Eco Adventures Kayaks — Attraction in Fajardo

Let me start by advising that if you are looking for picturesque views of and abundance of blue lights in a bay of calm serene waters you will not find that on this tour. However, that is not to say that the tour is not good. The Night Kayaking is the larger part of the experience. The tour starts with a quick and easy check in where you are give a wristband. They offer to hold any belongings. Then at 6:10 the tour guide begins to hand out the life jackets and give quick and basic instructions on how to kayak. You then get in the water and soon you are off. You kayak across a bay (this can be a harder experience depending on your experience level and the current. Going was rather easy. Coming back we went against the current and it is dark so this was more of a challenge) once you successfully cross you then head through the mangroves. It is calm and shallow and rather easy to navigate. Though if you aren't as experienced you run a higher chance of running into the trees while making turns but this happens often and the tour guides are there to assist you out. The wild life was beautiful. Once you navigate through the mangroves you enter into this beautiful bay. Now this was the highlight of the tour: watching the sunset (6pm tour) in the bay was amazing. You have to wait until it is completely dark outside in order to begin to see the bioluminescence. Again, you will not see it in the way you see in photos with the blue glow. For this particular bay you have to agitate the water by putting your hand in the water. Light is a big factor so if the sun sets later in the evening or the moon is particularly bright it will be harder to see. When you do see it, it is similar to seeing fireflies in the water. It was a neat site but I can definitely see it being rather underwhelming or a huge disappointment for those looking for more.

If you are looking for the big blue glow. You will need to go to mosquito bay. However the catch with that is, it is on an island and you will need to ferry there. However because the tours begin at night by the time the tour is over there are no more ferries running so you will need to stay overnight on the island.

Keep in mind most of the tour companies that offer this experience, take the exact same route to the exact same spot. So in terms of what you see with one company vs the other is going to be the same. Our tour guide was a Marine Biologist and extremely knowledgeable and the tour was quite educational. What made this tour stand out was that in order to enhance the visual experience the tour guide gave us a tarp to go under to make your surroundings darker allowing the bioluminescence to be seen better.

All in all, if you're looking for a nice serene experience with beautiful views of the nature and experience seeing the bioluminescence then this was a great tour. If you're looking for the big blue glow. Look for tours in...

Eco Adventure Kayaks provided a wonderful kayaking tour to a huge bioluminescent bay. The journey from the start of the tour to the bay was exhilarating with the low light of dusk, the sounds of the birds and bugs, the beauty of the mangrove trees and other flora, and the stillness of the water. For the most part, the guides kept it quiet so we could all enjoy nature at its finest.

The bioluminescent bay itself was a sight to behold. Unfortunately, we were there with a full moon, which might have impacted the brightness of what we would see while running our oars and hands through the dinoflagellates in the water. The tour guides at the bay were clearly ecologically aware and explained so much to us about these little creatures and the unfortunate negative potential human impact to them if we weren't cautious. All good lessons.

Why only 2 stars? One star gets knocked off because the guides had trouble managing the large group of kayakers on this tour. The instructions were to stay single file, but many kayakers tried to almost race and would bump into other kayakers (like me) who just wanted to enjoy the peace of nature on a still river. Not taking so many out at once or having more vocal command of people breaking the rules could have prevented this negative part of the tour.

The second and third star I'm removing is for the company not following its own rules. The instructions clearly stated to arrive a certain number of minutes early and if the time came to leave, the tour would leave without you. We came from Old San Juan that afternoon and scheduled our Uber to arrive 30 minutes early, just in case. Many other kayakers were there early or on time as well. The tour was supposed to start at 6. At 6 we were told that one group was running late. They showed up in their car eventually and we didn't get on the water until 6:35. The overall tour still ended before 8. That means because Eco Adventure Kayaks didn't enforce their own rules, those of us that arrived on time lost 35 minutes of kayaking time of a two hour tour. That's close to 30% of our time, time that we all paid for. Time that we should have had on the water because we all followed the instructions to get there on time. It was a frustrating experience that I feel should have been handled better by the tour group to give everyone the full experience they paid for.

The experience overall was amazing! It was just shorter than it should have been, with some unnecessary bumps along the way. There are many kayak companies near this bioluminescent bay. Research for yourself which one is the best fit for you. We'll do the same in the future, given our experience with Eco...

Disappointed and Misled – Not Worth the Money

I recently went night kayaking with Eco Adventures in the Kayak Village in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, hoping to witness the famous bioluminescent bay. Unfortunately, the experience was incredibly disappointing and felt like a complete rip-off.

First, the actual kayaking was done in pitch black darkness, which made it not only confusing but genuinely unsafe at times. Our group was constantly being hit by oncoming kayakers coming in the opposite direction and by branches sticking out from the mangrove trees. There was very little guidance or visibility, making it more stressful than enjoyable.

The biggest letdown was the bioluminescence itself. After navigating the dark and narrow canal, we finally reached the lagoon—only to be told that we wouldn’t really see the glowing water. Instead, the guides pulled out a video on a phone to show us what the bioluminescence looks like in August or March—not during the time we were there (July). They then had us put a tarp over our heads while we splashed the water with our hands, hoping to catch a faint sparkle or two. The glowing effect was barely visible, and honestly, not worth the long, challenging paddle or the price we paid.

To be clear, our guides were fantastic. They were patient, kind, and very knowledgeable. They did their best with what they had and made us feel as safe as possible given the poor setup. This review is not a reflection of them—it’s about the company as a whole, which is falsely advertising an experience that just doesn’t deliver during certain times of year. If the bioluminescence is seasonal or minimal in the summer, that should be clearly communicated before booking.

I genuinely feel like we were misled. Had we known the bioluminescence would be practically invisible, we never would have spent the money. I strongly urge Eco Adventures to be more transparent with their advertising and to consider offering discounts or warnings during off-peak months. Tourists deserve to make an informed decision, not be sold an experience that doesn’t live up to...