Bioluminescent Bays: Laguna Grande and Mosquito Bay

Perhaps the thing we most wanted to experience during our first trip to Puerto Rico was one of its famous bioluminescent bays. Biolumininescent bays are one of the relatively "unique to Puerto Rico" things to experience. Of the five bioluminiscent bays in the world, three are in Puerto Rico (the other two are in Jamaica and Vietnam). We were able to experience the bioluminiscent bays near Fajardo (Laguna Grande) and on Vieques (Mosquitio Bay), but did have the opportunity to experience Puerto Rico's La Parguera (Lajas).

We were worried about seeing the dinoflagellates because our best week to travel to Puerto Rico was the week of a full moon. However, we got lucky the second night we tried (Vieques) when storm clouds during day gathered just in time to provide cover for us. I did not attempt to take photographs either night we were out on the bays because I realized it was unlikely that they'd be very good and definitely would not be representative of what we were seeing.

Laguna Grande (Fajardo)

Our tour of Laguna Grande was the Bio Bay Kayaking tour arranged with Yokahú Kayak Trips. Our tour's start time was 6:30 pm (the later the better for viewing the bioluminiscent bay but we chose the earlier time because we had an early day the next day). The departure point is near a bay in Las Croabas and the route for the kayaks to Laguna Grande is via a canal that connects to Laguna Grande.

We realized that the week we had selected to go to Puerto Rico was less than ideal for seeing the bioluminescent bays because we had a full moon that week (new moon is preferable). We had a clear night on our kayaking tour to Laguna Grande and the moon was very full. We started when it was still relatively light, but it was much darker by the time we got to Laguna Grande. However, the full moon meant that it wasn't the ideal darkness. The tour guides provided a tarp to put over us and with the tarp blocking much of the moonlight, we were able to see the water light up when we touched it and ran it down our hands and arms. It was interesting to see the dots of light quickly show up and then go dark again a second or two later.

Mosquito Bay (Vieques)

A couple nights later, we were on Vieques and joined our tour in an empty field near Esperanza's Malecon. The tour was with Abe's Snorkerling and Biobay Tours and started at 7 pm. A bus drove us for about 15-20 minutes to Mosquito Bay and it was really dark by the time we arrived. This kayak tour involved a bus ride to the destination bay whereas the tour in Fajardo (Las Croabas) involved kayaking through a canal to the destination bay. We were especially fortunate because this would have been another night with a lot of moonlight, but a storm had hit mainland Puerto Rico and Culebra that day but only caused thick clouds over Vieques. The clouds acted like a huge in-sky tarp for the moon and this made so much difference!

As soon as we started using the paddles in the water, we could immediately see the bioluminescence without any tarp. All the people kayaking with us caused their own effects. It was incredible to experience. There was blue and white light in the water all over the place. Even when the wind picked up a bit, the crests of the waves would glow with the white/blue light.

Mosquito Bay on Vieques has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the brightest bioluminescent bay, which was not difficult to believe on this cloud covered night.

Comparing the Bioluminescent Bays

It's difficult to provide a fair comparison of the brightness of each bay given that the conditions were so different (same week, but with really clear night when on Laguna Grande and heavily cloud covered night on Mosquito Bay). The full moon while kayaking the canal to and from the Laguna Grande was beautiful and there was more kayaking on that tour. The Vieques tour had less kayaking because we were bussed to the bay and the clouds and wind from the threatening storm meant better contrast for seeing the bioluminescene and no mosquitos.

It might be fun to try swimming and snorkeling at night in Puerto Rico's third bioluminescent bay (La Parguera), the only one that allow that.

Conclusion and Tips

The bioluminescent bays are among some of Puerto Rico's most distinctive experiences and I highly recommend experiencing them. Your best opportunity to see the bioluminescent effect is to schedule your tour during the new moon (which is predictable) rather than relying on cloudy weather. However, it's probably also a good idea to schedule more than one tour to increase your chances. Because Puerto Rico has three of these bioluminescent bays, there are three opportunities to try them without seeing the same one twice.