Anyone go on Costa's bioluminescent bay tour in San Juan?

[hadleys9538]

I'm seriously considering booking the bio bay excursion for our Spring break cruise. Does anyone have any firsthand knowledge of it? It seems that it will definitely take up almost our entire time in San Juan. Will we have any time to shop while there if we do go on it? I did check the moon phase for our time there, and we should be only days out from a new moon. Thanks for any info you can give.

[nashkan]

Several years ago we stayed a week on Vieques, which is a small island just off of PR and we did this (there are only a few of these bays in the world). Vieques has one & I believe there is another on the other side of PR. It was fantastic! and something that we still talk about. It is VERY dark and if you are afraid of the dark, not good....and VERY IMPORTANT.... You can not wear ANY bug spray as it will kill the organisms in the water, and getting from the drop off point (near water's edge) till we were about 10 feet from shore we got eaten alive by mosquitoes !! we had to carry our own Kayac & paddle, once away from the shore no mosquitoes..... and the water smooth and warm...... when you would move any water it would light up like liquid silver! You could see fish swimming and the silver trail they made.... you could let water run over you and it was so neat to watch the "silver" running off of you.... we all swam ala Ester Williams !!!:D and it was a wonderful experience.... it was not one that we could capture on film, any flash & it looks like plain water. & we were not going to chance taking our night time digital, we were told the photos would not turn very well anyway. the kayacs were easy to roll over and it was very hard to find your paddle if it got away from you.... when it was over, I never saw a group of people move so fast to get in the van! those mosquitoes were there waiting on the shore!! it was a GREAT time over all and some thing that I will never forget..... As for shopping there was none.... but this was on Vieques which is not a big tourist island..... everything was limited...... it is a place to go to get away from things....... One afternoon we went horseback riding along the beach for a couple hours and we never saw another person... would we do it all again.... in a heart beat!!!!! have a wonderful time .... Dan

[hadleys9538]

Thank you so much for the feedback. I think it sounds like a lot of fun, and I'm going to book it before we leave.

[nashkan]

You are certainly welcome!!! I hope that it is as wonderful as what we experienced.....even with the mosquitoes!!!!:D If I remember correctly there are only about four places in the WORLD to see this and they are very fragile .....with the way we are treating this earth, it may not be much longer that anyone will be able to see this....PR is a very unique place and there are several animal species that are ONLY in PR.... the little coque (spelling?) is an example.... have a wonderful time ......... Dan ....... PS " be a traveler not a tourist "......

[nashkan]

Looking at the time frame, you would have more then ample time time to visit San Juan..... I want to add if you have the "National Parks Pass" for the USA, this is good in PR as well...... and you can visit the "fort" at no extra charge.....many people do not realize this and is much cheaper then the ship tours.... We found that right near the pier prices are just as good....the tourist bureau does have free drinks :D .......enjoy the rum!!! sincerely..... Dan