Bioluminescent Bay Kayak Tour

[Newlyweds28]

Hello, We are going to be on the Costa Magica in mid-December. We are going to be in San Juan from 5:00 pm - 12:00 a.m. on 12/12. My husband and I would really like to go on the Bioluminescent Bay Kayak tour that Costa offers. However, my husband is afraid to kayak because he is a poor swimmer. Has anyone been on this excursion? Are the kayaks closed over the legs or open? Is there a danger of flipping over in the water? Thank you for your help!!! :)

[stprdi]

By all means do it. It's the best. We were fearfull to as we've never kayaked. The water is not very deep. The guides are awesome. The kayaks are open and you wear a lifejacket. You get instruction. They are not very tippy. You paddle through a mangrove covered channel for about 30 min. Yes it's very dark but everyone is there with you. I"d say maybe 2 feet of water. Then in to a reasonably large kind of lake. The guide tells you about this plankton that causes the sparkles in the water and you paddle back. It is unbelievable. My hubby is not a good swimmer and he was fine. Most of the people there were beginners too.No worries for sure and a once in a lifetime experience. Any questions......feel free to ask. We just got back.

[KMBB]

srprdi--Did you do this tour through the cruise ship, and if so which one? We would love to do this but have heard we would not have enough time to do it on our own(because of traveling time). We are going on the Freedom in June, and so far I don't think the ship is doing this tour. We are in San Juan from 3 o'clock to 11:00l Thanks for any information, kmbb

[stprdi]

Shoot, that's just downright crappy. We were staying in Isla Verde and did the tour through the hotel. The tour is in Fajardo and that takes a good 60 min. drive from the hotel. We didn't get back to our room till about 1130 or midnight.

[canovanas]

If you have the time you can check with EcoXcursion Aquatica since they do provide the biobay tour. They provide round trip transportation to and from San Juan and may be able to accommodate your time frame off the ship. You will get this at a much cheaper rate then what you will pay for as a shore excursion thru the ship. (Those shore excursions are a rip off) So give them a shot you can reach them at 787 888-2887.

[GOLDENBONNY]

By all means do it. It's the best. We were fearfull to as we've never kayaked. The water is not very deep. The guides are awesome. The kayaks are open and you wear a lifejacket. You get instruction. They are not very tippy. You paddle through a mangrove covered channel for about 30 min. Yes it's very dark but everyone is there with you. I"d say maybe 2 feet of water. Then in to a reasonably large kind of lake. The guide tells you about this plankton that causes the sparkles in the water and you paddle back. It is unbelievable. My hubby is not a good swimmer and he was fine. Most of the people there were beginners too.No worries for sure and a once in a lifetime experience. Any questions......feel free to ask. We just got back.

 

can ypu please tell me if we can take our 16 year old doughter with us in the same kayak or its only 2 people?did you kyaked on way back or bus picked you up?

[orquidia]

the closest bio bay is 1 hour plus minutes/ one-wayfrom San Juan. That means 2 + hours driving time. Please choose a responsible tour. I've heard some stories about people getting stranded in san juan, missing the ship's departure time due to poor planning.

[takeabreath3]

hi all. we are san juan now (monday night 11/6) to board Empress on thursday. we are going on the bio bay trip tomorrow night. we booked thru chris @ travel association....phone number 787-667-6729. i believe they do offer transportation from the port also.

 

we rented a car since we have been here since saturday and wanted to see as much of the island as we could!!! and boy have we seen it so far! today we went to coamo to bath in what is believed to be ponce de leon's fountain of youth! WOW was it awesome!!! it's on the south side of the island and near Ponce...but that's a whole nother story! tomorrow we are doing the rain forest and the bio bay and wednesday it's off to the observatory and camy caves!! will have to get on the ship to get some rest! lol

 

i will post tomorrow night or wednesday morning about out trip. i have heard so many great things about it that i can't wait. i have kayaked 1 other time and that was in alaska on very rough seas, and i'm no young chick and loved it. so im sure your hubby would be happy with it also....that is if you have time.

 

give chris a call and i'm pretty sure he can tell you about the time frame.

 

have a good one, judy

[GOLDENBONNY]

hi all. we are san juan now (monday night 11/6) to board Empress on thursday. we are going on the bio bay trip tomorrow night. we booked thru chris @ travel association....phone number 787-667-6729. i believe they do offer transportation from the port also.

 

we rented a car since we have been here since saturday and wanted to see as much of the island as we could!!! and boy have we seen it so far! today we went to coamo to bath in what is believed to be ponce de leon's fountain of youth! WOW was it awesome!!! it's on the south side of the island and near Ponce...but that's a whole nother story! tomorrow we are doing the rain forest and the bio bay and wednesday it's off to the observatory and camy caves!! will have to get on the ship to get some rest! lol

 

i will post tomorrow night or wednesday morning about out trip. i have heard so many great things about it that i can't wait. i have kayaked 1 other time and that was in alaska on very rough seas, and i'm no young chick and loved it. so im sure your hubby would be happy with it also....that is if you have time.

 

give chris a call and i'm pretty sure he can tell you about the time frame.

 

have a good one, judy

 

can't wait for you to come back from this tour:) please give us information about it)))):p

[tmessenger]

this is takeabreath......just did not sign in under my name!!!!

 

ok!!! WOW that bay is amazing!

 

chris does bookings for eco adventure tours. and yes they will come and pick u up. BUT....it was 11:49 when we returned to the hotel. we did kinda fart around getting back to the car and then we stopped and got a quick bite from the burger king which took another 15 minutes then we sorta got lost alittle and timmy drives really really slow! i think the guys could get you back to the ship by 11:15/11:30 at the latest. Just make sure they understand you MUST be back no later than 11:30pm.

 

we went out in the kayaks at about 8 ish which was kinda late they usally leave out at 7:30. we were back on the shore at 10. they say they are usally back on shore by 9:30 ish.

 

you paddle about 20 minutes into the bay. it's not that hard, but it does take some excercise in the arms. most of the paddling is in the bay where there is no wind and the water is smooth as glass! once in the bay the guide gives a talk about the planktin and then you swim. the water is around 76 degrees. you swim for quite a while. its easy getting in and out of the kayak...just take it slow in and slow out. if you have trouble getting back in the guide will come and help you back in...no worries

 

as you are paddling through the little channel you will notice that everytime your oar goes into the water the water lights up!! it is really hard to explain what your seeing.....but it is beautiful and amazing at the same time.

 

if you can arrange with eco adventure to do this tour you will not regret it. but if you get the least bite nervous about getting left behind you might want to wait until you have some time in san juan. either way this is a trip not to miss!

 

if you have any other questions just ask away. be glad to answer.

 

hope to SEA ya all on the sea someday, judy

[LindaMc]

Judy,

 

Thanks for your great posts about PR. We are traveling there in January and spending 4 nights prior to our cruise on the island. We also are renting a car. My question is: how was your experience actually driving in PR? I have friends who lived there for many years (but it has been over a decade now since they lived there) and they said that driving there can be kind of scary at times. I am just curious as to what your experience was like.

 

Thanks,

 

Linda

[takeabreath3]

Linda,

 

i would have to say that YES it is scary to drive here!! but not impossible. the first thing we did was buy a street map...a real one not one from the hotel that only shows 1/3 of the streets....with the street map it made it much easier. also, most of the streets do not have have street name signs, so your own your own!! plus most of the regulars don't care anything about those stop signs, red lights or even lanes. they just kinda are everywhere so keep your eyes on the road. after 1 day of driving we were much more comfortable with it and pretty much figured out what to do. GET THE INSURANCE at the car rental place!! someone side swiped us in the parking lot at the rainforest! of course they did not stay or admit what happened. but we had the insurance so no sweat on our part.

 

my advise: have a driver and a navigator. study the map a little before you take off and have a blast. we just pretty much went with the flow of things and have seen much more than we would have without the car!

 

any other questions, you know where to find me! lol

 

hope to sea ya someday on the sea, judy

[enjoyinglife]

How much moonlight did you have when you went? We want to do this in February, and when I search for moon phases, we are about 5 days after the "optimal" time. (february 20th), and the graph shows that the tour is "good". A couple of days later, they dont offer the tour.

 

Does anyone have advice for this situation?

 

Thanks,

 

enjoyinglife

[LindaMc]

Judy,

 

Looks like the driving style there has not changed since my friends lived there! Thanks for the info. I will definitely get the insurance at the car rental place. I'm glad you had a great time though, and I'm excited about our upcoming trip!

 

Take Care,

 

Linda

[takeabreath3]

we had a full (or almost) moon when we were there last night and i was pretty amazed. can only imagine what it is like on a moonless night!!!

 

so go no matter!

 

hope to sea ya all on the sea someday!!!

 

judy

[GOLDENBONNY]

this is takeabreath......just did not sign in under my name!!!!

 

ok!!! WOW that bay is amazing!

 

chris does bookings for eco adventure tours. and yes they will come and pick u up. BUT....it was 11:49 when we returned to the hotel. we did kinda fart around getting back to the car and then we stopped and got a quick bite from the burger king which took another 15 minutes then we sorta got lost alittle and timmy drives really really slow! i think the guys could get you back to the ship by 11:15/11:30 at the latest. Just make sure they understand you MUST be back no later than 11:30pm.

 

we went out in the kayaks at about 8 ish which was kinda late they usally leave out at 7:30. we were back on the shore at 10. they say they are usally back on shore by 9:30 ish.

 

you paddle about 20 minutes into the bay. it's not that hard, but it does take some excercise in the arms. most of the paddling is in the bay where there is no wind and the water is smooth as glass! once in the bay the guide gives a talk about the planktin and then you swim. the water is around 76 degrees. you swim for quite a while. its easy getting in and out of the kayak...just take it slow in and slow out. if you have trouble getting back in the guide will come and help you back in...no worries

 

as you are paddling through the little channel you will notice that everytime your oar goes into the water the water lights up!! it is really hard to explain what your seeing.....but it is beautiful and amazing at the same time.

 

if you can arrange with eco adventure to do this tour you will not regret it. but if you get the least bite nervous about getting left behind you might want to wait until you have some time in san juan. either way this is a trip not to miss!

 

if you have any other questions just ask away. be glad to answer.

 

Thank you so much:) Do you think its possible t ogo 3 people in kayak?and if not what happens if one of us have no couple?is guide goes with you?

[enjoyinglife]

we had a full (or almost) moon when we were there last night and i was pretty amazed. can only imagine what it is like on a moonless night!!!

 

so go no matter!

 

hope to sea ya all on the sea someday!!!

 

judy

 

 

Thanks takeabreath - just got on to check for any responses. After reading that you had almost a full moon and still loved it, I went ahead and book it. Anyone have any weather suggestions for expected temp's in San Juan at night in February? I would imagine that at night, the temp's would still be nice in the Carribean. Am I wrong?

[takeabreath3]

hi guys,

 

just back from cruise and getting around to getting back on the boards.

 

someone ask about 3 to a kayak....no problem that is what we did since there is 3 in our party.

 

anyone thinking about doing the bay....stop thinking and DO IT!!! it is one of those things you must not miss!

 

have a great one and hope to sea ya all on the sea someday.

 

judy

[GOLDENBONNY]

hi guys,

 

just back from cruise and getting around to getting back on the boards.

 

someone ask about 3 to a kayak....no problem that is what we did since there is 3 in our party.

 

anyone thinking about doing the bay....stop thinking and DO IT!!! it is one of those things you must not miss!

 

have a great one and hope to sea ya all on the sea someday.

 

judy

 

Thank you so much for your response)))now I know we gonna do it)))my doughter was afraid to go without us(and was afried t ogo alone too:o )),but since 3 people can go together we are fine))))

[enjoyinglife]

WE are going on this tour next week! Can anyone tell me if we should wear anything special, like long pants / shirts, or swim suits, etc?

 

Any advice would be apprciated!

 

Thanks,

[mountainmare]

I think that you have to swim in the bay to really get the most out of it. DH and I swam and our friends just stayed in the boat. While thay got to see the glow it was nothing like having your whole body glowing--and you can here the tick, tick, tick of the plankton in the water. The bay is very salty so you don't sink. We were going to kyack but ended up taking a little boat instead with an electric motor. This way we went all the way to the other side of the bay to see an island where birds were sleeping.

We had an almost full moon but were lucky because it was a cloudy night so we got the full effect.

[KAWS]

Has anyone done this tour with Island Adventures? From their website it looks like they have a pontoon boat that you ride to the Biobay instead of using the kayaks. This would suit us better. I'm wondering if anyone has done this and if so, what the times are, specifically when were you done? Our ship LEAVES at 11 pm so this is a concern. I do know that Princess has this tour (with the kayaks) so if anyone has done this through the cruise line please let me know your experience as well.

 

Thanks.

 

Kim

[CynLovesCrusing]

Can someone advise me on what I should use to carry my belongings? We will be taking this ship while in port from a cruise. We will need to carry a few items with us, ie- ID, $$, camera (waterproof of course), towels, ect. Is a regluar tote ok or should I get a backpack? Can we leave our belongings in the kayak while we swim? Stupid questions I know, but I really would appreciate some help.

 

Thanks.

[juankzas]

Can someone advise me on what I should use to carry my belongings? We will be taking this ship while in port from a cruise. We will need to carry a few items with us, ie- ID, $$, camera (waterproof of course), towels, ect. Is a regluar tote ok or should I get a backpack? Can we leave our belongings in the kayak while we swim? Stupid questions I know, but I really would appreciate some help.

 

Thanks.

 

I reckon your best help will be to contact the tour provider since each one should have their own guidelines.

 

Juan Carlos

[enjoyinglife]

I did this tour on my 2/19 cruise on the Victory. For my family, it was a big let down. I think some of the problem was that we had to wait so long for our turn to have the kayaks, and people on the bus were concerned about whether the boat would wait for us if we were late. We would up being only a few minutes late, and therefore no problem.

 

One of the people in the Kayaks the same time as us cut his foot some type of way and it was bleeding pretty bad. The ship departed aver one hour later, (but not because we were late), but because of a medical emergency. Other people we were on the tour with, including us, have to wonder if it was due to the foot that was cut.

 

 

We were really looking forwrd to this tour. If anyone is planning on going on it, please be aware that the best advice would be to get in the water and swim. The eneergy fromthe movement in the water is what makes the organisims glow. Only a couple of people wanted to get inthe water on our tour, so there was not much glowing.