Bioluminescence Kayak Tour
✒️ Written by: Abbie
As if walking up a volcano on a remote island wasn't enough hard work for one day, on our second full day in Auckland we layered up and spent the evening kayaking amongst bioluminescent plankton.
Bioluminescence is a chemical reaction resulting in a bright blue light emitted by various sea creatures including fish, jellyfish and, in our case, plankton. The Okura River and surrounding coastline just north of Auckland is the perfect spot to see this amazing phenomenon. We booked the activity through Get Your Guide, and on the day the tour providers messaged us to confirm the location once they had checked conditions such as wind, weather and tides.
We were halfway up Rangitoto volcano when we received confirmation of the evening location. It looked like a nightmare to get to, but once we worked out which bus to take (answer: Auckland to Albany) and the affordability of a taxi the remainder of the way (answer: only ~£4 each way) we realised it was totally doable and surely would be worth it (answer: YES).
After a quick dumpling stop at Sumthin Dumplin to re-energise following the volcano hike, we headed back to our hotel to swap our sweaty clothes for swimwear and layers. We packed our bag with the essentials: towel, woolly hat, beach shoes, and raincoats; then set off for our bus and taxi combo to arrive on time for an 8pm start. It was only a carpark where we all met–no toilets, no changing rooms, no fuss. The leaders were already there, with twelve or so kayaks spread out on the grass waiting for us.
The kayaks were open top and seated two people each, so I took the front and James took the rear. This meant I could put my good paddling skills to use setting the pace, and I could leave steering the thing up to James. Once we got on the water though, it wasn't long before we spotted the bioluminescence and realised we wouldn't really be paddling very far or very fast, as we all just started marvelling at the glowing blue lights.
We were in a group with two other couples (who knew each other) and our instructor Sarah. Much to our dismay, the two couples weren't the quickest rowers and somehow kept nearly getting stuck in the mangroves, so we definitely weren't going to end up paddling out to sea at any rate. Instead, we chilled out, took it steady, and spent most of our time flapping the paddles in the water to create disruption and make the plankton glow.
When the water is disturbed such as through waves, fish movement, or kayaks, the plankton undergo a quick oxidation process which triggers the chemical reaction causing blue light. When the river was steady and we weren't moving too much, it was difficult to see much bioluminescence at all–just the occasional glimmer. But with each stroke of the paddle, the water erupted into a bright blue light. We dappled our fingers in the water, which was warm to the touch, and could see little blue dots all over our hands. The kayaks beside us appeared to be glowing underneath as they glided through the calm river.
We spent about an hour and a half admiring the beauty of it and making gentle tracks downstream as the tide came in, providing resistance to our outward journey. The mangroves and trees lining the river peered at us and created their own speckles of bioluminescent light when the water underneath lapped at their branches and leaves. Perhaps if we had been kayaking in the ocean the waves would have shown us more glow, but we were so happy to be in the river with its eery atmosphere and winding corners where the trees narrowed our path.
When we headed back towards our start point, we continued marvelling at the blue specks and patches of ‘big blue’ where it was so concentrated we saw explosions of bioluminescence underneath our paddles. Until, closer to our base, it all just stopped… it faded a little then disappeared entirely only metres from where we started. We beached our kayaks and stumbled out, amazed at the phenomenon we just experienced.
Everyone was ecstatic, and the leaders all agreed it was a brighter night for bioluminescence than usual. We pulled our kayak back up the grass to the van and shedded our life jackets, thanking the guides and calling our taxi back to Albany bus station.
It was a magical evening, worth how tired we were by the end, and something we will never forget.
It was too dark and wet to be taking pictures, so here are some we found online which do accurately portray our experience:
