The Independent

This remote Puerto Rico island is an idyllic Caribbean getaway – pristine beaches, lush rainforest and artisan rum

Source: Discover Puerto Rico

Two hours after sundown we pushed our glass-bottomed kayaks out onto Mosquito Bay, a small inlet on the south coast of Puerto Rico’s remote island of Vieques, the surrounding mangrove trees silhouetted against the dark blue sky.

It was deathly silent as we paddled forward, following the voice of our guide and doing our best to keep our strokes in time as we headed for the centre of the bay. A sudden shriek pierced the silence from a neighbouring kayak. “It’s beneath you! Look down!”

The black water began to change, sparkling a glittering blue. A thick stream of diamonds whooshed under the boat as the current from the Caribbean Sea carried us forward.

We’d found the “magic” of Mosquito Bay’s bioluminescence. I dipped my hand in the warm water and the diamonds trickled down my arm like something from a trippy dreamscape. This type of plankton that glows as a defence mechanism when disturbed makes Vieques home to one of the brightest bioluminescent bays in the world

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