The photo suggests otherwise, but there is a nice story behind it.
Years ago, I heard about bioluminescent water, or sea sparkle, a natural phenomenon where algae charge up during the day and a kind of photosynthesis occurs, and at night, when they come into contact with oxygen, they emit light. In practice, this means when there is movement involved. I find it remarkable how nature can create something like this and am already very impressed by it.
The travel destination was set in Costa Rica when we came across this in the information about the country. Arjan picked out a perfect spot. A small village called Paquera, for many a stopover from the ferry to Santa Teresa or Montezuma on the Nicoya Peninsula. For us, it was the destination, because in the bay near Paquera, under the right conditions, sea sparkle can be seen. Yesterday, the moment finally arrived.
Because we ended up a bit too deep in the jungle with our little house—which is a story in itself—we are dependent on taxis to take us to the location. We thought we had booked for 6:00 PM, but upon arriving at the location, we were checked in—not confirmed—for 7:30 PM. Oh well… waiting a bit isn’t such a problem.
We were given the tip to walk a little further along the road to the restaurant El Punto. A beautiful restaurant with an incredibly lovely terrace. Upon arriving there, we were exactly on time for a beautiful sunset and enjoyed a passion fruit juice and a beer on the terrace before heading out onto the water.
The photo shows the view of the bay. And all the water you see has bioluminescence this evening!!
Unfortunately, we weren’t able to take photos of the bioluminescence, because we were in a kayak together and kept splashing each other. It was impossible, so we chose to just enjoy ourselves.
We were on the water with a guide and another couple. As soon as we got into the kayak, he showed us the bioluminescence. Little lights in the water, which was a bit dull. We were supposed to paddle a bit to a small island further away, against the current, to see more. And what we saw there… the darker the water and the surroundings, the more visible the bioluminescence was. White dots with light streaks. In other places, it was blue, or we even saw a hint of green. Running your hand through the water created a veil of glitter. When you took your hand out of the water, glitter flowed from your palm in large droplets into the water, where it created even more glitter. Beautiful!
The guide swept his paddle past his kayak with an elegant movement and bathed in a semicircle of light. Naturally, we tried to imitate them. Which we eventually managed to do, after both of us got thoroughly splashed. Absolutely amazing!
The other couple got out of the kayak at a spot to swim, and their breaststroke gave them silver-blue wings—very magical.
At one point, the guide pulled us close to his kayak, and then he took his hand out of the water. He had a sea of glitter in his hand… which turned out to be a sponge. Slowly squeezing it out, a waterfall of glitter shimmered down. Very beautiful!
We had the right weather conditions for this trip, and I hadn’t expected to find it so magical. Our taxi driver had never seen it before, and I can’t imagine that, living so close by, I would have my own kayak and go out on the water regularly. But I think we’ll encounter that more often… Things that impress us and not the locals.
Fun tip: bioluminescence can also be seen in the Netherlands, and there is even an app for it. Sometimes you see bits in the surf when a wave breaks. I will definitely keep an eye on it when we get back. But it won’t be as full and magical as we have seen now…
Update: A few days later, we also walked to the beach, which is within walking distance of our jungle cottage. And there, too, we saw bioluminescence in the breaking waves. However, we were bothered more by ‘light pollution’ from the beach shack, making it less visible. And Arjan had his headlamp on, because at night, when it is dark, around 6:00 PM, blue-red crabs come ashore to mate. Which means they were walking everywhere, even on the path to and from our jungle cottage. They are small and super fast, so we got quite startled, hahaha.
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