Located on the island of Vieques, the Vieques bioluminescent bay is located to the south east of the main island of Puerto Rico. Mosquito bay is the glowing beach Puerto Rico you may well have seen photographed. The bioluminescence also sometimes just called luminescence is created thanks to the presence of Pyrodinium Bahamense in the water, which is a single-celled organism.
Bioluminescence is simply defined as the production and emission of light by a living organism. It occurs when there are enough dinoflagellates present in one concentrated area, and the organisms are disturbed by movement such as paddling.
Interestingly, the number of dinoflagellates — which are rarely found in a high enough concentration to create bioluminescence in other parts of the world — has actually increased since hurricane Maria in some places. The bioluminescence at Mosquito Bay, Vieques, has also received an unintentional helping hand along the way! In attempting to prevent the bioluminescence from spreading inland via rivers, the stones that they put around the bay have helped to maintain the number of dinoflagellates in the bay, the result being the most beautiful fluorescent bay Puerto Rico has.
The best time to see the Puerto Rico glow in the dark water depends on a couple of different factors. Try to avoid visiting around the full moon if you can, however if skies are cloudy, it matters a little less than if they are clear.
La Parguera bio bay is much more exposed than the others and can get more rough in higher winds, such as during the hurricane season, making it unsuitable for kayaking. Also do call ahead before your trip to any of the luminous bay Puerto Rico sites to check on the condition of the dinoflagellates, which are monitored.
The most common way to explore the bio bays is to take one of the bioluminescent tour Puerto Rico options — and there are many companies offering different or similar tours. You can either reach the bay by yourself and then find a tour operator in the location of your bio bay to take you out by kayaking, or you can choose one of the San Juan bioluminescent tour options which includes transport to the bio bay. Whichever option you decide to go for, do read reviews for your chosen operator ahead of time.
Kayaking tour packages either depart around sunset — which has the advantage of being able to watch the sun go down as you kayak out to the bay, or if you want total darkness to enjoy the bioluminescence at its best, I recommend taking the second tour timing option which leaves at around 7.
For this reason, almost all visitors to Puerto Rico take a tour to see the bioluminescent lagoon Puerto Rico or any of the other bio bay sites.
Another common question I hear is — is it possible to swim in bioluminescent bay Puerto Rico? The answer is no — swimming is not allowed, and the main reason is to protect the dinoflagellates from damage. The dinoflagellates are sensitive and are killed off by the chemicals found in bug spray and sunscreen, which is why the no-swimming rule.
Technically speaking, swimming itself does not cause harm, but the chemicals found in lotions and creams on human skin do. Another is Luminous Lagoon , in the marshlands of Jamaica. Which means that with a mere 2. The first is Mosquito Bay located on Vieques, a tiny island seven miles off the southeast coast of Puerto Rico's main island. Visiting the waters of Vieques usually requires an overnight stay, since the ferry stops running early evenings.
The region has yet to be tapped by the tourism throngs, which means its quiet natural wonders and abundant wildlife are largely undisturbed. Why can you swim here and not the others? Dinoflagellates need clear waters to do their thing. Laguna Grande is still lagging in numbers but Mosquito Bay and La Parguera have fully recovered, with locals reporting the bays even brighter than before.
Before you go, skip the sunscreen, lotion, perfume, and anything else chemically that could harm the dinoflagellate ecosystem.
If you use bug spray, opt for DEET-free. The timing of your tour is also crucial: You want it as dark as possible. Try to snag the latest available time slot, and avoid visiting during a full or near-full moon they recommend the New Moon phase.
The smaller boats may allow a short swim in the bay though I believe DRNA prohibits swimming in the biobays. If you want to jump in, ask the boat captains if they allow it. The biobay in both Fajardo and Vieques are spectacular — if you have a chance to visit either of them, do it. If you're happy, let them know it — Don't forget to tip your your bartender, tour guide or trip operator if you enjoyed yourself. Gratuities are appreciated and typically aren't included in the price they charge you.
Trips start at pm or so. Reservations are not required. The phone number for Fondo de Cristal used to be called Cancel Boats is Their facebook page.
They also have Small motor boats are a little more expensive. There is also Aleli Tours that has a 6 person boat. Driving directions: Take Road to the end. At that tee, go to the left and there is a parking lot.
The ticket office is right there as you enter the La Parguera pier area. We are in the process of updating the maps we use on our web site. While we're working on that, you can click on the GPS coordinates below to view the location on Google Maps Please use common sense! If your mother or that little voice in your head tells you that you are about to do something stupid … then don't do it! It has been a number of years since we have been to the Biobay there, and I hope it has improved.
I hear its brightness ebbs and flows like the others. The article is mainly about the experience on the large boat, which wasn't great. Smaller boats would make the trip better. I am glad you liked your trip. I would think all businesses would like to attract new customers, I am happy this captain is so busy he doesn't need to.
The company is not listed in our article is because I didn't realize he did a boat trip and he never has reached out to us to add him. This review made it sound like La Parguera is second rate. It's not. A small boat trip with Aleli Tours which wasn't listed in the review - probably because they're not actively trying to attract new customers Highly recommend you take a tour with Aleli if you're able. You won't regret it. We go often and it never gets old. The clear skies. The stars.
The lack of light pollution. The company. Tyler Thanks for confirming this as my partner and I are travelling down to Puerto Rico from Canada and have been going back and forth about Fajardo and La Parguera Now to decide if we go to Arecibo, check in at our spot in Aguadilla and then head down to La Parguera Probably looking at booking with the scuba guys too.
We hit the biobay last night on a tour with Paradise the scuba guys. It was truly a phenomenal experience, one which my wife said was one of the best in her life. The conditions were ideal and was a surprisingly excellent year for dinoflagellate reproduction! We were able to swim of course, which is really what made the experience be sure to be as clean and oil free as possible! Just visited the biobay last night Our operator, Ismael from Aleli Tours, is a marine biologist and he was very informative.
He said there were several factors to having a good biobay experience Their reproduction cycles can also effect it -- when the single cell organisms are ready to split, they are large and easy to see.
Of course, it's better with no moon or if its cloudy. We had it perfect! The flagellates were about to split, the moon was so low it was like no moon it was waning , we had had no rain for several days and while the day was very windy, it was off the water. When my son jumped in and swam around it looked like he had jumped into a pool of seltzer water with a black light! He glowed like a bubbly ghost as he went through the water. It was beautifully quiet and dark with bright stars we saw several shooting stars.
In the darkness we could hear either a dolphin or a manatee cresting the water to breath with a gentle "ppffshhhh! If you picked up some water in your hands and let it drip down, it was like stars trailing down your arm. The only downside was when the larger tour boat came in It broke the magic for the 10 or 15 minutes they were there.
We waited for them to leave and continued our magical experience! We made a long day of it and started out snorkeling with Aleli in the afternoon.
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