Peniel Access Eco Tours — Local services in Fajardo

Let me preface this review by stating the following: Peniel Access Eco Tours is a phenomenal, customer-centric company which strives to provide their customers with unique outdoor experiences.

Although briefly mentioned on the Peniel Access Eco Tours website, there needs to be an explicit disclaimer with regard to significantly diminished bioluminescent activity which is directly correlated with the lunar phases of the moon. -- In other words, when the moon is bright there is significantly less visible bioluminescence, and when the moon is dark there is significantly more visible bioluminescence.

A visible moon was present on the evening that we toured the bioluminescent bay with Peniel Access Eco Tours. In order to visualize bioluminescent life in the waters of the "bio bay," customers must line their kayaks up in parallel fashion with one another, grasp onto the neighboring kayak (being careful not to break fingers between bumping kayak hulls, as a result of the collective group's inability to remain still despite being partially secured by shoreline to your rear). At this point in time a large wet black tarp is pulled over the partially moored group of customers and instructed to splash the water with their hand (you only get to splash with one hand because your other hand is busy holding onto the adjacent kayak) in the exceedingly small sliver of visible water which separates your kayak and the kayak next to you. For the next 4-5 minutes you are free to splash to your hearts content, at which point its then the other group's turn to use the tarp.

Again, I want to reiterate that the company, tour guides, and support staff are highly professional, kind, and friendly. Additionally, I understand that the performance of the bioluminescent plankton is based upon a number of conditions, not only lunar conditions, and that it is a biological phenomena which by its nature is difficult to predict.

However, it is my opinion (based on my own personal experiences) that the poor performance of the bioluminescent life in specific lunar cycles should be made known to the customer more clearly before booking. Such a misrepresentation to the consumer (who is more than likely not familiar with the relationship between lunar cycles and bioluminescent plankton).

Great company and staff. Poor communication. Google a lunar calendar and book your bio bay tour based around the time of the new moon. I'm sure you will have a...

First I would like to state the tour guides/staff are nice and friendly. We did the bio bay luminescent tour and it was the worst experience EVER. If you have never kayaked in your life DO NOT go. The instructions are easy to follow however when you have numerous people who have zero experience this will turn into a nightmare. There are several tour guides with their own group going to and from to the lagoon. You are in a narrow cannel and a lot of the areas are pitch black. People were crashing into each other with their kayaks giving you the worried sensation of tipping over with your kayak and falling into the water. The tour guides are yelling at their group to stay in one straight line and on the other side of the cannel to allow the other group to pass through and keep in mind there are no lights, which is difficult for either group when the current is taking you and you have nothing to hold onto and people are crashing into you from behind, on the side, and in front. Get ready to feel like the ball in the pin ball machine. Also, get ready to be stabbed in the face by branches which you can’t see until they are right in your face, hit by the paddles by the other people, and tree branches falling on you. One group flipped over into the water luckily they had life jackets. By the time we got to the lagoon we had to all get side by side holding on to each other’s kayak. We could not find our group because our tour guide light did not work going back we were on our own following another couple who we had not idea what group they were in. One couple was lost and our tour guide told them to wait for their tour guide to come back and get them. Our tour guide went back to get the rest of our group then eventually caught up to us. That as an experience guiding ourselves. Part of our demise was the full moon and the tarp over us didn’t help us see the lights. It is not worth your money. The four of us spent $480. What we got out of this experience is scratches on our face and body, the scary sensation of being flipped over into water in the dark, hit by paddles, fingers bruised, frustration, and pure...

My wife and I just took the Bioluminescence Kayak Tour. We two shared a kayak. I walk with a cane and the Peniel staff was friendly and helpful to me.

Though I had kayaked before, my wife had no paddling experience. And because neither of us was in the best of shape, we were unable to keep up with the other 10 or so kayaks in the tour group. Thankfully, one of the 5 guides who went with the group gave us a much needed tow! He hooked a rope from his kayak to ours, and we were able to paddle and rest, paddle and rest, the rest of the way. The kayaks went single file through a mangrove forest, as darkness set in.

When we got to Laguna Grande on the other side, it was very dark as rain clouds hid the full moon. I had read that a full moon might make it hard to see the bioluminescent organisms so I welcomed the clouds. But alas, even with darkness there was not much we could see. Swirling one's hand across the water surface made some blue dots and streaks appear. But it required some concentration and maybe, some imagination. After paddling around for about 15 minutes, hoping to see more but to no avail, we had to content ourselves with the few stars that peeked in between the rain clouds.

We paddled back through the mangrove forest, again assisted by the towline of our friendly guide Donatello. The forest was as dark as can be, which made the return trip interesting for me (but a bit unsettling for my wife).

In the end our arms and shoulders were totally worked over, but we completed the 2- hour trip without incident or injury. Before we departed the staff gave us some much needed water, and chips to munch on.

This tour is probably not for people who cannot paddle, and definitely not for those scared...