Fireflies in the Ocean! Bioluminescent in Puerto Rico

I am sure you have seen the movie Finding Nemo or have seen fireflies right? That scary fish at the bottom of the sea chasing Nemo and each firefly you've seen emit bioluminescent! But, you can also see it in the water!

According to NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, bioluminescent is the production and emission of light by a living organism.

So where can I see bioluminescent in the water?

If you visit the island of Puerto Rico, you have 3 options.

The #1 place to experience is in the Island of Vieques at Mosquito Bay. We visited the #2 at Laguna Grande in the town of Fajardo. #3 Bahia Bioluminiscente de la Parguera in Magueyes Island just south of the town of Parguera.

Puerto Rico's Bioluminescent Bays

It also depends on what you read or search online because some sites may say that there are only 5 bays in the world and other people claim to be 15 places to see bioluminescent. The reality is that they are ALOT and somehow Mexico doesn't show up on a simple google search.

Picture I took in Holbox, Island, Mexico, June 2016

In 2016, we visited the island of Holbox near Cancun, Mexico and read about bioluminescent lights in the ocean. After some research online, I decided to take my family on a walk instead of paying for a guided tour. We walked at night through some swampy roads (it had been raining a lot) up to our legs at some points. Eventually we made it to the the end of a road that lead to the beach and the experience was phenomenal! Every wave crashing into the beach emitted turquoise lights. Even saw a fish swimming through the water leaving a trail of turquoise lights.

During our week in Puerto Rico, we went on one tour. We did a kayak tour to go see Bioluminescent lights in Fajardo, Puerto Rico.

WARNING! WARNING! Be prepared to deal with LOS CHUPACABRAS!!!! They are real!

If you come to Puerto Rico and have never experienced seeing bioluminescent in the water, you should definitely do a kayaking tour in Fajardo or at Mosquito Bay! Also, check the moon calendar for better visibility!

Our Kayaks for the tour in Fajardo, Puerto Rico

I booked the tour online and got a $10 discount by using the code (FUNTIMES) on their main website PUREADVENTUREPR. Normally, the price is $48+ tax in September.

Bioluminescent are lights emitted by organisms living in the water and they are dying due to many factors. We used biodegradable bug repellent to help keep LOS CHUPACABRAS away during our kayaking trip. Those mosquitos (chupacabras) are crazy!

The kayak route we took during our tour

Once we made it to the main lagoon, you are able to see the bioluminescent lights when it gets very dark in between the kayaks placing your hand deep in the water. Getting there though was interesting. The whole experience of kayaking at night through a narrow, dark, and one mile long creek to get to our destination of "Laguna Grande" was really cool! And plenty of crashes occurred around us, we were unintentionally playing water bumper carts with the fear of flipping over at times. We also kept going towards the trees during our bumper carts and I kept thinking about what the tour guide said before we started "if you are grabbing onto a tree and it's moving, let go, that is not a tree!"

Again, If you have the chance to visit Puerto Rico or Cancun, Mexico, you should definitely see bioluminescent lights in the water!

Puerto Rico: Laguna Grande, Fajardo. (18.363021,-65.624964) coordinates are the location where all the kayak tours hang out. You can also walk to Laguna Grande Norte Accesso and hopefully you can see them too.

Isla Holbox, Quintana Roo, Mexico: Near this coordinates (21.514242,-87.395081), you can book a tour or just walk to that coordinates, it will be an exceptional experience that you will never forget!