We encountered the following issues, some of which I consider to be pretty serious for a tour of this nature. I contacted the tour company beforehand to see if they had any response/explanation to the below and received no response. This is not a well managed or safe tour, I highly recommend finding a different option.
1) The driver of the boat was very late, so we basically spent sunset sitting inside an immobile boat at the dock, waiting for him, with nothing to do.
2) We received almost no information about the bio bay — any of the science, explanations about the wildlife/eco system, etc. — throughout the tour, whether before we arrived at the bay or while we were there. I was really disappointed by this because many of the reviews said the information received was one of the best parts of the tour. However, I understand our tour guide, who was generally a very nice person, does not usually do the bio bay tour and instead usually does the rainforest tour, as he mentioned this several times. When we arrived at the bio bay there was also no "here we are! Here's the process for getting in, what to look for, etc." We just stopped the boat and the guide literally sat there silently and then suddenly said "ok let's get in!" it just didn't feel very well managed or arranged to make everyone feel comfortable and like they knew what to expect/do.
3) When we arrived at the bio bay, after only about 10 minutes or so in the water, two members of our group said they had been stung by a jellyfish, and this precipitated a small panic. Everyone wanted to get out of the water, and there was a lot of scary discussion about how serious it is to be stung by a jellyfish. I personally have been stung before by small jellyfish in waters similar to the ones we were in, so I didn't think it was that serious, but the overall environment became very tense and frightened at that point. I think the biggest issue is that no one who was managing the tour stepped up to give instructions, to proactively treat the people who had been stung, or to provide really any kind of guidance/leadership/direction. They just sat there silently while everyone panicked and got out of the water, and then everyone was all just sitting on the boat. Again, based on my experience of these types of jellyfish stings, it is really not that big a deal, but if people had known when they got into the water that there was a potential risk of these stings, exactly what the effects might be, and that treatment was available on board, we would not have had such a disappointing experience at the very part of the tour that we all paid money and spent 9 hours of our day traveling in order to see. I was really frustrated by the lack of professionalism and leadership by the tour guide and driver during this incident, but most of all it reflects poorly on the whole tour company. Having no protocol in place to warn people about the possibility of jellyfish and nothing on board the boats to treat these stings immediately so everyone can calm down is a pretty significant oversight when you are taking responsibility for 10 people's safety/wellbeing while they are on your tour.
There are many wonderful features to this unique trip but certain aspects would have benefited from more advance information. Among the highlights were swimming in the bioluminescent bay; watching the sunset; gazing at a star-filled sky; and seeing the homes along the water brightly lit for the holidays. A delicious dinner was also included in La Parguera.
Enroute to the bay, there was an unadvertised stop at a sandbar for more than an hour of swimming. Beer and soft drinks were provided. Although the swimmers seemed to enjoy themselves, those who stayed in the boat had about an hour with nothing to do. It was apparent that this long interlude was planned to wait for nightfall so that the dinoflagellates could be observed. Why not leave later from San Juan, cut down the swim time and shorten a 9-hour trip? Also not mentioned in advance communication was the fact that it was the time of year when jelly fish activity was high. Two people in my group forfeited the swim to avoid potential stings.
Swimming in the glow is, in fact, thrilling but unfortunately it cannot be captured by photograph from the boat. The haze effect of the glow is stunning but the sparkles are best observed and experienced by getting into the water.
All in all, it is a unique and worthwhile experience but I believe it would be improved with more information available in advance.
The tour lasts several hours, but we got to drive through and see Puerto Rico. A boat takes you out into the water into one of the phosphorescent bays. We had a great experience. Our guide Felix was amazing!