A Sea Full Of Stars

The boat engine cuts out and the lights turn off.

The captain jumps into the inky black water and immediately glows a beautiful emerald green colour. Tiny sparkles shoot off in all directions with each sweeping stroke.

You can’t wait to experience it for yourself. You put your mask on and hold it tightly as you jump into the water.

Instantly you’re surrounded by sparkling green flecks of light, that flash ever so briefly and then they’re gone.

You swim through the twinkling darkness and your breath catches in the back of your throat.

A real pinch-me moment.

Stay still and nothing happens, start moving and you’re swimming in a sea full of stars.

How can this be real?

Your shimmering green aura is mesmerising.

You wish you could stay in this moment forever.

Bioluminescent Plankton Snorkelling in Krabi, Thailand

Arriving in Krabi was a little disheartening, it felt empty and rundown and in my opinion, it lacked that authentic Thai atmosphere.

Of course, it is a commercialised city and at the moment it is the low season in Thailand, so maybe it would be different in the high season.

We were there for 4 nights and began to wonder what we would do.

I don’t like to plan all of the activities to a T, there needs to be room for spontaneous decisions and to see what’s available.

When we arrived, we booked a ‘7 Islands Sunset Tour’ and noticed that bioluminescent swimming was included. I was excited about this part of the tour but I didn’t know what to expect.

I’ve seen bioluminescence before during a nighttime walking tour on the beach on my home island of Jersey. It was beautiful and mesmerising then but I only saw it on sand and snorkelling was a whole new experience.

We headed out on the snorkelling trip with 15 other tourists on a longtail boat.

We had an awesome afternoon, stopping at 3 different spots to snorkel, seeing the famous Railay beach and Chicken Island and enjoying a generous buffet dinner watching the sunset.

Then it was time for the main event!

With both my partner Brett and I being Marine Biologists, we were incredibly excited as soon as we saw the bioluminescence and couldn’t wait to jump in the water!

A Little Science Lesson For You:

Plankton are tiny microorganisms that have a diurnal cycle of migration, meaning that they migrate downwards during the day to the depths of the sea to avoid predators and then they migrate upwards at night to feed.

The kind of plankton that are bioluminescent are called dinoflagellates. They glow for a fraction of a second when the water is agitated, to protect themselves from predators.

Plankton glow because they produce a luciferin-luciferase reaction, luciferin is the compound that actually produces the light.

If you have seen pictures or have experienced bioluminescence in person, you will notice that the glow is usually blue or green in marine systems. This is because most marine organisms are only sensitive to these colours and they cannot sense yellow, red or violet.

Bonus information! Plankton get their name from the Greek for ‘drifter’ or ‘wanderer’, because they are marine drifters that get carried by the tides and currents.

Bioluminescence is a natural wonder and something that everyone should get the chance to see in their lives. It’s utterly amazing and I just had to share this experience with you all!

Would you like to try snorkelling with bioluminescent plankton? Let me know in the comments!

If you enjoyed this blog, be sure to check out my other travel diaries here!