Bio Bay Tours

[readytotravel44]

We will be spending some time in Puerto Rico pre and post cruise. We are looking for a bio bay experience. We would like no more than 2 people in kayak/canoe/boat and are hoping to have a relatively small group. We will have a car, so transportation is not needed. Suggestions??? I've checked Trip Advisor and have lots of notes on companies, but I'd like some Cruise Critic feedback from folks who have booked this excursion independently.

 

BTW - I've found cost ranging from $40 - $80 thus far.

[Loving My Life]

We used Kayaking Puerto Rico in 2008 and we were happy with them. We could choose between 1 or 2 person kayaks and we had maybe 10-12 kayaks in the group. I don't remember the cost but it was well worth whatever we paid. It was one of the best excursions we've ever done.

[runner15km]

I believe weather or moon phase makes a big difference in the experience, so research that.

[readytotravel44]

I believe weather or moon phase makes a big difference in the experience, so research that.

I checked out the moon phase. It is perfect! As dark as you can get without a lunar eclipse! Of course, the weather could be a factor, but who knows what that will be.

 

We want to do it for sure. I'm just trying to compare tour operators.

[RayInPR]

If you're asking about the biobay in Fajardo (Laguana Grande), all of the tour operators do essentially the same thing ... starting at Las Croabas, through the mangrove channel, into the biobay. The company mentioned above is excellent. Prices per person are in the $50 range for kayaking.

[Sheal]

We used Kayaking Puerto Rico too. They provided excellent service. Unfortunately for us a wind/rain storm blew in just as we entered the bay. Of course it ended about 30 minutes later when it was time to return.

 

This was our 5-6th time into PR and the 1st time the moon would not be out. Oh well. I'm sure we will make it back someday.

 

Sheal

[readytotravel44]

If you're asking about the biobay in Fajardo (Laguana Grande), all of the tour operators do essentially the same thing ... starting at Las Croabas, through the mangrove channel, into the biobay. The company mentioned above is excellent. Prices per person are in the $50 range for kayaking.

 

That is a good question. Is there more that one biobay? San Juan is new to me, which is why I'm counting of CC members' knowledge of the island. Do they all start at Las Croabas? You tell me. You seem to be familiar with the area.

[slidergirl]

That is a good question. Is there more that one biobay? San Juan is new to me, which is why I'm counting of CC members' knowledge of the island. Do they all start at Las Croabas? You tell me. You seem to be familiar with the area.

 

There are 3 bioluminescent bays in Puerto Rico. There is the one off of Fajardo, one on Vieques, and another one. The easiest one to do is the one from Fajardo. But, the one on Vieques is reported to be the best one.

[Bargeo]

If you're asking about the biobay in Fajardo (Laguana Grande), all of the tour operators do essentially the same thing ... starting at Las Croabas, through the mangrove channel, into the biobay. The company mentioned above is excellent. Prices per person are in the $50 range for kayaking.

 

Can you recommend any of the companies that do the electric boats, and do any provide transportation from San Juan? We are a party of 6 seniors, some with limitations that would prevent them from kayaking. We would love to see the bay in Fajardo and the moon is perfect during our visit. We will be staying in San Juan.

[RayInPR]

There are 3 biobays in Puerto Rico ... Laguana Grande in Fajardo, Mosquito Bay in Vieques, and La Parguera in Lajas.

Laguana Grande is "easiest" since it is closest to San Juan, thereby easy to get to. Mosquito Bay is "best" because of less ambient light (and slightly more dinoflagellates per gallon of water) ... but requires a boat, ferry or plane trip to get to Vieques, and possibly a night spent on the island).

All trips into Laguna Grande start at Las Croabas ... that's where the channel is that connects the biobay to the ocean.

There are 2 operators that run electric boats into Laguana Grande in Fajardo.

Since I live in PR, CruiseCritic rules prevent me from mentioning businesses by name, so I cannot recommend a specific operator.

Google is your best friend in this case.

[lidabit73]

We're planning to take the night-time boardwalk tour at Laguna Grande at Cabesas de San Juan Nature Preserve near Fajardo. I chose this tour because I have 2 small children and was not interested in taking them in a kayak :eek: They advertise that it is very accessible. It's also very reasonably priced, at about $23.50pp. We will be there on Oct 5 with some family members and can report back.

 

https://reservaciones.paralanaturaleza.org/index.jsf and click on the Nocturnal Experience at Laguna Grande for more info.

 

However... I managed to buy 2 too many tix (turns out my kids don't need tix) and they aren't refundable. So if someone is interested in this bio-bay tour, I can change the date and name on the 2 extra tix for you. Please PM me if interested... :D (hope this doesn't violate CC policies!)

[CarribeanDiva]

One of the attorneys in our office did a kayak tour in July and raved about his company: http://www.eietecotourspr.com/EIET_Web-Site_08/Welcome.html.

 

When I will be is San Juan in NOvember, it will be a full moon, so I am not sure I will do this. I am still trying to decide.

[CarribeanDiva]

We're planning to take the night-time boardwalk tour at Laguna Grande at Cabesas de San Juan Nature Preserve near Fajardo. I chose this tour because I have 2 small children and was not interested in taking them in a kayak :eek: They advertise that it is very accessible. It's also very reasonably priced, at about $23.50pp. We will be there on Oct 5 with some family members and can report back.

 

https://reservaciones.paralanaturaleza.org/index.jsf and click on the Nocturnal Experience at Laguna Grande for more info.

 

However... I managed to buy 2 too many tix (turns out my kids don't need tix) and they aren't refundable. So if someone is interested in this bio-bay tour, I can change the date and name on the 2 extra tix for you. Please PM me if interested... :D (hope this doesn't violate CC policies!)

 

I would be willing to buy these from you if I can use them in November. How do you get to this place? Are you taking a taxi?

[swheels]

We just returned from a biobay tour from Kayaking Puerto Rico and it was absolutely one of the best excursions we have ever done. The price was around $50 and they instructed us on all aspects of the kayak. If you go try and go when their is no moon. We took the early tour and it was a magical experience. Got to see the iguanas in the trees on the way in and the: sunset at the bay.:D

[love_the_sea]

We just returned from a biobay tour from Kayaking Puerto Rico and it was absolutely one of the best excursions we have ever done. The price was around $50 and they instructed us on all aspects of the kayak. If you go try and go when their is no moon. We took the early tour and it was a magical experience. Got to see the iguanas in the trees on the way in and the: sunset at the bay.:D

 

We will be in San Juan from 1:00pm to 11:00 pm (with a 10:30 all aboard I would guess). Is this tour doable to be back to the ship by 10:00 pm? (I don't like to cut it even that close but what the heck! St. Thomas is close by) What time is the early tour?

Thanks

[valentinebaby1]

We did one of the 2 motorized tours, bioislandpr dot com is the website. They were fantastic! Very organized, on time and after watching the kayaks I was so glad we made the decision to go with the motorized boat! The kayaks go in to laguna grande with the current, but coming back out they are fighting the current, in the dark, with dozens of other kayaks bumping into each other. The cost was $52/pp if I remember correctly. It was an amazing experience! We had a car rental, I'm not sure if they have any transportation from San Juan.

[featherw8]

We did one of the 2 motorized tours, bioislandpr dot com is the website. They were fantastic! Very organized, on time and after watching the kayaks I was so glad we made the decision to go with the motorized boat! The kayaks go in to laguna grande with the current, but coming back out they are fighting the current, in the dark, with dozens of other kayaks bumping into each other. The cost was $52/pp if I remember correctly. It was an amazing experience! We had a car rental, I'm not sure if they have any transportation from San Juan.

 

I'm very interested in this company. We'll be staying in San Juan for two nights before our cruise on Dec. 1. I'm not sure I would have the stamina for kayaks, so motorized boats would be a better option for me. We're staying at a hotel in Old San Juan and we won't be renting a car. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to get out to this company or another one that offers motorized boats? Do any companies offer pick-up service at hotels?

[valentinebaby1]

I'm very interested in this company. We'll be staying in San Juan for two nights before our cruise on Dec. 1. I'm not sure I would have the stamina for kayaks, so motorized boats would be a better option for me. We're staying at a hotel in Old San Juan and we won't be renting a car. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to get out to this company or another one that offers motorized boats? Do any companies offer pick-up service at hotels?

 

I'm not positive, but I don't think they (bioislandpr) provide any transportation from San Juan. I didn't see anything on their website, but you might try emailing them and see if they know of anything.

 

There was another company I researched, before discovering biosilandpr and its east island excursions. Their tour is a catamaran to Vieques, where you see the bio bay there by electric boat. It includes transportation from the main island to Vieques, then bus to the bay there, a meal and reverse transporation. The price was around $120 per person, which is more than double the price for the one we did. But they are taking you to an entirely different island and that bio bay is supposed to be the best one, and it includes the meal. I emailed that company when I was researching options, and asked if they provide any transportation from San Juan; yes they do, but it was around $20 or $25 per person with a 6 person minimum. Without the 6 people, they said they would do it for $120...so for 2 people only it would be roughly $360. Yikes!

 

I have no idea what a cab would run for that distance.

 

We were told there are only 2 companies that are authorized to use motor boats in Fajardo, bioislandpr and another one, but I couldn't find any info on the other company, so I'm not sure if they provide any transportation.

 

Renting a car wasn't as scary as we thought it would be!

[featherw8]

I'm not positive, but I don't think they (bioislandpr) provide any transportation from San Juan. I didn't see anything on their website, but you might try emailing them and see if they know of anything.

 

There was another company I researched, before discovering biosilandpr and its east island excursions. Their tour is a catamaran to Vieques, where you see the bio bay there by electric boat. It includes transportation from the main island to Vieques, then bus to the bay there, a meal and reverse transporation. The price was around $120 per person, which is more than double the price for the one we did. But they are taking you to an entirely different island and that bio bay is supposed to be the best one, and it includes the meal. I emailed that company when I was researching options, and asked if they provide any transportation from San Juan; yes they do, but it was around $20 or $25 per person with a 6 person minimum. Without the 6 people, they said they would do it for $120...so for 2 people only it would be roughly $360. Yikes!

 

I have no idea what a cab would run for that distance.

 

We were told there are only 2 companies that are authorized to use motor boats in Fajardo, bioislandpr and another one, but I couldn't find any info on the other company, so I'm not sure if they provide any transportation.

 

Renting a car wasn't as scary as we thought it would be!

 

Thanks so much! Yeah - $360 for two is NOT happening. We may have to go the rental car route if we want to see one of the bio bays, even though we would only need it for a few hours and driving through Old San Juan could be "interesting" with its narrow and often congested streets. Another thought is working with our hotel's concierge. They offer a kayaking tour, but since kayaking isn't really a good option for me they may have ideas for how we can get out to one of the motor boat companies. I'll check with them about both renting a car and for other options for getting outside the city.

[valentinebaby1]

Thanks so much! Yeah - $360 for two is NOT happening. We may have to go the rental car route if we want to see one of the bio bays, even though we would only need it for a few hours and driving through Old San Juan could be "interesting" with its narrow and often congested streets. Another thought is working with our hotel's concierge. They offer a kayaking tour, but since kayaking isn't really a good option for me they may have ideas for how we can get out to one of the motor boat companies. I'll check with them about both renting a car and for other options for getting outside the city.

 

Renting a car isn't as bad as we thought it would be. And it was cheap too. We found a rental through Charlie's/Ace for a mid size car for less than $30 per day. I believe our total charge was $90 for 3 days, which included an optional $10 charge which allowed us to bypass stopping at the toll roads and to use the lane to just drive through. We opted to skip their insurance because our credit card company (and most) provide insurance, not to mention our own insurance company. They pick up at the airport and have a drop off near the cruise port and will provide shuttle service from the airport to their office, and from their drop off office in Condado to the cruise port...

 

When we compared the cost of a taxis that we figured we would need during the 3 days, plus the cost of transportation to the bio bay...vs. the rental cost, gas and the cost for parking at the hotel, it was actually considerably cheaper for us to rent a car.

 

Driving through Old San Juan is definitely not recommended though! It's very congested, the streets are extremely narrow and all one way, and we actually had a little issue...hubby took a corner too tight and scraped the lower section of the car by the back tire on the passenger side on the curb. The curbs are higher than we're used to because there's no sewer system in OSJ and they have to allow for the rain to runoff...we were so lucky that there was already damage on the car in that exact spot (we're guessing someone else did the same thing) and it was documented on the rental paperwork, so we weren't charged! The only reason we drove into OSJ was we had a little time on the day of embarkation and hubby just wanted to see what it was like. The drop off for the car rental is just before you get into OSJ, but once you go in you basically have to go through it to get back out and we missed the drop off location the first time and had to go back into OSJ and through it and back out before we could find it the 2nd time. If you are staying in OSJ, I would definitely find out about parking near the hotel beforehand.

 

Gas prices in Puerto Rico weren't that far off of the price in the States when we were there. They sell gas by the liter and it was roughly $.85-.90 a liter when we were there a few weeks ago. It was about $.50 more per gallon than we were paying at home. (but considering the islands we visited while on our cruise were paying roughly $6 per gallon, we were happy PR wasn't that high!)

 

Getting to the bio bay was easy for the most part. As we got closer to Fajardo it was trickier to find, but we managed. Parking at the bio bay was free.

 

Since we had the rental car for the 3 days we had in PR, it also gave us the freedom to drive through the rainforest and see that, and we went to Luquillo Beach, which was really nice. We just made a full day of the eastern side of Puerto Rico on the day of our bio bay tour, and we ended up having such an amazing day that we did it again the next day, minus the bio bay tour.

 

I've got photos of our adventure and full review with photos of our trip here: (even if you're not taking the same cruise, it might give you some details on PR)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1931793&highlight=valor

[Limeia]

I'm very interested in this company. We'll be staying in San Juan for two nights before our cruise on Dec. 1. I'm not sure I would have the stamina for kayaks, so motorized boats would be a better option for me. We're staying at a hotel in Old San Juan and we won't be renting a car. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to get out to this company or another one that offers motorized boats? Do any companies offer pick-up service at hotels?

 

I am checking on using this company for Dec. 6th. They gave me a phone number of "Hector" who would do a hotel pick up. Have not called him yet, so I'm not sure what his charge would be. I also have not heard back from the company if they have space available for the 6th.

 

There are only 2 companies that offer motorized boats from what I understand. I have positive results about this company from "valentinebaby" and others.

[featherw8]

I am checking on using this company for Dec. 6th. They gave me a phone number of "Hector" who would do a hotel pick up. Have not called him yet, so I'm not sure what his charge would be. I also have not heard back from the company if they have space available for the 6th.

 

There are only 2 companies that offer motorized boats from what I understand. I have positive results about this company from "valentinebaby" and others.

 

Based on valentinebaby's information this morning, I emailed concierge at our hotel this morning to see if they could do anything to help with this, but I haven't heard back from them yet. We're talking now about maybe renting a car for a day, but I'll give concierge a bit more time to get back to us. We still have just over 3 weeks until we arrive, but I would like to get this nailed down sooner rather than finding out later that for the night we want the boat is already full.

[Limeia]

Based on valentinebaby's information this morning, I emailed concierge at our hotel this morning to see if they could do anything to help with this, but I haven't heard back from them yet. We're talking now about maybe renting a car for a day, but I'll give concierge a bit more time to get back to us. We still have just over 3 weeks until we arrive, but I would like to get this nailed down sooner rather than finding out later that for the night we want the boat is already full.

 

I would be interested in what you find out from your hotel. I should try contacting our hotel and see what they say also. I also need to contact Hector and see what he charges. I called bioisland to see about availability and the gal that answered said one person was on vacation, so that probably explains why I haven't gotten an email back. She also told me when she got to the office she would call me back and let me know availabily....well I still haven't heard from her yet :mad: Guess I have more calling to do! :) Only have 3 weeks from Friday :eek: to get this confirmed.

[featherw8]

I would be interested in what you find out from your hotel. I should try contacting our hotel and see what they say also. I also need to contact Hector and see what he charges. I called bioisland to see about availability and the gal that answered said one person was on vacation, so that probably explains why I haven't gotten an email back. She also told me when she got to the office she would call me back and let me know availabily....well I still haven't heard from her yet :mad: Guess I have more calling to do! :) Only have 3 weeks from Friday :eek: to get this confirmed.

 

We'll be there 3 weeks from Friday, too, so I understand the pressure to get things nailed down.

[Ron_L]

We were hoping to do the BioIsland electric boat tour of the Bio Bay at Fallardo when we are in San juan before our cruise in December but when I checked with BioIsland for either Dec. 5 or Dec. 6 that were full. We're on their wait list but I'm not holding my breath.

 

I've tried contacting Baby Bay, the other electric boat company a few times and have gotten no response.