There are a few options for seeing the "Bio Bay", you can take a glass bottom boat out and observe, you can hire a company to take you out in a kayak, or you can go through Abe's Snorkeling and do the half day kayak tour. We went with the half day tour at Abe's. But first, we had to check out what it looks like during the day. Jim drove us all out in the jeep, the road definitely required the 4x4.
In the day it is completely unremarkable. Just the glass bottom boat waiting for night time and passengers. I'll admit, I was skeptical.
I ended up taking pictures of the baby Land Crabs that lived in the parking lot puddles.
This little guy is about an inch long, but they can get about a foot across, and while they are a protected species, locals think they are a delicious species, so there is a lot of poaching of the big ones. More on that later.
We left with the promise of good things to come; looking forward to a day of kayaking and an evening of glowing dinoflagellates.
The day started at 2pm where we met our guide, Carlito, at Belly Button's, a restaurant in Esperanza. From there, we hopped in the bed of his pickup truck and he drove us to the Bio-Bay.
Being in the bed of the pickup truck was fun all on its own. Especially since there was no tailgate.
He set us all up with our gear and off we went across Mosquito Bay and into the mangroves. Being in the mangroves was something out of a movie. We put our paddles away and just coasted through the mangroves. We used our hands for leverage and had to watch out where we grabbed because there were little crabs all over the mangrove roots.
After the mangroves we headed out of the bay and onto an ocean beach only accessible by water. We did some snorkeling and had a delicious dinner (provided by Belly Button's).
After dinner it got dark. Of course that is the only way to see the Bio-Bay, but it makes it really difficult for pictures. In fact, after this one that Jim took of us, the rest of our pictures are black.
I wish there were a picture I could show that would explain the Bio-Bay, but even the best pictures I have seen don't do it justice.
As we made our way into the bay in the dark, we started to see something in the water. At first, you move your kayak next to another kayak and you dip your hand in the water. You think that you might see a glow but you are disappointed because it isn't as vivid as you expected. There are a couple other guides in the area and they are hooting animal noises at each other, one of them starts to pound on his kayak like an Indian drum. Then, you know you saw something green glowing in the water. Pretty soon you can swish your hand back and forth in the water and the water lights up with neon green. Now, every little disturbance in the water is a bright glow of green, as soon as the disturbance is gone it fades to black. Little fish swim in the water below and you can see them because they make a green streak through the water.
The neatest thing about the water was that you could pick up a handful of water and drop it on your leg and watch individual bright green dots drip down. Josh and I got the kayak going really fast and we left a neon green wake behind us. Josh and I both "fell" in the water and since we were already in the water we swam around a bit.
The sense of wonder, amazement, disbelief and sheer awesomeness was once in a lifetime. I was swimming in a pitch black bay on a night with no moon, but I could see my feet because the water around them glowed bright green. I could see Josh 10 feet away from me because his whole body was lit up by the water.
One of the locals described it as "avatar water". You remember the part where the main character is walking on the tree branches and the moss lights up under his feet? Yup, that is the Bio-Bay. Hopefully, I conveyed a little bit of our wonderful experience. We had a fantastic day and we are so happy we went with Abe's Snorkeling, the way they setup our tour made the day perfect.
P.S.
As we made our way into the bay in the dark, we started to see something in the water. At first, you move your kayak next to another kayak and you dip your hand in the water. You think that you might see a glow but you are disappointed because it isn't as vivid as you expected. There are a couple other guides in the area and they are hooting animal noises at each other, one of them starts to pound on his kayak like an Indian drum. Then, you know you saw something green glowing in the water. Pretty soon you can swish your hand back and forth in the water and the water lights up with neon green. Now, every little disturbance in the water is a bright glow of green, as soon as the disturbance is gone it fades to black. Little fish swim in the water below and you can see them because they make a green streak through the water.
The neatest thing about the water was that you could pick up a handful of water and drop it on your leg and watch individual bright green dots drip down. Josh and I got the kayak going really fast and we left a neon green wake behind us. Josh and I both "fell" in the water and since we were already in the water we swam around a bit.
The sense of wonder, amazement, disbelief and sheer awesomeness was once in a lifetime. I was swimming in a pitch black bay on a night with no moon, but I could see my feet because the water around them glowed bright green. I could see Josh 10 feet away from me because his whole body was lit up by the water.
One of the locals described it as "avatar water". You remember the part where the main character is walking on the tree branches and the moss lights up under his feet? Yup, that is the Bio-Bay. Hopefully, I conveyed a little bit of our wonderful experience. We had a fantastic day and we are so happy we went with Abe's Snorkeling, the way they setup our tour made the day perfect.
P.S.
Luckily for us, we shared the kayak tour with a couple from Utah, and he is a great videographer. The video is almost entirely his fantastic trip, but if you start the video at 7:40 you can see my hands lighting up the Bio Bay. Thank you Conor and Stephanie!
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