East Island Bio Bay...please help!

[purduealum]

Has anyone taken the bio bay tour with East Island? One of the webpages I was looking at said it's the only one you can still swim in. Is it worth the extra money to go to Vieques to take the tour, or are the ones in Farajado just as good? The one with East Island is 100/person and there are others from 40-60/person in Farajado.

 

Does anyone have recommendations on transportation? There are only two of us and we'll be coming from the Hampton Inn Isla Verde.

 

Also, is it normal for the tour not to be full yet? I booked for April 13th and they have a 12 person minimum. We are the first 2 reservations, so they said check back to make sure they are running the tour. I was just wondering if I should book a backup plan. I would really hate to miss out on a bio bay tour entirely!!!

 

Any input would be greatly appreciated :)

[RayInPR]

For the $40-$60 in Fajardo you need to get yourself to Las Croabas, hook up with your kayak operator, and paddle yourself out into the lagoon inside the Las Cabezas nature preserve.

 

You can't swim in the bio-bay in Fajardo because they (Dept of Natural Resources) is trying to protect the health of the bay.

 

For the $100 or so for the East Island tour to Vieques, you get yourself to Puerto del Rey marina (in Fajardo), hook up with East Wind, and they take you (via power catamaran - including Pina Coladas and snacks) to Vieques. Once in Vieques, they bus you to a local restaurant for dinner, then bus you to the bio-bay, where you board an electric boat. Then they reverse the procedure to get you back to Puerto del Rey marina.

 

Comparing the prices dollar for dollar is like comparing apples and oranges.

 

And, for the record, I am not affiliated with East Wind, or any other tour operator.

[kely53]

Hi,

 

We are booked with East Wind to do the bio bay on 3/23. I will let you know how it is! I have read favorable reviews of them on trip advisor.

 

Karen

[Martin and Lindsey]

Have a great time. :)

This sounds like an amazing experience.

 

We hope to do it in July.

[purduealum]

Have fun on your cruise Kely....I look forward to reading your review :)

[Martin and Lindsey]

Hi,

 

We are booked with East Wind to do the bio bay on 3/23. I will let you know how it is! I have read favorable reviews of them on trip advisor.

 

Karen

 

Did you do this Karen? Would love to hear all about it if you did. :)

[RayInPR]

Since I posted about this back on March 14, my wife and I had the opportunity to take the East Island trip over to Vieques for the biobay.

 

Having now been to all 3 biobays here in Puerto Rico, the Vieques biobay is hands-down _that_ much better ... it's healthier, brighter, and less-traveled.

 

Everything about the experience was enjoyable, and the dinner was delicious.

 

You can read our complete write-up about it in our travel guide at http://www.puertoricodaytrips.com/2008/04/02/eastwind-vieques-biobay/

[Martin and Lindsey]

Can you please tell me how much this tour cost? Is it still $100 per person? Also do you know how much the extra transportation from San Juan town is?

 

This does sound like an amazing experience.

[rainforestgirl]

The trip costs $109 pp. It really was great.

 

I don't know the cost of transportation- I think it is about $20pp, but call them to check.

[63galaxie]

Since I posted about this back on March 14, my wife and I had the opportunity to take the East Island trip over to Vieques for the biobay.

 

Having now been to all 3 biobays here in Puerto Rico, the Vieques biobay is hands-down _that_ much better ... it's healthier, brighter, and less-traveled.

 

Everything about the experience was enjoyable, and the dinner was delicious.

 

You can read our complete write-up about it in our travel guide at http://www.puertoricodaytrips.com/2008/04/02/eastwind-vieques-biobay/

Oh that was fantastic. I could almost see the glow all the way in Kentucky!

We'll be in San Juan again pre cruise next March. I'm going to try hard to get in a day early just so we can do this. One day, I will!!!!

Thanks for the excellent link!

[carbon]

We added an extra 2 days after our cruise to travel to Vieques. We rented an SUV and drove to Fajardo, left our rental in the parking lot and took the ferry. Vieques is pretty poor and a bit different than a cruise ship. Checked into the hotel and drove over to Esperenza and had too well done burgers at Bannanas that we not cheep. Later that night we did the tour with Island Adventures and swam in the biobay. There were so many stars it was like being at the planitarium. The whole experience was awesome. We stayed at the Crow's Nest and rented a jeep from Maritzas (it was next to the Crow's Nest). We were pretty ready to return to San Juan after one night in Vieques. We got a room at the Hampton Inn and flew out the next morning.

[KAWS]

The trip costs $109 pp. It really was great.

 

I don't know the cost of transportation- I think it is about $20pp, but call them to check.

 

How long was the trip from San Juan to the marina? What time did you get back to San Juan when it was over?

[rainforestgirl]

How long was the trip from San Juan to the marina? What time did you get back to San Juan when it was over?

 

Well, I didn't go to/from SJ, but it should be about 1.25hrs each way.

We got back to Fajardo at 10:15p, so adding on travel time, you should be back in SJ at about 11:30p.

[Martin and Lindsey]

The trip costs $109 pp. It really was great.

 

I don't know the cost of transportation- I think it is about $20pp, but call them to check.

 

We have been quoted $150 for a minimum of 6 people, for transportation from San Juan to the Marina.:eek: There are only 2 of us so that would be a lot of money even if they would take just the two of us. At $109 + Tax each to do the Bio Bay, that would be $368 + tax for us to do this!

 

Anyone have any other ideas?

[Martin and Lindsey]

We have been quoted $150 for a minimum of 6 people, for transportation from San Juan to the Marina.:eek: There are only 2 of us so that would be a lot of money even if they would take just the two of us. At $109 + Tax each to do the Bio Bay, that would be $368 + tax for us to do this!

 

Anyone have any other ideas?

 

Sorry, my mistake. I was quoted $120 NOT $150 for the round trip from San Juan to the marina. Still a lot of money for just two of us. (Although 6 people can travel for that amount.)

[rainforestgirl]

Yeah, I think they want a 6 person minimum (6 people, $20 pp = $120).

So if there is only 2 of you, I guess they charge the same.

 

But other than renting a car, there is no other cheaper way there.

 

Maybe you can post here and Trip Advisor about sharing transportation on the day you want to go. Maybe you can get someone else who is interested.

 

Or you might just have to settle for the Fajardo BioBay.

[CaribbeanOrBust]

FYI - for two people, renting a car is WAY cheaper. We're doing the BioBay tour when we cruise next month, and we opted to rent a car to get to Fajardo. For an economy-size car through Hertz, it's about $40 for a one-day rental.

[sheenshay]

we are a group of 4 hoping to go sunday, July 20. Anyone else planning to go that day?