Mosquito Bay in Vieques

This week is my birthday (yay...Happy Birthday to me!), so I was reminiscing about a birthday trip I took a few years ago to Puerto Rico. My husband and I had a fabulous time on this trip, but our favorite part was an excursion to Mosquito Bay in the Island of Vieques.

Vieques is an island which is officially a part of Puerto Rico, but is right off of the main island. Vieques is much less commercialized than Puerto Rico proper, though I think that is starting to change. It is a nature lover's paradise, with lots of animal and plant life and almost deserted beaches. Many people spend their entire vacation here just enjoying the peace and quiet.

But the reason we left the main island was to enjoy an excursion to Mosquito Bay. What makes Mosquito Bay such a treat is that it is a bio-luminescent bay.  Bio-luminescence occurs when certain organisms (dinoflagellates) emit a chemical which glows in the dark. So when you swim through the bay the water and you sparkle like you were dipped in glitter. It is really amazing! This type of biological phenomenon occurs in numerous places in Puerto Rico, but Mosquito Bay is supposed to be the best and brightest example of this phenomenon.

We took the East Island Excursions Catamaran Tour and I would highly recommend this tour group. These trips depart almost nightly from the Puerto del Rey Marina in Fajardo. You begin the trip on a clean, spacious catamaran that takes you from Fajardo to Vieques in about 45 min. You can start your trip with a rum-based drink or if you get sea-sick (like my poor hubby), maybe water or soda. Once you get to Vieques, you take a taxi to the restaurant, which is run by the company that runs the tours. The food was pretty good, but really just a means to an end. There is no way to get to Vieques, go to the bay and get back to Puerto Rico without stopping to eat.  You then take a very bouncy old school bus ride to the actual bay. You definitely feel like the bus will topple over at any second, but that is part of the adventure. Right?!?

At that point, the real trip starts. Everyone climbs on board this flat, quiet pontoon for a ride into the middle of the bay. Once the guide finds a nice, dark spot, he stops the boat and allows you to go swimming. And that is SO. COOL. The water itself shimmers and when you move through the water there is a glowing path left behind you. When you lift your arms and hands from the water, they shimmer. Sort of like the vampires in Twilight ;) After about a half an hour, it is time to go home. Back on the bus, the taxis and the catamaran back to Puerto Rico.

TIP: Getting to the bio bay in Vieques is a little bit like Planes, Trains and Automobiles. I thought it was worth it as this bio bay has the reputation of being by far the brightest bio bay. However, if these types of excursions are not really your cup of tea, there are bio bays in the main island of Puerto Rico in Fajardo and La Parguera.

Mosquito Bay is like nothing else I have ever seen before. Many of the amazing sites I discuss on this blog are man-made, but this site is 100% nature-made and ridiculously amazing.

Mosquito Bay -- Vieques Island

East Island Excursions
787-860-3434
www.EastWindCats.com