After re-combobulating, Sean and I awoke from our nap and walked up to Discovery Sea Kayak to check in for our bioluminescence tour.
We were told to arrive at 7pm, an hour before sunset – that’s when we would set off for the launch site. We lucked out. Besides us and the guide, there were only two other couples who also turned up for the kayaking trip.
We hopped into the van and Jason, our guide, drove us out towards a super secret location – Jackson Beach at North Bay. Although the area was somewhat secluded, I was surprised that there were no one else on the beach or the water.
Jason helped to suit us up and primed us on how to climb in, paddle, steer and disembark the kayak. Truth be told, I was a little nervous, as we were going to be out in the water for a good few hours. The last time I was on water for that long, I was stricken with reverse seasickness. This time, I wore a couple of seabands. Just in case. I’m not even sure if that worked, as the water was really calm and still, but I do know that I wasn’t Miss Weeble Wobble when we got back to the Island Inn.
By the time we got into the water, dusk had descended. Pretty soon, we were night paddling. Sean did most of the paddling in the front of the kayak, while I handled the steering in the back. Having never kayaked before, especially at night, it was both exciting and a touch nerve-wracking. We were expected to paddle quite a bit of distance before seeing some glowing dinoflagellates. But that was good because it would help our eyes adapt to pitch dark night.
We paddled past Dinner Island, until we reached either Merrifield or Mulno Cove. And then we were shown something incredible. The phenomenon that is marine bioluminescence. At first, it was very subtle, but as our eyes had grown accustomed to the blackness, we soon saw explosions of what I’d call, magical pixie dust. Every slap of our paddle or wave of our hands would ignite miniature auroras.
And the bow of the kayak! Whenever we paddled forward, the bioluminescence glitter would just cut a v-shaped swarth around the kayak, leaving a meteoric trail of light behind us. I almost felt bad that Sean wasn’t sitting in the back to see its breadth. Like children, we couldn’t stop laughing. And marvelling!
But let us not forget to look up. The no light pollution environment enabled us to see a ceiling of stars. Stars above us. Stars below us. Although the wall of stars I saw during my aurora borealis trip to Whitehorse in March of 2012 was more jaw-dropping, this was not too shabby.
Jason also had us converge together so that the kayaks were held side by side. He then gave us his lamplight to shine underwater, so that we could see all the marine creatures, which were causing the bioluminescence.
How could residents who live on San Juan Island not want to kayak every night in these waters? If we lived on the island, we would be out every opportunity. Even as we paddled back to shore, the pixie dust water never let up and more importantly, never ceased to fascinate us.
A couple times during our trip, I was almost moved to tears by such beauty. That the universe has created something so breathtaking, and that we get to live in a world like this. And that I am lucky to experience this.
When we arrived on the island, we checked out Discovery Sea Kayaks in person, to see what it was all about. I likened it to booking a tour to see orca whales. You go out there into the water, but it doesn’t mean you’ll see them.
Skeptic yet hopeful, I had joked with Richard, the owner/operator of DSK and asked him if I was really going to see “bioluminescence” this night. He looked straight at me and told me to come back in tomorrow and let him know what I saw.
Little did I know, he had quite the laugh on my behalf, as he warned Jason that “someone” on tonight’s tour had dared asked that question. When I had brought up my conversation during our paddle back, our guide realize that that had been me.
Me, who given the opportunity, would’ve stayed out on the water all night just so I could run my hands through the water until they were pruny. Me, who if I wore a wetsuit and fins on, would’ve jumped right into the water.
The brochure couldn’t have been more accurate as to what one should expect. The bioluminescence tour delivered in spades. And more.
And lastly, me, who can’t wait to come back next summer to experience it again. If Sean and I did absolutely nothing else on this getaway, this would be enough.
View more photos of our getaway on my Flickr album.
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