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Bioluminescence Night Kayaking Tour of Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge

Bioluminescence Night Kayaking Tour of Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge

Overview

There are only a few places is the world you can see this amazing display of sea life lighting up the waters with their other-worldly neon glow. This is one Florida experience you do not want to miss! What makes this amazing is that the protected wetlands around the area we launch our kayaks has almost no light pollution. This make for amazing visibility of the bioluminescence.

City: Cocoa Beach

Fri 27 Dec

Other dates

You can choose the date already on the booking website

Starting at $80.00

Make a reservation

Fri 27 Dec

Starting at $80.00

Make a reservation

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What's Included

Kayak, Paddle, Life-jacket

Professional guide

All taxes, fees and handling charges

Additional Info

Service animals allowed
Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
Children must be accompanied by an adult

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Traveler Photos

Reviews (511)

Suzijacuzzi

Jul 2018

The kayaking on the Banana River was very good; however, no bioluminescence. I overheard one of the guides tell someone that they hadn't seen any bioluminescence in weeks and were going to shut down the Kelly Park - East site and do tours in Titusville. If that was the case, why did they not contact those with reservations and allow us to decide if wanted to reschedule for Titusville. I feel we were deceived.....

Response from Host

Jul 2018

July 26, 2018 Glad that you enjoyed the kayaking on the Banana River Lagoon, despite the bioluminescence not being visible. Our trip logs from that location and week state that the dinoflagellate bioluminescence was moderately bright with comb jellies present. The guide you overheard may not have been at that location recently. We do our best to find the areas of bright bioluminescence, but it is not possible to predict nature. That week we also had a few heavy downpours before our tour times, which sometimes can dilute the glow of the plankton. We do post our trip logs on our website to provide an idea of what the guides have been seeing. We are sorry you feel deceived, we would love the opportunity to have you back out and hopefully the bioluminescence will be more visible, please contact us at [email protected] and we will be happy to assist you.

Alloves2travel

Jul 2018

I get that you can't predict nature, but the whole tour was a waste of money. When I called to book the trip, I asked multiple questions to make sure I could get the best bang for my buck. In short, I was told that Kelly Park was the best location and that the only time the moon was an issue was during the full moon. I was looking forward to this trip for a very long time, and it was the sole reason we visited Cocoa Beach. The emails and advertisements talk about a 5 star experience. I feel generous giving a 2 star rating. I've been on multiple kayak trips, but this was the most disappointing. The guide was rude and the way she spoke to the group was almost military like. I didn't care to ask questions because she seemed to talk down to everyone. At one point, she told us to be careful because the area had manatee...we were in a foot of water. I really don't think she knew what she was looking for. Initially, she said that we would hug the shoreline to look for the plankton. We spent the majority of time in open water. She stated that we didn't come on a very good night since the moon was too bright...not a great way to manage up the tour. Needless to say, we never saw the plankton. Since we didn't get to see the plankton, I feel like she could have provided more information (and accurate information) about the area. She gave a little information and then talked about information that she has heard in fake news. I was very let down by the tour. Sadly, it did not live up to all of the hype.

Supratik

Jul 2018

We went out with BK adventure bioluminiscence tour recently. The online booking process was smooth. They had moved the launching site to Beacon 42 recently as Haulover canal was getting too crowded. They e-mailed me with clear instructions. The Beacon 42 is fairly easy to find if you follow their direction and Google map. We had a horrendous storm about an hour before the tour but thankfully it died down. Jared and Josh were our guides. Nice guys. Felt safe in their hands. We have done a bit of kayaking in the past and thankfully it was not windy at all. We did get bumped and also bumped into some kayakers as it is difficult to keep distances all the time, but no big deal. I had specifically selected one of those nights with little moonlight but I was still surprised to see the light around. It most certainly was not pitch dark. Jared encouraged us to find Comb Jelly which we did and they were truly spectacular. But overall the bioluminiscence was nowhere near what I was expecting or seen in their videos. In some places it was better than others. I wonder if the Kelly park site had better glow. Not sure if clear kayaks would have helped. You spend about an hour in the water. I had already done my research about the phenomenon so was not too bothered about lack of explanations on dinoflagellates and comb jellies etc but for others who had no clue, a little scientific explanation would have been beneficial. Worth doing? Yes, but may be disappointed if you are expecting a trail of neon blue on your wake.