“Come on, girls, keep up.” Our young and jolly tour guide yells to us as we erupt into a fit of laughter. Weak with giggles, Amanda (my best friend) and I, completely out of sync, push our oars through the water of the bio-luminescent bay of Puerto Rico. At times, the water is as thick as refrigerated butter. With each stroke of the oar the water around us is made brilliant: illuminated by diminutive, scintillating organisms. The glass bottom of our boat functions as a portal into a cosmic, distant other dimension. After colliding with two other kayaks, a second guide seizes our vessel by its bow. With a series of maneuvers, he tethers his kayak to ours, and gives it one smack for good luck. “Yo tengo! Dale!” he yells to the leader of our pack.
I didn’t mind being singled out. It was less work for me, and I was better able to try and make sense of our surroundings as opposed to worrying about my oars. The air enveloping our group of 12 or so glass-bottom kayaks was an impenetrable velvet black. The sky above us had a sprinkling of minuscule, twinkling stars – all in a wide trail, amid a canvas of violet.
The silhouettes of the mangrove trees on the water bank were cartoonish and eerie. I thought for a moment I saw four legged creatures dancing in tandem at the roots. A large grandmother tree with a shawl of Spanish moss raised a gnarled finger toward me in a foreboding manner. Unfamiliar primal sounds echoed through the airwaves. The sloshing of paddles in the water sounded so close, that it was as if the sound could be coming from between my own ears.
A night time excursion through the Bio-luminescent Bay in Puerto Rico feels very much like an acid trip.
Why Visit a Bio-luminescent Bay?
In short, because it’s a cool thing to do. Drifting through a tunnel of darkness while the stars shine overhead and the water illuminates around you is a special experience. How many times will you really be able to go kayaking at night? Beyond that, being in the water in a non-motorized boat allows you to get into the heart of nature. It’s incredible to be so close to the wildlife and flora, especially in the dead of night.
Getting Started
The guides from Glass Bottom Puerto Rico go through a very brief introduction and safe kayak procedure lessons before they gather everyone for a group photo. All pictures are uploaded to their Facebook page (except ours) so most guests don’t have to worry about trying to capture shots while paddling and finagling with their kayaks and oars. One by one the guides pat a kayak and say, “who is next?” Picture 24 people, all of whom are Hugh Grant, deciding who should go in the kayak at hand. “Perhaps we’ll take it! Oh, no, oh, no, please, you go ahead. No, I insist, I didn’t see your hand go up. My mistake. Oh my goodness. Oh, I’m so sorry. Please take it, I insist.”
After all of the Hugh Grants board their kayaks, the paddling through the mangrove canal toward the bio-luminescent bay begins!
Paddling Through Sunset.
When traveling to Puerto Rico, most people enjoy watching the sun go down on a beach with a drink in hand. There is certainly nothing wrong with that, not at all! But gliding through the water, as the setting sun fades down below the trees on the water’s edge, is truly a special way to enjoy the sunset. Gradually you are able to experience the ecosystems around you in a different way, by hearing new noises and seeing new sites as the light in the sky changes from reasonably bright, to dim, to complete darkness.
Wear Deodorant
The next part of the excursion can be awkward – mostly for people that do not wear deodorant. For any number of reasons the degree to which the organisms emit light can vary greatly. On the night that we visited – the light happened to be dim unless we were paddling. Don’t worry – the company comes prepared. All of the kayaks in our group tethered together. The guides began handing out heavy tarps. Each group of six people was to throw the tarp over their kayaks. Creating a completely dark environment is a (mostly) guaranteed way of seeing the organisms through the glass bottoms of the boats.
It’s also a grand way to sweat to death and unwillingly inhale body odor. But seriously, the experience of sitting under a tarp in the dark with strangers was pretty comical. I was glad that the measure allowed for an unobstructed and incredible view of the bio-luminescent beings. I could definitely handle being uncomfortably close to strangers and some strange smells in exchange for a once in a lifetime experience. It sounds cliche – but I couldn’t believe that such wonder in nature could exist, and that I was witnessing it! Seeing the water sparkle was obviously scientific, but felt magical.
A Once in a Lifetime Experience.
Puerto Rico feels earths away from New York, and yet it’s not. On seeing photos of the bio-luminescent bay, it certainly doesn’t feel like such a natural phenomenon should be a three hour flight from an urban, concrete jungle, but it is. A trip to the bio-luminescent bay of Fajardo is a poignant reminder that we are so deeply lucky that the island of Puerto Rico, home to such natural splendor, can be reached easily and without a passport.
Note: There is a reason that the large majority of these photos are stock images. Well, two reasons. I already touched on this – but the company we went with lost the two photos of us in the kayaks. No big deal, it happens. But second, it’s nearly impossible to get an actual picture of the blue shininess of the bio-luminescent bay. This is one of those experiences in which you have to be content to “live in the moment,” or else maybe don’t go. I for one think it was awesome to experience this natural wonder, and not be focused on the perfect Instagram shot.
That would be so cool to see!
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