TL;DR I recommend going during a new moon in August or possibly July. Make sure the skies/weather are clear at night, no clouds or wildfire smoke. Start paddling at least 90 minutes after sunset, but not much later. Go to one of these 5 spots:

• Mystery Bay / Scow Bay near Fort Flagler
• Bayview Trailhead near Port Gamble
• Chuckanut Bay / Teddy Bear Cove (near Bellingham) via chuckanut pocket estuary
• Bowman Bay and Lottie Bay at Deception Pass, either via Bowman Bay parking lot or Rosario Beach parking lot
• Nisqually Reach (near Olympia) via WDFW Luhr Beach boat launch. Call ahead of time to avoid a ticket
• (honorable mention) The boat launch at the northwest corner of the Hood Canal Floating bridge. There are a lot of artificial lights, but there are CRABS that hang out on the boat launch at night and still a couple of decent spots for bioluminescence.

On the other hand, if you feel uncomfortable paddling without a guide, don’t have friends to go with, or don’t own a kayak/paddleboard, you should consider booking a tour through Olympic Outdoor Center at Port Gamble or looking for a tour operator at Bowman Bay / Deception Pass (I don’t know who offers tours there, but I know they exist because we bumped into them during our visit)

All photos are marked-up screenshots taken while using Google Maps.

I traditionally do a bunch of kayaking and paddleboarding in the area, but before this summer, I had never seen the bioluminescent plankton in Puget Sound. I decided to make it a goal of mine to experience it. This is especially important to me since I organize kayaking meetups, and I want to make sure that the attendees of my future activities have the best possible experience. Anyways, I spent a lot of time researching the “best spots”, scouring through hundreds of comments scattered across numerous reddit posts, but I was overwhelmed by the number of suggestions. I decided to try a bunch of different spots to find out which are legit and which are crap, then report back on my favorites in one convenient post (rather than scattered across tons of comments). I hope that you find this post helpful!

To be transparent, I didn’t visit every spot that was suggested, only spots that multiple people suggested. Also, I haven’t tried bioluminescence on the San Juan Islands, even though they were highly recommended. They are difficult to get to (requiring a ferry) and would have required staying overnight and I just didn’t have time or energy for that this summer. I also didn’t get around to visiting most inlets of the south sound even though they look promising, specifically Eld Inlet and Totten Inlet.

What is bioluminescence like? Is it worth it?

On a good day, yes, it’s definitely worth it. It is really magical and surreal to see the water light up and definitely worth seeing at least once in your life. I see myself doing it twice per summer in future years, and that’s despite all of the difficulties – going late at night, paddling in the dark, getting salty, etc.

Bioluminescent plankton lights up when you disturb the water. Full disclosure – I am not a marine biologist and I’m just doing my best to convey what I saw. I feel like I see two different types of “light shows” when the bioluminescent plankton is disturbed. I am not suggesting that these are two different species of plankton. Quite the opposite. I would suspect that they are the same species since they usually occur next to each other. I suspect that it has more to do with the concentration of the plankton.

The first form (presumably when it isn’t as concentrated) looks like speckles of light in the water that glisten for a brief moment, maybe a second. They are similar in size to snowflakes. Just like how large snowflake clumps can form in a blizzard, sometimes these “plankton snowflakes” can form clumps and look a lot bigger as well.

The second form (presumably when it is really concentrated) looks like solid waves/bands of light. If you are paddling fast enough, the bow of your kayak or paddleboard will have thick waves of light hitting it.

People online said that the bioluminescence looks teal or green, but I would emphasize that it looks more white than anything, with maybe a tinge of teal or green thrown in. I have seen a bit of a range in color. In my anecdotal experience, it seems to depend on the location; I saw teal OR green in a given location, but not both.

Which month is best?

Bioluminescent plankton live in Puget Sound year-round, but summer nights are best because that’s when the plankton is really thriving. My understanding is that it’s a combination of sunlight and warmer water. In my experience, August was the best month, with July just behind that. I didn’t go in September but have heard on Reddit and from tour operators that it isn’t as good. I went in June, but speaking from my own anecdotal experience, it wasn’t as strong as in July and August. Even though June has tons of sunlight, perhaps the water hadn’t warmed up enough for the plankton to thrive. The other issue with June in my experience is that western Washington still has quite a few cloudy days in June. More on why clouds matter in a moment.

Another reason why August is better is that the days are considerably shorter, meaning it gets darker sooner, meaning you can start paddling sooner, meaning you get back home sooner, meaning you are less likely to fall asleep at the wheel driving back home and less likely to be tired at work the next day. Again, more on why darkness matters in a moment.

If you have a choice, I would recommend only going in August, or possibly July. There are only a few reasons (that I can think of) why someone should go at any other time:

• You REALLY want to see it and can’t wait till August. Maybe you’re concerned that there could be a wildfire in August which will ruin the clear skies for that three-night window.
• You missed it. By the time you got around to planning this and reading this post, it is already September. Or you want to go on a guided tour, but all of the tours in July and August are already sold out.
• You aren’t going to be in town in August. You are a tourist and your trip is going to be in June or September, or you live here but are going to be out of town traveling in August.

What conditions are best for viewing bioluminescence?

Bioluminescence is more visible the darker your surroundings are. You want to eliminate as much light as possible from your environment. The visibility of the light from the plankton is based on their contrast with the rest of the light in your surroundings, since your eyes will adjust to whatever the ambient brightness of your environment is.

I highly recommend going during a new moon. This is quite common advice. What most people might NOT know is that you actually have some leeway on this. You really have at least three nights; the night of the new moon, and at least one night on either side. I never tried going further on either side of a new moon, but I suspect you would have a solid three days on either side of the new moon before the moon starts having serious effects on your experience. That would give you a week total.

In fact, I think the bigger issue is light pollution and cloudy skies.

First, let’s discuss light pollution on its own. Even a small amount of light pollution in the IMMEDIATE vicinity can cause problems. Sometimes you can go around a small cape to hide yourself from the light, but sometimes you can’t. Even a bridge with streetlamps or a few houses with lights angled out at the water can drown out bioluminescence. This is why certain heavily developed spots like Bremerton / Dyes Inlet and Poulsbo didn’t make it onto my short list. I don’t know why anyone on Reddit ever suggested those.

On cloudy days, you won’t just have light pollution from your immediate surroundings, you’ll also have light pollution from any lights or developments from tens of miles away. Clouds have a very strong reflective effect with light pollution. The light travels upwards from the lamps/buildings, reflects off the sky, then comes back down to you sitting on the water, miles away, and ruins your view. I did not realize the exact extent of this until I tried bioluminescence paddling. The Pacific Northwest is an amazing place, but because of that, a lot of people want to live here. There is a lot of development everywhere, and most of the best bioluminescence spots have cities or towns nearby. Teddy Bear Cove is near Bellingham and Nisqually Reach is near Tacoma. On cloudy nights, the light pollution from these towns dominates the skies. It doesn’t necessarily need to be a big town either. Small towns like Port Gamble or even a sole industrial building or oil refinery can generate a ton of light pollution on a cloudy night. Even a spot that normally doesn’t have issues with light pollution will probably have issues with light pollution on a cloudy day.

On a related note, I strongly suspect that wildfire smoke would also pose the same problem as clouds. We were fortunate enough to not have any wildfire smoke in the Puget Sound region during any of our new moons this summer, so I can’t confirm this.

The sun needs to be COMPLETELY down in order to see bioluminescence. But contrary to advice I’ve seen on other posts, it doesn’t need to be the literal middle of the night. We are at a high latitude in Washington State, so during the summer months, our sunsets take quite a while after the sun officially goes down for all light to completely disappear; I’d say 90 minutes. But after that, it doesn’t get any darker. Despite what other advice you might hear, you don’t need to go in the absolute middle of the night. In fact, I have found the exact opposite advice to be true. It is better to go earlier. In Washington State, we have a common weather pattern where clouds form during the night as the air cools and moisture condenses, and clouds “boil off” during the day. Have you ever noticed that most of our summer days start off cloudy, but we usually have a cloud-free sunset? Well, if you go paddling later at night like 1 or 2 AM, you may find yourself on the flip side of that where you’ll watch the skies magically become cloudy. Speaking from personal experience here. And as already mentioned, when you have clouds, you have shitty bioluminescence viewing.

Technique

I’ve talked a lot about planning and preparation in order to reduce the amount of light you experience during your paddle, but there is still a lot that you can do DURING your paddle to reduce the amount of ambient light from your surroundings even further. For one, you can try to get away from any lights you can see, maybe by going around a cape. Second, try paddling close to shore, especially if there is a cliff or trees. The shoreline will usually create a local shadow for you, and if you paddle on the side of your kayak closest to the shore, the bioluminescence will be much brighter than on the other side. Small coves are the best since they shield you from light on all sides. Explore and experiment a bit to find a good spot.

The way you disturb the water with your paddle can also have an effect on how visible the bioluminescence is. I find that the best way to see it is to do a gentle backstroke, skimming my kayak paddle along the surface of the water. Again, I recommend experimenting with different strokes and angles.

Safety

Kayaking at night can be really dangerous if you are unprepared and unaware of the hazards. I have created a list of safety tips for kayaking at night, but this is not an exhaustive list of everything that can go wrong, and even if you do everything right, something bad can still happen. I am not certified in kayak safety.

• Do not do this if this is your first time kayaking. You should have at least some amount of prior experience kayaking during the daytime.
• Go with friends! Not only does this make everyone in the group collectively safer during the paddle, but It’ll also make the drive more fun and keep you awake while driving.
• Bring coffee to drink during the drive, if you have a long drive.
• Wear a life vest. Consider using a leash as well. Do not use a leash if there are currents, but also don’t paddle at night in currents.
• Look at a map beforehand and make an unambitious paddle plan. You don’t need to go far in order to experience fantastic bioluminescence. During daytime paddles, covering lots of distance is nice because it gives you a change of scenery. At night, you can’t appreciate the change in scenery, just the bioluminescence, and that doesn’t change much based on where you paddle. Choose sheltered bodies of water and plan to stay very close to the shore.
• Paddling at night limits your vision, which creates unique hazards. It is easy to get lost and hard to gauge distances, even for people who have a great sense of direction during the day or on land. Hazards like submerged rocks or tree limbs can be invisible, so it’s even more important to paddle slowly. It can be hard to tell from shore at the launch point how choppy the water far from shore will be. Also, many people are scared of the dark and get anxious. If something small goes wrong, it’s easy for people to spiral into incoherent reasoning, leading to a disaster. You are also very hard for motorized vessels to see, although to be fair, I think it would be rare to see one at night close to the shore. During my 12 stops this summer, I never encountered a single vessel under power.
• Paddle together as a very tight group so that nobody gets lost. Assign everyone a number or letter and do a roll call periodically, if your group is large enough. Paddle very slowly. Water in the Puget Sound is incredibly cold, even in the summer, and it kills very quickly if you fall in. A life vest doesn’t protect you from hypothermia. Stay close together so that if someone falls in or something happens, they can get help. If you have been staying close to shore, it may be best to swim to shore and re-compose your group. That being said, sometimes the terrain on the shore is unfavorable. For this reason, I recommend having at least one paddleboard in your group. It’s much easier to get an incapacitated person out of the water onto a paddleboard than a kayak, and from there you can shuttle them to more favorable terrain.
• You are legally required to carry a whistle and a signaling light. The whistle will be useful to find anyone who falls in, since you might not be able to see them in the dark. The signaling light can be as simple as a cell phone light, but I recommend using a water-resistant headlamp so that you can easily turn it on or off without reaching into your drybag. Besides, these are also useful for setting up and walking to/from your launch spot. I would also recommend getting a pair of red-green marine navigation lights. I would turn these off when you are in the middle of a prime bioluminescence viewing area, but keep them on during your paddle to/from the area.
• Check the weather beforehand. Not just for clouds, but also wind and tides. When you arrive, assess the conditions. Ask yourself if you can safely paddle in those conditions. Be honest with yourself and acknowledge your skill level and capabilities. In the dark, it will be hard to tell how choppy or hazardous the water is from your launch site. Have the courage and humility to turn back if you realize after you start paddling that conditions were worse than you realized from your initial decision at the launch site.
• Beach terrain on Washington beaches can be really rough. I recommend getting a pair of neoprene diving boots instead of beach shoes/creek shoes. I recommend a pair by Cressi on Amazon.

Here is a breakdown of my experiences at each spot:

(all dates are 2025 and refer to the night that my trip began, so AM times are technically from the following day)

• June 24th
  • Chuckanut Bay / Teddy Bear Cove
    • Began paddling at 11:15 PM, ended paddle at 1 AM. My group and I parked at Chuckanut Pocket Estuary, which I believe was a pretty convenient and effective launch spot. You have to paddle under a railroad bridge in the northwest corner before reaching most of the action, but the railroad jetty creates very calm sheltered water at the launch spot so that you can safely begin your trip. Unfortunately, we went on a night with very cloudy skies and as a result, there was a ton of light pollution from Bellingham. That being said, I went back by myself in August and it ended up being one of the best spots, so please read my later entry below! To be fully transparent, we didn’t actually go to Teddy Bear Cove because I didn’t realize that Teddy Bear Cove is in fact the tiny cove nestled within Chuckanut Bay. I actually thought that the entirety of Chuckanut Bay was called Teddy Bear Cove. FAIL! Please check the photo. The way that Teddy Bear Cove has steep walls for 270 degrees, it is very possible that we would have had excellent bioluminescence if we had gone there, despite the clouds and light pollution. We had very little wind, and the waters were calm in both the estuary and the bay, but keep in mind that this might not always be the case. Be prepared to turn back if you encounter choppy waters after going under the bridge and don’t feel comfortable. Also, we encountered a fairly strong tidal current going underneath the bridge, so I recommend untying any leashes for that portion. In addition to the reflected light pollution from Bellingham, there was a bit of direct light pollution from houses surrounding the bay. Despite this, we still managed to see a bit of bioluminescence in a few spots (illustrated in the photo), but they didn’t stand out too much and looked more dim light grey than glowing blue-white.
• June 25th
  • Nisqually Reach
    • Began paddling at 11 PM, ended paddle at 12:30 AM. We parked at the WDFW Luhr Beach boat launch, but had some issues. The lot is technically closed at night, and you risk getting a parking ticket if you park there. A park employee who lives permanently at the Nisqually Reach Nature Center (the cottage next to the boat launch) came out to tell us this. After discussing our situation and intentions with her, she was kind enough to tell us that she would call the police and encourage them NOT to swing by and give us parking tickets, and she advised us to call her or WDFW to get permission in advance for future visits. Please keep in mind that there is no parking anywhere else near the boat launch parking lot. As for the paddle, we had a great experience overall. We found several spots with thick bands of bioluminescent light. We had relatively clear skies with a few clouds and a bit of light pollution from Tacoma, but nothing terrible. There was also a bit of direct light pollution from the boat launch and houses on the cliffs to the northwest, but it wasn’t too bad either. Perhaps counterintuitively, the light pollution from the houses atop the cliffs was hidden when we got really close to the houses/cliffs. That being said, I think the bioluminescence viewing was better along the cliffs SOUTH of the boat launch. Of all the spots I visited, Nisqually Reach was one of the best. Considering that it was still June when we went and we had some clouds / reflected light pollution, I strongly suspect that this spot would be even better in July and August and compare quite closely to my other recommendations.
• July 24th
  • Silverdale / Dyes Inlet / Bremerton
    • Began paddling at 10:30 PM, ended paddle at 11 PM. We parked at and launched from Silverdale Waterfront Park. The staircase that we launched from was a bit awkward and slippery at the bottom. There was ample parking in the lot and on the street and no gate. Despite having clear skies, we saw very little bioluminescence, just sparse, small, dim, grey snowflakes. There was a ton of direct light pollution from all of the buildings around the bay; it is very heavily developed, and I’m left wondering why anybody ever suggested it. We even paddled out into the bay quite a ways but still had light pollution and could barely see it. We didn’t explore the entire bay, so maybe there are better spots, but I wouldn’t waste your time on it.
  • Hood Canal Floating Bridge Boat Ramp
    • Began paddling at 11:55 AM, ended paddle at 1 AM. There was ample parking at the boat launch and no gate. Skies were perfectly clear, but there is still a lot of direct light pollution at this spot coming from the bridge, including the cars and trucks that drive across it every minute or so, even in the middle of the night. If you are driving anywhere near here to visit a different spot (Mystery Bay or Bayview Trailhead), I recommend stopping at this boat launch and using your headlamp to observe the crabs, but I’d probably recommend against actually paddling here. There are tons of crabs of all shapes and sizes that hang out at night on the boat launch at night and seem to not be afraid of people walking around in the water with headlamps. There are also shrimp with phosphorescent pink/orange antennae. The water was calm while we were here, but I suspect that this spot could have issues with dangerous tidal currents, since the launch is at a bottleneck where water would enter/exit the Hood Canal during a tidal exchange. There are actually a couple of great spots for bioluminescence here when you manage to find a dark spot secluded from the light pollution, but I personally didn’t like the vibe of the yellow industrial lights and I was so annoyed by the amount of light pollution constantly ruining my view, especially the cars. I’d sit waiting two minutes for a car to drive across the bridge, and by the time it passed and my eyes re-adjusted, another car would enter the picture. Besides, even the darkest/best areas fell a tad short of the bioluminescence viewing at my other recommended spots. This may be a good choice if you are afraid of paddling in the dark, though. We found one spot immediately next to the concrete wall along the bridge on the north side that was sheltered from the light. We found another good spot a bit northwest of the bridge. Check out the photo.
  • Bayview Trailhead near Port Gamble
    • Began paddling at 1:20 AM, ended paddle at 1:35 AM. This spot had some of the best bioluminescence I saw this summer. I saw thick bands of bioluminescence as well as tons of snowflakes. It also had the least direct light pollution of anywhere I visited. I also lucked out with perfectly clear skies; clouds didn’t start forming until right after I finished. This spot is a bit difficult to get to, though. There is ample parking in the parking lot, but you have to hike with your gear 5 minutes each way up/down a gentle hill, and then climb up/down a steep 6 ft bank/cliff of sorts. Please be careful! There was one section that had a couple steps, so I didn’t find it difficult with a paddleboard and with friends, but it might be difficult with a heavier boat by yourself. The water is fairly sheltered and was very calm when I visited. I didn’t stay long or explore much because it was late and the spots that I found right next to the launch were so superb and satisfying. I recommend hugging the cliff/shore in either direction from the launch. If you want to paddle here but are intimidated by the walk or the climb, you may want to consider the bioluminescence kayaking tours that launch from Port Gamble a couple of miles to the north. It is my understanding that the tour heads south, towards this beach.
  • Poulsbo / Liberty Bay
    • Began paddling at 2:05 AM, ended paddle at 2:30 AM. This was my last stop of the night, and unfortunately, the skies had become cloudy by this point. That being said, there was so much direct light pollution from the lights from the town that I don’t think it would have mattered much. I parked at Liberty Bay Waterfront Park and launched from the stairs. The water was calm and sheltered, which you would expect in a harbor where boats are moored. Despite the issues with light pollution, I saw the largest clumps of bioluminescent snowflakes of the summer; the problem is that they were so sparse and dim that it still didn’t come close to my experiences at other spots, in my opinion. I DID see a ton of raccoons hanging out on the shore though, so that was kinda cool.
• July 25th
  • Bowman Bay and Lottie Bay at Deception Pass
    • Began paddling at 10:20 PM, ended paddle at 12:05 AM. The bioluminescence was absolutely incredible and is neck and neck with the other spots I recommended. There are a couple of issues with safety, parking, and logistics, though. There are two parking lots to launch from: Bowman Bay Boat Launch and Rosario Beach. However, unfortunately, the gates are locked shortly after sunset (around 10 PM on the day we went). We parked right outside the gate of Rosario Beach, which is fortunately right next to the parking lot and doesn’t add much distance to the walk to the pier. On the other hand, the gate at Bowman Bay Boat Launch is at the top of the hill and would involve a prohibitively difficult walk to the beach (maybe a mile total, uphill/downhill, with gear). This is unfortunate because I think Bowman Bay Boat Launch would be the safer spot to launch from. It may be worth calling the rangers to explain the situation and ask them nicely if they would be willing to leave the gate open for you. Alternatively, there is a third option to hike the trail down to Lottie Bay directly from highway 20, but I haven’t hiked it and I imagine that it would be very steep and dangerous/difficult to do with a paddleboard at night. When we went, we launched from the pier at Red Rock Beach / Sharpe Cove / the south side of Rosario Head. We bumped into a guided tour while we were at the dock. We found amazing bioluminescence right in Sharpe Cove, but after paddling into Bowman Bay, we experienced choppy water / waves. Normally this wouldn’t be too big of an issue, but it was dark and the coastline between Sharpe Cove and Bowman Bay Boat Launch is a giant rocky cliff with nowhere to land in the event of an emergency. Furthermore, there are a lot of sharp, submerged rocks in the bay, especially along the cliff. We ended up hugging the cliffs, weaving between submerged rocks, until we reached Bowman Bay Boat Launch. Then we paddled south underneath the damaged pier and past another (much smaller) cliff then portaged over to Lottie Bay, which had the best bioluminescence in my opinion. On the way back, we took a shortcut and cut across Bowman Bay. In retrospect, I regretted doing this. From shore, we couldn’t tell that the water was even choppier in the middle of the bay than we had experienced earlier. It was a bit nerve-racking doing that at night. In retrospect, I would probably recommend this spot only to advanced paddlers, recommend using headlamps when paddling between Sharpe Cove and Bowman Bay Boat Launch, and recommend sticking to the shores instead of cutting across the bay. Or possibly sticking exclusively to Sharpe Cove and skipping Lottie Bay if the water is choppy. As mentioned earlier, the bioluminescence was amazing, and we saw thick blue-white bands of light and tons of bright snowflakes. We had clear skies and there were only a couple lamps creating direct light pollution; it was the second-darkest spot I visited this summer, after Bayview / Port Gamble. Bowman Bay as a whole was great, but the highlights were Sharpe Cove and Lottie Bay. Sharpe Cove was fantastic, but I do think that Lottie Bay was slightly better and worth the effort if you can manage it.
• August 22nd
  • Chuckanut Bay / Teddy Bear Cove (again)
    • Began paddling at 12:20 AM, ended paddle at 1:35 AM. I visited Chuckanut Bay previously, but had much better results on this trip. My entry above discusses the logistics and some of the hazards which I will not be repeating here, so please read that entry as well. On this visit, I had cloud-free skies, and although there was still some direct light pollution from houses, I saw some of the best bioluminescence from my entire summer – solid bands of blue-white light. The center of the bay has very little bioluminescence, but the viewing is excellent along both the eastern shore and western shore (along the peninsula). There were also some decent pockets on the north side of the bay along the railroad jetty (on the bay side, not the estuary side). I recommend not cutting across Chuckanut Bay (especially if you are paddling alone) since it is a further distance than it appears and it’s an unnecessary hazard for night paddling. The best spot was definitely Teddy Bear Cove, a small cauldron surrounded on three sides by cliffs. It is marked on the photo.
• August 23rd
  • Belfair State Park
    • Began paddling at 11 PM, ended paddle at 11:14 PM. Despite having clear skies, I saw virtually no bioluminescence. I ended up not staying for long or exploring very far, so MAYBE the bioluminescence is out there somewhere, but I didn’t see even a trace. I also found the water to be very shallow and difficult to navigate. I kept getting caught on sandbars with deep mud / quicksand which was obnoxious to deal with. There was a bit of direct light pollution from lamps, but overall not bad. Also, keep in mind that the gate to the park closes at night. You can park on the street outside the park and carry your gear to the launch, but it is a bit far, maybe a 5 minute walk, and also why would you bother when there’s nothing to see?
  • Potlatch State Park
    • Began paddling at 11:47 PM, ended paddle at 12:09 AM. Despite having clear skies, I saw virtually no bioluminescence. There wasn’t much direct/nearby light pollution either – just a couple of lamps. I was surprised and disappointed because I had expected strong bioluminescence here due to the insane number of oysters in this part of Hood Canal (and oysters eat plankton). That being said, I didn’t venture too far, so perhaps other spots nearby would have been better, like the Skokomish Estuary to the southeast. Parking was an issue since the gate was locked. I parked illegally in front of the gate and carried my paddleboard over to the beach. It wasn’t too far, just a one-minute walk.
  • Triton Cove Tidelands / Triton Cove State Park
    • Began paddling at 12:32 AM, ended paddle at 1:05 AM. Despite having clear skies, I saw very little bioluminescence, just a few small “snowflakes”. There was some light pollution from nearby houses in most spots, but the bioluminescence was poor even in the dark spots.
  • WDFW Tidelands near Quilcene on Lingerlonger Road
    • Began paddling at 1:45 AM, ended paddle at 2:09 AM. Despite having clear skies, I saw virtually no bioluminescence. There was quite a bit of light pollution from an oyster factory further down the road, but even when I moved to an isolated spot, there was no bioluminescence visible.
  • Mystery Bay / Scow Bay
    • Began paddling at 2:55 AM, ended paddle at 3:33 AM. This was probably the best bioluminescence of all the spots I visited this summer. Despite being later into the night, I was fortunate to still have cloud-free skies. From the moment I got in the water, I could see an insane amount of bands of solid light from bioluminescence, even with the direct light pollution from the dock, and it only got better from there. There was also a decent amount of direct light pollution from moored sailboats. I found that the best spots were the darkest spots, which were across Mystery Bay (the small bay, not across the larger one) as well as around the cape just north of the pier. I saw thick bands of bioluminescence. The light skewed a bit on the green side in my opinion. You also have some light pollution from Port Townsend to the north when you go around that cape, though. There may have been other good spots in the bay that were less developed, but it was late and I was very satisfied, so I didn’t explore too thoroughly. There is ample parking and no locking gate. There may have been a parking fee, I can’t remember. The water in Mystery Bay is insanely sheltered – it’s a bay within a bay within a bay. I think it would be a safe choice for less-experienced paddlers who might be worried about chop/waves in Chuckanut bay or Bowman Bay.