T wo hours after sundown we pushed our glass-bottomed kayaks out onto Mosquito Bay, a small inlet on the south coast of Puerto Rico ’s remote island of Vieques, the surrounding mangrove trees silhouetted against the dark blue sky. It was deathly silent as we paddled forward, following the voice of our guide and doing our best to keep our strokes in time as we headed for the centre of the bay. A sudden shriek pierced the silence from a neighbouring kayak.
“It’s beneath you! Look down!” The black water began to change, sparkling a glittering blue. A thick stream of diamonds whooshed under the boat as the current from the Caribbean Sea carried us forward. We’d found the “magic” of Mosquito Bay’s bioluminescence.
I dipped my hand in the warm water and the diamonds trickled down my arm like something from a trippy dreamscape. This type of plankton that glows as a defence mechanism when disturbed makes Vieques home to one of the brightest bioluminescent bays in the world – and I’m fortunate that I’m being shown it by the people who know it best: the island’s locals. It’s one of several locally led experiences that show tourists a new way to explore the archipelago, away from Puerto Rico’s busy capital San Juan and the city’s popular historic old quarter, which while beautiful, contains only a taste of what this country has to offer.
Vieques lies about eight miles off the mainland and is reachable via ferry or charter plane, with the latter lasting only.
