ON THE ROAD: Puerto Rico, Bioluminescent Bay with Kids (Part 4)
I’m not going to mince words. Taking my kids to swim in a bioluminescent bay was a dream come true. Many moons ago, as a marine biology student, my semester-at-sea ship anchored in Mosquito Bay off Vieques Island, Puerto Rico. When night fell, we jumped from the deck one-by-one, watching the water explode in a burst of light around the entrant. Once in, the experience was otherworldly. As our limbs moved through the water, it lit up in blue-green sparkles leaving a trail like Tinkerbell’s. In the dark, we could see fish swimming below, like hologram images on the move. It was something straight out of Avatar (though that film came much later!).
Dinoflagellates are the microscopic organisms making this magic. Their light — bioluminescence — is an automatic response to physical disturbance. Though they live in oceanic waters all over the planet, they are only concentrated to the point of magnificent visibility in a handful of places on Earth. Three of them happen to be in Puerto Rico. I wondered if Vieques Island’s decades-long status as a U.S. bombs testing ground had something to do with it. But that wouldn’t explain the other two — one nearby on the main island in Fajardo, and the other on the opposite side of Puerto Rico in La Parguera. Apparently the phenomenon has more to do with how low the water exchange is in these bays, and possibly the mangroves surrounding them.
In 2022, I booked a trip for our family of five to Puerto Rico. Before we’d told the kids, one of my sons randomly announced “visiting a bio bay in Puerto Rico” was at the top of his lifelong bucket list. He’d been watching a Youtube video about the coolest places to visit on earth or something. *Imagine* the giddiness this mama had a lid on, knowing I’d booked a ticket to his dreams. If only all of parenting was that serendipitous!
Which leads me to my first tip … book early and with your lunar calendar out! The BEST TIME to visit a bio bay is new moon, when the sky is darkest. If your vacation falls during a full moon like ours did, just book as far away from the full as possible. We were only six days past the full, but still had great bioluminescence visibility because of cloud cover.
Which Bio Bay to choose in Puerto Rico?
That decision was sort of made for us. Mosquito Bay on Vieques Island is a full day trip. Though, I really wanted to take my family to where I’d once been, it was too much with three kids. I couldn’t find a ferry ride back from Vieques late at night which would mean booking another room. We were already paying for a lovely one in Rio Grande.
The second bio bay location in Fajardo only had kayak tours. I was adamant they experience it like I did — all in. Not to mention, with a family of five, one kid would be kayaking alone. In the dark. You also can’t control environmental conditions like current and wind. It wasn’t a good fit.
That left La Parguera, a 2.5 hour drive from our condo rental. We planned a chill morning by the pool/beach, and got on the road for a dinnertime arrival. Though it’s a longish drive, it was fantastic seeing the entire southern coast of the island, from east to west. I had originally hoped to go the northern route back through San Juan, and south through Rincon to check out the surfing. Saturday traffic conditions would have doubled our time on the road, though. Next time, kids!
Getting to La Parguera
The southern coast surprised me. After cutting across the lush green central highlands, the rolling hills along the southern shore were brown and dry-looking. It reminded me of California. We drove through the island’s second-largest city, Ponce, and continued west into the only rain we had all week. The weather reports were showing it should clear up by tour time. Fingers crossed.
La Parguera is remote. Once off the highway, you head down roads you think can’t possibly be right. And then, all of a sudden, there it is … a Puerto Rican fishing village turned tourist-ready destination.
After a couple loops through downtown, we settled on a private lot to park for a fee. From there it was an easy walk to check in at our tour provider Paradise Scuba (~$60/ticket), and the myriad food stalls across the street for a snack. (I say snack instead of dinner because the tour includes an empanada that reviewers RAVE about). I insisted we try a Puerto Rican favorite, pinchos, skewered grilled meat. In my best bad Spanish (not as much English in these parts), I ordered the dorado (local fish) and chicken. The worker, in his best bad English, was so sweet and happily handed us plenty of napkins to dry the picnic table-seating. The rain had stopped!
After we nibbled those down, we wandered through the other stalls of goods and artwork on our way to the dock. Colorful works by local artist, Lourdes Torres, at her waterside kiosk caught our attention. One of her tiny ‘Three Kings’ paintings incorporating native tree bark had to come home with us.
Now the sun was getting low in the mangroves. It was almost go time.
Tour 1st Stop: Mata la Gata Island
We boarded the dive boat with visitors from all over the world. The captain was a jovial guy, and if you’ve read this Puerto Rico series in its entirety, you already know the music was cranking.
The bay was a masterpiece of pastels at this hour. As we rode out, we noshed on those delicious empanadas (the rumors were true), and unlimited soda and beer. There may have even been second empanadas for my lucky boys!
Our first stop would be Mata la Gata island. The captain said this mangrove island is a picnicking spot for boaters, and used to be a tourist attraction because it had a couple sharks penned in an enclosure. There are no more sharks to gawk at, but you can get some very pretty pictures of sunset!
Tour 2nd Stop: Bioluminescent Bay, La Parguera
Before long, you’re off to the main event. This is where your imagination must take over. No camera can capture what goes down in a bio bay. You can find photoshopped images like the one above I found on a tourism website — it was the closest I could find to realistic.
The boat heads through a narrow passage between two steep hillsides before entering the bioluminescent bay. Everyone starts gearing up — life jacket, weight belt, snorkels and goggles. A life-affirming dose of fear sets in. It is dark, save for a couple deck lights and a little moonlight. Lucky us — the rainy day was a blessing because it made for a cloud-covered moon.
After much futzing with swim goggles, one courageous plunge at a time my boys were in. I don’t usually lump my husband in with them, but in this case, his joy was boylike, too. It was like nothing else. The shrieking. The smiles. The ‘Look, Mom!!!!!’ every few seconds. It felt like winning and innocence and heaven and fear, all at once. Swimming in a bioluminescent bay is transcendent. Swimming in a bioluminescent bay with kids lets you be a child alongside them.
After 40 minutes (seemed like five), they called us in. The next tour would be arriving. I wouldn’t define our family as thrill-seeking, but I’m proud to say we were the last ones in. They didn’t want it to end.
Huddled in towels, we headed back, hearts full. The roar of the engine, the wind in our wet hair, jarred us back to earth. We tipped our fabulous crew, disembarked, and made our way to the town plaza’s bathrooms to change clothes. (They were not great, but thankfully it’s a brief experience. Extra credit points for the DJ in the plaza, and overall happy vibe in town).
Then we piled our puppies into the backseat of the car. Three boys who never simultaneously sleep on a road trip promptly slumped over onto each other and crashed. What would they dream up next?
More from Puerto Rico:
BEFORE & AFTER PHOTO INDEX
