kayakers should’ve been paired up with someone else.

Thanks for stopping by! To read more about this trip, check out the Returning to Puerto Rico Trip Report. To read about some of our previous trips, visit my Trips Page. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram! For my list of gadgets to make your travels easier, click here. To see inside my camera bag, check out my updated Gear Page.