Swim at La Parguera Bio Bay Boat and Hot Springs Tour from San Juan

I am so glad we went on this tour! Robert, the driver and primary guide, picked us up from our hotel in a nice air conditioned van/bus. He had good communication that morning about the pickup. The drive is about 2 hours south and west of San Juan through the mountains and countryside. There is a stop at a gas station/coffee shop for a bathroom break about halfway through. You get a few choices for lunch at a local restaurant in La Parguera: breaded fish tacos, chicken tacos, or veggie tacos. Be aware that they are flour shell tacos if you have any allergies - I had a salad instead because I am gluten free. This is also your last chance for a bathroom break until after the bio bay tour. You will go out on Captain Frank's small but nice boat to a small cay for the sunset, then he will take you into the bay for the actual experience. Robert explained about the organisms that create the bioluminescence effect and showed us the best places to swim around the boat to see the effect. It was magical! There are life vests and noodles available to use. The water was perfectly warm and they provided a great and encouraging environment for everyone to swim. Captain Frank is very friendly and knowledgeable as well. Once the swimming experience is over, you will head back to the town to change into dry clothes and then board the bus for the ride back to San Juan and be dropped off back at your hotel. Overall it was a great experience! Definitely bring towels and dry clothes.

Great experience! Restaurant was excellent. Loved that we got to swim at a sandbar during sunset in addition to the swimming at Bio Bay later on. Never felt rushed. Guides seemed very knowledgeable.

I love this trip! This is mainly a boat trip with 2 stops to swim. Bring comfortable clothes to change into afterwards, a towel, & wear a bathing suit 👙 & something over top cause the boat is windy. There is plenty of sun! So SOAK up the rays or take something for shade like a hat, & for rain hoodie/poncho. Kid friendly, disability friendly & the bio bay is to die for.

I cant even describe how amazing this tour was! It was three of us total , my partner, cousin in law and me. From beginning when Steven (the tour guide/driver) picked us up till the end it was an unbelievable experience. We drove through the center of the Island where the view of the mountains were unbelievable. Kept driving to the southwest of the island were we hit las palgeras. OMG! We ate Fish tacos (they also had chicken and veggie tacos). It was really good! Then after join the captain for the bio tour. I always wanted to do the Bioluminescent, but never imagined it would look the way it did! It is one of the best things I’ve done in life! Scared at first and then the magic happens. It was unbelievable. Steven was amazing, friendly, patient, and funny! Captain was awesome and very knowledgeable. If I could give this tour 10 stars I would! Thank you Borikua tours for this experience!!

Amazing. As my husband put it "this is a bucket list item I didn't even know I had." The safe is very knowledgeable about Puerto Rico and bio bay. Included tacos were incredible. The experience was like swimming through stars!

This is an amazing experience. I chose this particular excursion because I’m not active enough to kayak and was traveling with my mom who is 69. The crew was so helpful in getting us on and off the boat. They explained the biology behind the dinoflagellates and Steven, our driver, came along on the boat. He was great! This was very laid back, required no physical effort, and was superior to having to kayak. I’ve done that before and felt like I was going to be washed out to sea and panicked. We also stopped to eat and the food was great.

My girlfriend and I chose this tour because this is the one Bio Bay where you can go swimming, rather than just kayaking through the water. It did not disappoint. Being able to swim in the water made this experience. The bioluminescent microorganisms that create the light glow when you disturb them. You can do more of that swimming than with a kayak paddle. Also, don't expect it to look like the pictures. Or to be able to take pictures, unless you're familiar with low-light photography techniques. It's not all about the pictures though. Enjoy the experience because it's pretty magical. Our guide was also friendly and full of knowledge about Puerto Rico, the towns we drove through, and the Bio Bay. He made sure we had fun and were comfortable.

Wow! What an amazing experience this was. We were a group of 7 and were picked up from our rental home. They did manage to cram 5 more people in the van, so it was a pretty tight fit, and the AC int the back of the van didn’t work well at all until we were out of San Juan and moving quickly on the freeway. Our guide Steve was very informative about the local sights we passed, but sadly in the back two rows, we couldn’t hear anything at all. Luckily my brother was sitting in the front seat and provided us with a running text list of everything he was saying. He stopped once at a gas station so we could pee, upon request. Upon arriving at the dock, we were taken to a restaurant to enjoy our tacos (which he ordered while we used the facilities at our previous stop) The fish ones were great, but chicken was not a win according to everyone who ordered them. Then we had about 20 mins to run around and look at the shops (mostly jewelry- no shirts that I saw) buy one more drink, and hop on the boats. Happily they split our group of 12 into 2 boats so we got our own with just us 7. The first stop was a beautiful mangrove Island that we got to run around and explore (they had some OFF for us to use on request since we hadn’t thought to bring any, but bring some! You need it at sundown for sure!) and then after the sun set we went out into the bay and set anchor and swam for plenty of time. We went 3 days before a new moon and it was pretty dark but not pitch black. It rained pretty heavily on us as we went out (they let us store our dry stuff in a hatch) but it cleared up just as we parked. At first I was disappointed as we drove in because there was not a glowing blue trail behind us or anything that you could see from the boat, but once you jumped in the water (totally warm) and your eyes adjusted you could see the millions of sparkles, glittering like diamonds in the black water. I ran up to get my goggles and if you ducked your head under and moved your arms in front of you, it was like fireflies in the water. They passed out pool noodles if you needed or wanted one and everyone felt safe and secure. The best was to position yourself about 10-15 feet from everyone else and not move for a minute and then swoosh your hands through the water- it was so magical:) A quick (and chilly) boat ride back to the dock and we were allowed to dry off and change (and pee!) and then we started the long trek back. Almost everyone fell asleep so it wasn’t too miserable. I would say a neck pillow would not be remiss... lol Steve was super friendly and polite and we enjoyed him thoroughly.

This was a surprisingly long drive etc. and the guides were never up front about what exactly we would do, what facilities would be available - what can be done if someone is not comfortable swimming. The car was uncomfortable. I asked for a life vest and was told I would get one at the bay - I did not. Also - not safe if someone is saying they are not a good swimmer - there are no 100% guarantees. The guides were not engaging about what is happening in the bay. I think the best way to see this would be staying overnight if the drives are 3 + hours.

If you can only do one thing in Puerto Rico, this should be it! The guides, boat captain, and tour company owner were all super friendly and knowledgeable. There was a surprise stop at a mangrove to swim in the clear water and walk around. And the bay!! I won't even try to describe it, because it's not possible. Magical experience with the luminous water and the bright stars overhead. We also did a glass bottom kayak tour in anther bay but swimming in La Parguera was so much more incredible!