Night diving in a bioluminescent bay, Grand Cayman

[indigo_dc]

I'm not entirely sure what that means, truth be told :S

 

[Testudo]

I'm not entirely sure what that means, truth be told :S

May shed some light for you:
[video=youtube;zo9s8fwOGa0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zo9s8fwOGa0&feature=player_embedded[/video]

 

[Wolfie]

I haven't done a night dive in cayman since 98. If things haven't changed you would see the bio most everywhere. Except of course your eyelashes.... When you shut down the lights you can find your buddy by the bio their fins kick up. It's pretty cool. I would suggest a night dive at turtle reef or lighthouse point. If you do go to bio bay for any of the excursions ( kayak,snorkel dive) please do post an update...

 

[Testudo]

I tried snorkeling the bio-bay where the kayak tours visit without much luck this week. It was around midnight, no moon, much wine was imbibed and I didn't get out of the more developed end of the lagoon. Once I left the brighter area around the homes there, I did get some "glow' on my mask, but it was minimal. After relating my experience to some locals, they advised that the far end of the cove off Finger Cay Rd. and closer to the inlet would yield the best results. they also advised about there being lots of jellyfish in the lagoon, sounded mostly like upside down mangrove jellies.

 

[indigo_dc]

Well unfortunately conditions didn't co-operate at all for this. We'd taken the kayak mangrove tour with the company earlier in the day (really enjoyed it, not sure I'm allowed to link/mention who it was?) and the bio bay tour that evening. Unavoidable problems meant we were going later than planned and the moon was full. We made it to the bay but the bioluminesence was practical invisible. We tried swimming (avoiding the jellyfish!) and even swimming in the central gap underneath the boat and only in that pitch darkness was it visible.

The organiser was clearly annoyed/upset and although it was a cool effect we didn't get to see the full deal. But I can appreciate just how hard it'd be to photograph now! Still, I've got some ideas that wouldn't involve a tripod in the water - get your swimmer in the water doing bio-angels for a few minutes then set your flash to trigger on 2nd curtain. That way you get 2 or 3 minutes of the bio-effect and the flash trips at the very end so it doesn't matter if the boat rocks a bit. You swimmer will be sharp and the bioluminesence is blurry anyway.

 

[Testudo]

Sorry you didn't get to experience the full-on bio-luminescence. Does seem like a long exposure time is the best way to capture the "glow". Hope the rest of the trip was more of a success. OK to mention the tour company. I think there are only two anyway - Tom at Cayman Kayaks and the Sweet Spot at Kaibo.

 

[indigo_dc]

We went with Danny from Cayman Sea Elements, for both the Mangrove Kayak Trip and the bio bay trip.

 

[Testudo]

Good to know there is another bio-bay tour option. Thanks!