Mystic Lagoon Guided Boat Ride and Swim

Once we discovered that these glowing waters only existed in 3-4 places around the world, this tour was a must addition to our week long trip. We had a private van that took us to Falmouth, which was a bit of a drive from our resort in Lucea. Make sure to plan for this if you aren't close. Our driver kindly suggested a pit stop for a bathroom break and a visit to a local tourist shop. This was clearly a gimmic to get us to spend some $ at this particular business, which turned out to be more expensive than even the airport gift shop. Still, I don't fault the driver at all. He got us there quickly and safely - drivers in Jamaica are wild! When we arrived at the Mystic Lagoon location, which appears to be a restaurant with a private dock, it was a bit chaotic. We received colored wrist bands to determine our loading time which we only realized over an hour later when they started calling us to our boats. The wait time was LONG and we never got our free "rum punch," though I was pretty sick of them by then anyway. This was clearly a means to get people to buy at their bar. We had eaten before so we were all just bored waiting until it finally grew dark. Having some kind of informational presentation or entertainment before the boat ride would have been appreciated during this long wait with over 100 other people just milling around. Once we finally go onto a boat, our guide explained why the lagoon glows and some local history. Be prepared, this is not a super scientific informational tour. It was good enough for the lay person though. We spun about in the boat for a while to see the effects in the water caused by the motor, then we anchored and were offered the opportunity to swim in the waters. I think most people were hesitant but I was the first one off the boat. After swimming a few laps around to show them the glowing effects, most people finally joined in, including my family. They had a photographer on the boat taking pictures that you could purchase after. It is difficult to capture night shots that really illustrate the glowing effect of the dinoflagellates. My daughter, however, was able to capture some shots that were even better than the professional photographer with her iPhone. After the night swim there was a fire dancing/eating performance at the restaurant but by then we were so tired, we only stayed for a short time before having our driver take us back to the resort.

Be careful on booking through Jamaica tours, me and my husband were sitting out front waiting on our driver or tour bus, At this point we had been on 4 other excursions that week, but this particular Jamaican tour, the bus driver left us. We saw the tour bus sitting out front, but they called out a different name, so we assume that the bus wasn't there for us, so they left. We waited and waited, and we weren't picked up. I contacted Trip advisor or avitar, and they would not give us a refund, they stated that the driver didn't see us. So who's fault is that? They have my number and they could have text me, but they didn't even try to contact us or even asked and looked for our name on the list, how is it that I didn't get a refund, Not fair

Loved loved loved it!!! Something really worth experiencing! This was on my bucket list for a long time and I am so happy that I was able to do this tour. I was one of the first people to jump in and one of the last to come out. Absolutely fascinating!