Island Kayaking Adventure — Local services in Fajardo

The staff for Island Kayak Adventure were very professional and accommodating, supplying bug spray and getting a 3 person kayak as we had an odd number (2 adults, 3 kids). The 4 guides did a quick kayaking tutorial and then we were in the water. The actual kayak through the stream to the bay is pretty easy and not very strenuous. The guides did a good job herding everyone to the actual bay. It's at the bay for the big event where the experience completely falls apart. After allowing the group to paddle around the bay a bit we were advised to all come back and line up side by side in a big line holding the canoe next to you, even facing the same direction. So if you weren't facing the same direction you had to paddle out and come back facing the right way. One of the guides then gave a brief overview on the bioluminescent animals. Then tarps were rolled out and passed to the next four canoes to put over our heads. If you were in the middle the tarp was usually wet and dripping from being dropped in the water. The tarp was supposed to help darken the area around the kayaks for better visibility. Then we were told to splash the water with our hand next to our kayak to see the bioluminescence. If you were in the middle it was difficult to put your hand in the water because the kayak next to you was bumping into your kayak. After splashing the water you'd occasionally see a small speck of blue briefly like a firefly but that was it. They were so small and infrequent that it was difficult to distinguish between the supposed bioluminescence and just reflections. Most of the group were puzzled as to what exactly we were supposed to be seeing. The guy next to me remarked, "Is this it, just splashing with a tarp on our heads or are there stages?". After 10 minutes of this the tarps were removed and we were allowed to paddle about the bay in close proximity to the guides. Occasionally if you paddled the water you'd see a small blue light. I saw something about the size of a quarter once on one stroke but they were few and far between. After about 15 minutes of paddling we were instructed to head back to the stream. Many people were complaining about navigating the stream in the dark and running into things. I didn't find it too difficult but it did seem awfully long after the disappointing experience in the bay. At the end there was water and chip or granola bars. We just wanted to leave because it was drizzling and the experience was terrible. I think in my imagination I was expecting something like Avatar with all sorts of blue lighted creatures but it's more like Sea Monkeys and just as much of a disappointment. Other kayakers I talked to were dumbfounded about the experience, calling it "lame" and "terrible" - one stating "what the hell did I just pay for". I'm not sure if it was the time of year (Mar/2021 - the moon phase was supposedly favorable) or what but it's criminal to charge people full price for the experience I had. I wouldn't recommend this tour nor would I pay anything close to what they were asking to see a couple of specks of blue light - if you...

I’ve seen a lot of highly critical reviews of the tour with relevant points, so I wanted to provide a review based on what I had seen before. The kayaking experience was lovely and my partner listed it as his favorite part of our time in Puerto Rico. I really enjoyed the experience, but there were some things that I wish I knew going into the experience as far as managing expectations (These comments likely hold for any of the tours in Fajardo/ Laguna Grande, I just took the Island Kayaking Adventure tour.)

(1) First and foremost, the bioluminescence is pretty weak relative to past experiences I’ve had. Is it still magical? Absolutely. That said, it’s unlikely that you’ll see animals glowing under your kayak and you have to look pretty carefully to see the glow of the water as you paddle.

(2) Perhaps a little more frustrating for me, it felt as though our time actually in laguna grande was short and rushed relative to the length of the whole experience. It’s over a km kayak through the mangroves in the dark to get to laguna grande. If nighttime kayaking is your thing (as it was for my partner and I) then it was still a really enjoyable experience. However, if you are expecting 30 minutes or more with bioluminescence you are going to be disappointed. In our tour, it even seemed based on what I overheard the tour guides were saying to one another about the timing that they cut our experience in laguna grande short for timing purposes.

(3) Relatedly, the entire experience was VERY commercialized. Large groups, many tour companies, and different tour groups running into one another. It created log jams as we kayaked into the bay that weren’t helped by countless folks with zero clue how to kayak.

(4) They had bug spray (the nice Off Clean Feel Kind 😊) so don’t worry about picking up your own prior to the tour (that said, there are enterprising local shops that do sell it for an upcharge if this turns out to be incorrect for your particular tour).

I mention all of these to help manage expectations. I genuinely still enjoyed my experience, and the tour group certainly did a great job and provided nice directions on where to park/go for the tour, but if you do have the time and ability I may try going to Vieques or somewhere just a tad...

I have mixed feelings about this experience. We decided to book it because we heard a-lot about bioluminescence and how cool it was. Booking was super easy and they were flexible when we decided to change the day we went.

However, when we got there half of our group (there was like over 30 people??) had never kayaked. Which is interesting because this is a next level of kayaking with the thin river to cross and complete darkness. When getting into the kayaks, we had to walk into the water about knee deep to get in.

Going down the river, it was very clear that half of our group has never kayaked. They kept bumping into other kayaks, and the edge of the river into the trees, which made it hard for everyone else since the guides wanted you to stay like 5-6 ft away from the kayak in front of you. The whole time they’re yelling at people to slow down, speed up, turn, which I feel like would be so much easier if the group all had kayaking experience. The guide ended up tying his kayaks to the people who didn’t know how to.

When we finally get to the bay, we are not seeing anything. They make us all get in a line with the kayaks (but they’re not telling us why) and They throw a huge tarp over us. I get that they were trying to make it darker, but it literally felt like they were just putting a wet trash bag over us. The bioluminescence was finally visible but also very underwhelming. It DID NOT look like any photos I have seen on their site, or online anywhere else. It was not blue or colorful. Just looked like white sparks in the water.

On the way back, another tour group of like 40 people was kayaking down the river AT THE SAME TIME as we were going up. I understand they’re not the only company, but honestly I feel like they can communicate better and have staggered start Times so kayaks are not bumping into each other the whole way up.

Overall, cool to see the white sparks in the water. Cool to kayak at night. Would not book again in Fajardo esp with such a...