Anyone that knows me knows I absolutely love kayaking. I have always loved being out on the water, but there is something special about kayaking. I love the peacefulness of it all, yet the adventure it brings. I love the stillness, yet the excitement. And I especially love the community. One of my favorite things to do is kayak with my friends and family. So when my family decided to take a trip to Puerto Rico, it was obvious that we should book an excursion to kayak in the Bioluminescent Bay. This was the part of the trip I was looking forward to most, because of my love for kayaking.
There are only 5 Bioluminescent Bay’s in the world and 3 of them are in Puerto Rico. We booked our excursion months in advance to make sure we got to participate in this once in a life time adventure. Tuesday came, the day we were set out to kayak, and I was full of excitement. Our trip didn’t begin until after 9:00pm because we had to wait until the sun went down. I am normally not a night person, but this time I was going to have to be. I made sure I rested all day so that I would save my energy for the excitement of the night.
We ate dinner as quickly as we could and then headed to the kiosk where we would begin the tour. We got there a whole hour early, to make sure we didn’t get lost. Luckily, it was pretty easy to get to where we needed to be. I could hear the waves crashing as we sat on the shore waiting for our turn to go. The company we were kayaking with told us that the current was stronger that night but it would still be fun. I had no idea how strong it was until we got going.
FINALLY! It was our turn to get in the boats. Each kayak was tandem style (meaning two people per boat). We had 6 in our group, so splitting up was easy. We had already discussed in the van ride over who would ride together. I ended up being paired with my friend, Rachel, that night. Rachel rode in the back and I rode in the front. Crew members were helping folks get in their boats because it’s tricky getting in a boat by yourself. It’s very tricky getting in a boat with two people. I decided we didn’t need help. Since I kayak frequently, I know how to get in a boat. And if we flip…. Well, we’ll just try again. I held the boat so that Rachel could get on and then I jumped on. I don’t think I have ever caught so much air in my life. I was so excited that my jump on the boat was higher than ever before. Everyone around me, my family, my friends and even strangers were laughing as they heard me give a big “wooooo” and into the boat I went. I had asked the crew if we could all stay together (my family and I) and they let me know they were just trying to get everyone in boats so they couldn’t guarantee that. I later realized, that wasn’t going to matter anyways. It was impossible to all stay together. We ended up starting in boats beside one another but that didn’t last long.
Once everyone was in their boat, we started on our journey. I was a little nervous because it was pitch black, but I was still excited. Each boat had a light on the back of it and we were to follow the color light that was desinated for our group. Our color was red, but apparently red was a popular color that night because many groups used the same color. I was not about to get lost from the group, so I hyper focused on the red light in front of me and stayed with that red light. Also, since it was dark the person in the back couldn’t always see what the person in front was doing so I had to constantly say “left, right, left right” to let Rachel know which way I was paddling so that she could match suit. I was really good at saying left and right at first but we started having to steer more and even I didn’t know which way I was paddling until the last minute. Sometimes I would say left and paddle right or vice versa. Rachel told me that eventually her eyes adjusted to the dark and she started watching my paddle instead of listening to my voice. She was a great partner to have. I’m sure she was tired of hearing my voice that night….
Once we got into the canal, it was a little trickier. Not only did we have to paddle in the dark, but we also had to watch out for other paddlers that were moving the opposite direction while going through a skinny canal. Many in my group ran into trees because the current was so strong. I got whacked in the arm by another paddler that was passing in the opposite direction. I didn’t understand why everyone was having such a hard time controlling their paddles until I was on the way back and we had to go against the current.
Once we got out of the canal and into the lagoon, we were able to split up from other groups. Our tour guides had us all line up side by side in our boats while they talked about where we were. The stars were beautiful that night. Our tour guides were really good at showing us the different constellations in the sky. The bioluminescent wasn’t super bright that night, but we could still see it if we splashed in the water. Each boat had a tarp in the back. Our tour guides asked us to pull out the tarp and put it over our heads to make it super dark. They then told us to splash the water into the boat under the tarp. When we did that, we were able to see the bioluminescent glowing in the boat. It was super neat to see and something I will always remember.
After the presentation, it was time to go back. They gave us a few minutes of “free time” to paddle around, but honestly that just meant paddling over to the beginning of the canal because as soon as we got to the edge of the water, it was time to go again. Some folks in my group (not my family) were racing to the edge and the playful person I am decided we should join in and I started paddling fast and full of energy…. Until Rachel told me to stop (in the nice Rachel way) because we still had to paddle all the way back up stream. She’s a good friend like that and knew that I shouldn’t waste my energy playing around.
We started paddling back up stream and that’s where it got crazy (as if it wasn’t already crazy before). It was paddling up stream when I realized why everyone I had seen earlier on the trip were having such a hard time. The currents were very strong and we were paddling against them. There was one spot I remember very clearly. Think whirl pool in the middle of a river. It was so strong that it was nearly impossible to control the boat. I remember hanging out of the boat half way trying to kick my foot to give my boat the power it needed to go where I wanted it to go. Plus, I was prepared if we had to grab onto something, I could jump first and grab the boat (trying to keep it from flipping). About that time, there was a raft guide in the water, catching everyone and pushing them to where they needed to go. I was thankful he was there helping. After that experience, I was a little worn out but did feel better. I heard our tour guide telling everyone to grab a tree so that we could wait for others. I was thankful for the rest. I thought we were just waiting for others to catch up. Then I saw one of the tour guides paddling two boats (one of which was from my group) to the front of the line. In the most playful way possible I say “ooooo someone’s in trouble.” Turns out some of the people in those boats had said “Melissa’s never going to let us live this down” before I had ever seen them and they were right. I love my family but we do enjoy teasing each other in a playful manner from time to time.
We started back on our journey and I don’t think we had even paddled 5 minutes before I saw a barricade of boats towards the entrance of the canal just sitting there. I immediately wondered why everyone was stopped. Then I saw someone in the water. It was my mom, hanging onto her boat for dear life. She was floating backwards to where we had just come from. My cousin was on the boat with her and the tour guide was trying to pull my mom back on the boat. I told Rachel we couldn’t leave while my mom was in the water so we sat there and watched, encouraging her that she could get back on the boat. We started floating backwards as well, then the tour guide told us to go ahead and keep paddling, that they were in good hands. There were some girls on another boat next two them that looked at me and said “yeah, Momma Diane and Momma Sheila got this.” I started laughing as I knew that my mom and cousin had just made a few new friends. The thing about my family is we really do make friends wherever we go.
We kept paddling and finally reached the opening of the canal and were almost back to where we started. Remember earlier when I said there were a lot of red lights that night? Apparently, I had followed the wrong red light back to the beginning and we ended up in the wrong group. One of the employees ended up grabbing my boat and walked us to the right group. I asked him where we were going and he told me “Cuba.” Everyone started laughing but then we were where we needed to be. We jumped off our boat and walked back to the shore. By this point, everyone was soaked and smelly. The whole car ride back, we laughed at all of the crazy things that happened. I was in tears from reliving the story. Actually, for a while after that night, I couldn’t tell the story without laughing so hard I was crying. When we were in the moment, I was truly worried because the currents really were rough. But once we were back on land and everyone was okay, we had a lot of fun laughing about our adventures.
I would go on this excursion again if given the opportunity, but I might need to do some sweet talking with the others in my group. They are all pros now. I bet we could go again and do even better. This really was a once in a life time opportunity and I am so glad my family made it a priority for us to go while we were in Puerto Rico.