The Bioluminescent Bay in Vieques Puerto Rico: Where I Truly Understood my Passion for Travel

On the only main road in the tiny island town of Esperanza, we met our tour company at 9pm in front of one of Vieques island’s small guest houses. We were headed to the bioluminescent bay in Vieques Puerto Rico, a famous destination and allegedly the brightest one of its kind in the world.

It was strange to be going on an organized tour so late at night, but the incredible experience that was about to ensue would soon perk my energy levels right back up after a long day of traveling. We got into a van and jetted off towards the famous bioluminescent bay of Vieques island off the coast of Puerto Rico- down a dark, bumpy dirt road surrounded by tall, lush greenery.

After about ten minutes of intense bumpiness (these were some old yet durable vans – I was impressed they could withstand this roller coaster of a road!) we arrived at a small, dark, headlight-lit turnaround. Tour guides clad with glow sticks around their necks ran around allocating life jackets, oars, and kayaks to tour passengers, with the kayaks all labeled with different colors of glow sticks to differentiate groups.

Before we went out, our tour guide told us that the bioluminescence comes from teeny tiny little bacteria-sized dinoflagellates that have evolved to emit light hundreds of times their size when they’re agitated, or feel threatened. AKA whenever something touches them, they will all move and light up together, making a million microscopic dinoflagellates come together to look like one big, glowing creature that will no doubt scare a predator away. Learn more about Mosquito Bay here! Anyway, we got into the water and started splashing around, and the experience was so much more than I could have imagined.

Kayaking in the Bioluminescent Bay in Vieques Puerto Rico

I never knew something as magical and Vieques island’s bioluminescent bay could exist in this real, physical world. As our kayak cut through the water, I stuck my hand into it and saw soft blue light surround and illuminate my fingers and gradually trail off into the dark, midnight water. It was like something out of a movie. It was just like the dream world in Avatar, but… real life. With each stroke, our oars illuminated the water around them in a bubbly blue pool, and then the light would slowly fade away until the next stroke. Cameras could never do it justice, because the minute the water is exposed to any light you can no longer see it light up. That’s why it’s best to do this during a new moon, when the bioluminescence is at its brightest point.

To preserve the bay, you are unfortunately no longer allowed to swim in it, but this recent rule has made way for the sea creature population to exponentially grow. This means tons of fish swimming around under you, lighting up the water around them with each movement. I would have to say there were at least two dozen fish of all shapes and sizes swimming under me at any given moment, creating momentary flashes of blue light as they zig zagged through the starlit water.

Together they created lovely and intricate patterns, present for only a few seconds until the dinoflagellates settled back into a calm stillness. In especially active spots, you could look closely and see the small dots in the water light up as they floated by, identical to the especially visible stars in the sky on the moonless night we were out on the water.

I cupped some water in my hand and silently watched the little micro-stars light up and float down my arm. I looked up at the sky and saw the real stars twinkle, and thought about how incredible it is that there can be such similarity on a universal and microscopic level. I listened to the calmness of the water in the bay, and the screeches of the indigenous birds and animals of the surrounding mangrove forest, and I realized that moments like this, in the calm and serene bioluminescent bay in Vieques Puerto Rico, are why I travel.

We are put on this earth with so many incredible and magical things. What is life here about if not to discover those things? This earth we were given is home to unimaginable wonder, mystery, treasure, and history. In each different place there are new discoveries (and I might go as far as to say epiphanies) to be had due to different experiences of nature and culture. Traveling puts life in perspective, and everyone needs to look at their own life from a different angle once in a while.

Nature is something especially incredible, if you think about it. Technology can produce amazing things due to the hand of man, but natural wonders got here organically. Breathtaking plants, animals, views, places… hell, even microscopic bioluminescent dinoflagellates cannot be truly experienced but in person.

Pictures, videos, and explanations can only do so much… The feeling of experiencing an amazing place in person is one and only. I wouldn’t know how it feels to be able to light up water with my hand like a magic wand had I not been to this tiny little Carribean island off the coast of Puerto Rico… And now it is an experience I hold close to my heart. It’s little things like this that make me feel alive, and everyone should pursue whatever it is that makes them feel alive.

I would like to think of this earth as an offer to us, and it is up to ourselves on how we would like to receive it. Anywhere we want to go is within an arm’s reach and a month’s work. The world is here for us to do what we want with. With this opportunity, people can try to find the treasure and discovery available, or they can do a million other things with their lives and chase different dreams.

But for me, I need to find these things- the natural wonders, the artistic marvels, the urban masterpieces, the cultural fascinations, even the bioluminescent waters of Vieques island- and share them with those who are doing different things with their lives, people who may like the occasional lighthearted-yet-heartfelt adventure tale from other corners of the globe. That is what I want to do, and whatever it takes to accomplish that dream… I’ll do that.

Book your own tour of a Bioluminescent Bay in Vieques Puerto Rico!

KimmConn

Website

Passionate, full-time travel blogger with over 230k on social media and 150kMPV blog. Extraordinary photographer with two DSLR's + a drone with a love for capturing candid moments, epic drone shots, and magical compositions. I'm a natural-born content creator originally from California, but I've been on the road for 9 years living, working, traveling, blogging, and photographing my way around the world. I recommend the most amazingly adventurous and unique + boutique travel experiences/stays and helpful products to my audience and write comprehensive guides on my website that have helped millions of travelers so far. I love to inspire people to plan their dream trips, and many readers have given feedback as such. The reach on my platforms continues to soar, especially when combining cutting-edge social content with optimized articles on my high-authority website.