A guide to seeing the bioluminescence in Costa Rica (2025)
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Updated July 2025
Imagine swimming with your kids as the ocean lights up around you like something from a fairytale. Listening to them shrieking with joy as they jump into this magical water from the boat. This isn’t just a far-fetched dream – this is the absolute wonder of taking a bioluminescence Costa Rica tour. If you’re planning a family trip to Costa Rica and want to experience this amazing natural phenomenon then I promise you, it’s well worth including on your itinerary.
I’ll be honest, I’m not sure I’d even heard the term ‘bioluminescence’ before we started planning our trip to Costa Rica. It got a tiny mention in the Lonely Planet guidebook but nothing that made me think that this was something that HAD to be on our itinerary. Boy, how wrong I was!
Experiencing the bioluminescence in Costa Rica is nothing short of absolutely magical. It’s one of those real bucket-list moments for the whole family. Whether you opt for a tour that let’s you swim or kayak through it, it’s absolutely not to be missed. This was an experience that was easy to do with kids too and they will LOVE watching the water glow and sparkle around them like stardust. We spent several weeks travelling through Costa Rica and this was one of the absolute highlights.
If your kids love a bit of glow-in-the-dark magic then this is the tour for them – and even younger kids can enjoy it safely.
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What is bioluminescence?
Apart from being a very long word that I find hard to spell, bioluminescence is the light that is emitted from a living organism. In the sea off Costa Rica this other-worldly, sparkly blue light is emitted by the plankton in the water.
Bioluminescence can be spotted in oceans around the world, in some places even rolling in with the waves as they crash on the beach. In certain parts of the world this depends on the atmospheric conditions, but the bioluminescence in Costa Rica can, on the whole, be seen in the ocean year-round.
Where can you see bioluminescence in Costa Rica?
There are two locations where you can see the bioluminescence in Costa Rica fairly reliably all year round. These are:
- Puntas Cuchillos, near the town of Paquera at the base of the Nicoya Peninsula on the Pacific Coast
- Golfo Duce on the Osa Peninsula which is at the far South of the Costa Rican Pacific Coast (near to Corcovado National Park
Whilst you may well see bioluminescence in the ocean elsewhere in Costa Rica, these are the two spots that are more reliable for sightings. This is also why the vast majority of bioluminescence tours in Costa Rica operate in these areas.
In fact, the area around Puntas Cuchillos is generally considered to be one of the best places in the world to see bioluminescence in the ocean.
Many of the tours of the Puntas Cuchillos area operate out of not only nearby Paquera, but also from the small towns of Montezuma, Cabuya and Santa Teresa. These are lovely, off-the-beaten track places to spend a few days during your stay in Costa Rica.
We experienced the bioluminescence on a tour of Puntas Cuchillos from Montezuma.
When is the best time to see bioluminescence in Costa Rica?
Whilst you can see the bioluminescence around Paquera Bay/Puntas Cuchillos and Golfo Duce year-round, the glow is much brighter on darker nights. Because of this it’s best to try and avoid dates around the full moon. Whilst you can still see the bioluminescence on a full moon, it’s just not *quite* as spectacular.
The ideal time to see the bioluminescence in Costa Rica is during the new moon phase when the nights are at their darkest.
Again, you can visit during rainy session but as there is often rain in the afternoons/evenings this can affect visibility. The dry season (November-April) gives you the best chance of good, calm weather.
What is the best way to see the bioluminescence with kids?
There are two main options for seeing the bioluminescence in Costa Rica – via boat or on a kayak.
Boat tours: best option for the whole family
We felt that the best option for seeing the bioluminescence with kids was to take a boat tour. As adults we would have loved the kayaking option see more on this below) but felt that this might have been too much for the boys (especially in the dark).
There’s plenty of choice when it comes to booking a bioluminescence boat tour in the Puntas Cuchillas region. Most boat tours will follow a very similar itinerary and prices tend not to fluctuate too much between providers.
We booked our tour through Cabo Blanco Travellers, who have an office in Montezuma. They were super helpful – we only booked one day in advance for our group of five.
The boat tour starts in Montezuma at 5pm; the boat leaves from the beach. The initial boat ride took around 45-minutes and takes you along the rugged Costa Rica coastline. This is a pretty spectacular sight in itself! I hadn’t really appreciated that one of the bonuses of taking a tour from Montezuma would be the boat ride itself as the evening sun went down.
Once you’ve reached the Puntas Cuchillos area the boat docks in a small bay. You’ll hang out here to watch the sunset and have a drink and some fruit on the beach. This was all included in our tour – there were plenty of drink options and loads of fruit which the boys loved. There’s also a tiny bar in amongst the trees so you can order cocktails or other drinks if you want to.
We all had a swim in the sea which was gorgeous as the light faded. There were also hundreds of hermit crabs on the beach which the boys happily spent ages sitting and watching. It was a really beautiful spot to chill out for an hour or so.
Once it was completely pitch dark it was back on the boat. We only sailed for about 5-minutes out in to the ocean before they cut the engine and told us to put our hands in the water.
Straight away you could see the sparkles of the bioluminescence glowing with every bit of movement. We all jumped in and it was honestly out of this world – the boys were beside themselves as they swam around in the water, every tiny movement generating sparkles that didn’t seem real. When you dipped your face/hair in the water you came back up sparkling!
We spent a long time swimming in the stardust of the ocean. The boys also jumped in over and over again from the boat, as the huge splashes made waves of bioluminescence.
It was absolutely unbelievable, and one of those moments where I was just completely overwhelmed (and a bit tearful!).
We had plenty of time to swim (I lost track of time, but it must have been at least 45-minutes in the water). The boat back to land took around 20-25minutes, then it was a drive back to Montezuma (about another 45minutes).
The whole experience was so magical and I would honestly recommend this as one of the very best things to do with kids in Costa Rica.
Our tour with Cabo Blanco Travellers came in at £235 for three adults and two children.
Kayak tours: for older kids and teens
This is something we would have LOVED to do but felt that our boys (aged 7 and 9 at the time) were a bit young for kayaking at night. Plus, all the tour operators we spoke to in Costa Rica recommended that children were a minimum age of 10 for the kayaking tours.
Still, if you have slightly older kids then you can opt for this and experience the thrill of watching the sparkles appear every time you put your kayak oar in the water!
Most kayaking tours from the Paquera region last for around 1.5-2 hours and take you out paddling through the calmer areas of the shoreline. Group sizes are generally up to 10 people so these are smaller tours.
Several of the tours include a stop for drinks and fresh fruit. However, unlike the boat tours they don’t tend to include hotel drop off after the tour.
Where to stay nearby
As with most of our travel in Costa Rica as a family, we wanted a base for at least a few days. After a lot of research we opted for the tiny village of Cabuya, right at the tip of the Nicoya Peninsula.
Cabuya is a beautiful, peaceful string of low-rise buildings right outside Cabo Blanco National Park. Cabo Blanco is the smallest national park in Costa Rica. The neighbouring town of Montezuma (where most bioluminescence tours in this area operate from) is still pretty small but has much more in the way of accommodation, restaurants, shops and bars. From Montezuma, Cabuya is around a 15min drive along the very uneven, unpaved road This was definitely the most challenging bit of our driving in Costa Rica! However, there are no rivers to cross or major hazards – just a slow drive winding between the potholes.
If you are planning to hire a car in Costa Rica we’ve got a host of tips for you in our post on driving in Costa Rica.
Cabuya has a handful of places to stay and 3-4 eateries spread out along the main (very quiet) road. We stayed in a fabulous cabin at Villas Cabuya Beach and Jungle, which comprises 4 cabins around a communal pool. We pretty much had the pool to ourselves so we spent quite a while just chilling out here.
The entrance to Cabo Blanco National Park is just down the road from the cabins.
In total we paid £254 for a three night stay for five people (the cabin slept up to six).
Alternatively you can opt to stay in Montezuma. Montezuma is still pretty small but has a chilled out vibe and a bit of a buzz about it. There are a whole string of fairly deserted beaches between Montezuma and Cabuya with some pretty spectacular wave action too which are worth checking out. Be careful with the waves and riptides here if you’re visiting with kids. The beaches are beautiful and wild but we didn’t find them to be the most family-friendly for swimming or paddling!
Tips for seeing the bioluminescence in Costa Rica
- There are very, very few ATMs in the Southern part of the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica. Lots of places ask for payment in cash (including accommodation and tours). Make sure you take plenty of cash with you before you travel!
- For the bioluminescence tour, you will board/disembark the boat by wading through the water, so make sure you’re wearing the right clothing from the start
- You really don’t need to take very much with you on a bioluminescence tour – we had a backpack with the usual snacks for the kids, GoPro, towels etc but we didn’t really need any of this.
- Unless you’re a real photography pro, leave the camera at home – it’s incredibly difficult to get good shots of the bioluminescence so just enjoy it instead!
If you’re planning a family trip to Costa Rica, seeing the bioluminescence should absolutely make your shortlist. Whether you choose a relaxed boat tour from Montezuma or a more adventurous kayak outing near Paquera, this glowing ocean experience is one of the most magical things to do in Costa Rica with kids. Just remember—the best time to see the bioluminescence in Costa Rica is during the new moon when skies are darkest.
And if you’re travelling with younger children, a boat tour is usually the safest and most family-friendly option. Trust me: your kids will be talking about swimming through glowing stardust long after you’ve left. For more tips on Costa Rica family travel, be sure to check out our guides on beaches, wildlife, and road trips!
Planning a family adventure to Costa Rica?
Costa Rica is a destination that offers SO much for adventurous families. Check out our other posts below for more inspiration on where to visit, what to do and where to stay (oh, and how much it might all cost you too!).
Sounds magical Julia!
Loving all the tips and advice. X
Ah, thanks! It was so fab 🙂