Melaya's Tours — Local services in Isla de Vieques

We went on the bio bay tour last night and it was SO amazing! We only had one night in Vieques and didn’t really plan much but we were able to book a 9pm tour the same day. Very bumpy road out there and be sure to check the weather and moon schedule—the brighter the moon, the less bright the water is. Once your paddles hit the water and everything gets agitated it’s like magic, I swear. Our guide (Peachy?) was incredibly knowledgeable pointing out all the constellations and telling us stories. We even had a tiny fish jump into our kayak! However, our guides were almost too patient…

It was my partner and I, a group of 3, and a group of 6. I normally don’t say negative things like this, but the group of 6 was the most disrespectful group I’ve ever met. They showed up inebriated, on multiple drugs (they offered them to us multiple times) the one girl collapsed in the parking lot, they tried to bring beer and other items they weren’t supposed to, talked over and interrupted the guides, and didn’t follow the instructions. Our guide specifically said to not have the two larger guys in the kayak multiple times…he was incredibly clear about that but they did it anyways and started taking water in their kayak and had to go to the other side of the bay to get all the water out, cutting our tour and the other 3 peoples tour short. If you want to get messed up, that’s fine, but know how to control yourself around other people and don’t act like complete morons because NOBODY likes those type of tourists, EVER. The group of 3 was even more fed up with the group of 6 than we were.

I felt incredibly terrible about the way these people acted as I’m sure we could have experienced so much more with a different group. The utter lack of respect for the bay and the guides was hard to see, but kudos to our guides for handling it with absolute professionalism and grace.

In all, I would 100% recommend going, checking the moon phases and weather. It’s unlike anything you will ever see and no pictures/ videos can really do it justice until you see the water itself. The fish swimming/jumping under the kayak or out in the water are just spectacular as you can see the water...

Did not enjoy the head guide. He kept yelling at us to go slower and follow him but would be yelling it as he was dead stopped in the water. We went back and forth between being told to speed up or slow down and spent a lot of time just floating rather than kayaking. We were unable to see him at all and all of the yelling was very stressful, I wish we could have just had a dim light to follow like other tours offer.

We were supposed to kayak for an hour but were out of the water by 8:30 and didn’t even enter the water until after 7:50. We spent more time rafted together talking about the stars and the constellations than we did enjoying the dinoflagellates.

For reference, I have been coming to mosquito bay every few years for nearly 25 years. I have never felt more rushed like cattle and unable to appreciate the beauty of the bay.

Additionally we overheard the guides talking about various members of the group behind their backs afterwards. I speak Spanish and understood it all— never appropriate to do this in front of customers no matter the situation. Also overheard one joking with another about how they’re essentially here for the money grab. One other guest within earshot heard them saying the things above and commented to me about it as she could also understand them. Unfortunately I think that his money grab phrase is the best way to sum up the vibes of our tour.

Adding a star because the bay is amazing. Even though it’s not as bright after Maria it’s still such an amazing...

Ouch. Was it the blinding lights of the dinoflagellates or the tree root that I just stubbed my toe on. To this day, I’ll never know. It was evident, however, that I “had all the feels.” Led by an industrious girl, Melaya (the name of the tour company and not the girl) was lucky to have Christy (the name of the girl and not the tour company). She parried questions like __ from princess bride, spotted sea crawlers and dwellers like that dude from 9,000 leagues under the sea (or that famous oceanographer), courageously parlayed history like a young Homer and enchanted us all like an early version of the leading lady from that Disney movie called frozen.

It is true the bio-bay in vieques is the brightest in the world. No doubt as true, and maybe more, is the folk saying that ‘tour with Christy and...’ well, you get the idea. It was GOOD. She made me laugh, more importantly smile- and what felt like a cosmic pull of the mysterious Bio waters on my psyche was in fact Christy pulling me back into the group, thwarting my kayak’s attempts from eating the mangroves (re I practically got stuck)- I swear I didn’t paddle there, it just happened, but that’s for another story, another time, and another review. Melayas. Christy. Nike said it...