Bioluminescent Bay Night Kayaking Adventure in Puerto Rico

Giving this experience 5 stars even though the conditions weren’t ripe for bioluminescence. The company alerted us the day prior that conditions weren’t favorably to view bioluminescence and offered to either cancel the experience for a full refund or continue with a discount. That showed a lot of integrity, so we decided to keep our trip despite the news. Lots of traffic coming from San Juan for the 630 experience, but we were able to get dinner at the restaurant next door. The guides were funny and gave good instruction. We did wade out to the kayaks, so wear a swimsuit and bring a towel. Paddling through the mangroves was a very unique experience and we even saw a monkey! Be warned, the mosquitoes were swarming! My wife is a mosquito magnet so bring your own mosquito repellant! They did supply repellant beforehand, but we had to wade in the water to the kayaks, which washed it off… We arrived at Bio Bay and they tried as hard as they could to help us see bioluminescence by covering us with a tarp to darken the water-but no glow. Our main guide gave us a science lesson on the bay which was interesting. I would recommend that the guides install more lights on the kayaks because it was pretty dark on the way back. It did create a unique experience with the glowing fireflys around, or whatever bug that was, but some kayaks ended up crashing into each other. It was actually pretty funny (no one got hurt.) Paddling was a workout for sure. My wife didn’t like the experience because of the mosquitoes (I don’t blame her.) my 13 year old daughter also didn’t like the challenge of paddling, but I enjoyed the exercise and paddling through the mangroves. Definitely, a memorable experience for many reasons. The staff was absolutely great!

Absolutely horrible. They said “limited visibility” of the bioluminescence the day of the excursion and gave us the option to rebook to 6:30 tour. When we opted to keep our 8:30 tour, they said all 27 people that were originally on the 8:30 tour rebooked to the 6:30 tour and rebooked us to the 6:30 tour. Let me save you the trouble, the bioluminescence was nonexistent, not simply limited. There was also No warning about the sheer volume of mosquitos, despite me specifically asking. My daughter and I got eaten alive. Easily well over 100 bites. The “guides” were also pretty quiet the entire time. On the way back the mangroves are pitch black so I was concerned about my daughter getting hit with a sharp low hanging branch. And once again, the “guides” were nowhere to be found in these spaces. The sargassum has killed whatever bioluminescence was once in the area. I came to this same place 15 years ago. The magic that was once there no longer exists. Save your money and the potential case of Malaria.

Great staff and all around experience. Special thanks to Gari, Gabriel, Jesus, and our other guides.

This was our first time kayaking in Puerto Rico. It was so much fun my whole Family loved it and the guides were very knowledgeable about Puerto Rico‘s history.

I went for the 6:30 tour. It wasn't fully dark when we got to the lagoon as there was some light pollution and daylight left but on the way back it was pitch black. It's an adventure that will forever live with me and I'm thankful the experience was offered.

Great experience! Lots of fun kayaking. Highly recommend even though the bioluminescent organisms were covered by the seaweed.

Tour was cancelled by the host. We drove all the way across the island and was notified 3 hours before start time that it was canceled. We have yet to see our money back either

I like the kayaking experience but we did not see any bioluminescent in the water. If they give you an option to cancel just do it. They give you a 25% off if you still go but you won’t see any light.

My husband and I attended the Bio Bay in June. The crew was great and provided lots of info on what to expect and when we were out on the water they gave lots of good info about the area and what causes the luminous. There were four tour guides, Victor, Jesus and there were two other guys, sorry I forgot your names, but you all did a great job. The bays are not what they used to be, which is a bit sad 😢. You used to stir the water and it lit up instantly, now it’s more like seeing lightning bugs in the water. It’s still a neat experience but not the full on water lighting up experience you might be expecting. No fault of course to the crew. To get to your kayak you walk through the water, I would suggest bathing suit bottoms and water shoes. That’s what we did and it was nice to have dry clothes to put on after the excursion. My suggestion to the crew is to take the group out in sections (like a group of four to one guide, wait a minute and then start the next group), we did a lot of running into each other as we made our way down the canal. I’d also suggest having the new kayakers go last. Just a little feedback to make the process easier. My husband and I are athletic so we really enjoyed the physical part of this excursion.

There were way too many people on this tour. We had trouble hearing the guides and it was very chaotic kayaking with such a big group. Also - it is very misleading to say that this is a bioluminescent tour. You see very little bioluminescence.