Bioluminescent Bay

By day, Fajardo’s famous “Bio Bay” looks like a regular Puerto Rican coastline. By night, however, the bay becomes an eerie lagoon that literally shines a fluorescent hue with every movement or splash. Due to the presence of microscopic plankton that thrive in the shallow waters, every stroke of a kayak paddle creates a trailing ribbon of light. Officially known as “bioluminescence,” there are only a handful of places worldwide where the phenomenon is consistently found. One of those is here at Laguna Grande just off the shores of Fajardo, where kayak tours literally allow visitors the chance to set the water aglow. For as eerie and almost unnatural as that sounds, watching the water glow on your fingertips isn’t the spookiest part. Rather, that would be kayaking through dense mangroves under a total canopy of darkness, where every creak, groan, and jungle sound reminds you’re not indoors. Once you’re out of the mangrove tunnel, look up in the sky at the sea of stars that pierce through the inky black darkness.
In order to best see the bioluminescence, tours are offered around the cycles of the moon and are best on the darkest nights, so there’s sure to be a celestial blanket that’s draped in the sky above. The real action is in the water, however, where the tips of your paddles will slowly begin to glow as they strike the liquid surface. There’s no swimming inside of the bay—so there won’t be a “full body glow”—but it’s easy to pass your hand through the water over the side of your glowing kayak. While what you’re seeing might not seem real, it’s just another natural wonder of Puerto Rico’s coast.