Bioluminescence Night Dive, which location has the most dazzling offering? Cozumel, Jamaica or Roatan?

[USdiver1]

There is also a brackish lagoon outside of Bogota, Colombia that had the same density and brightness but I completely forget the name of it. That was an absolutely amazing dive, too.

Bogota is at 8,600 ft elevation, did you mean Baranquilla and La Cienega lagoon to its east?

I seem to remember a bioluminescence outside of Cartagena, Isla Baru IIRC.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

Bogota is at 8,600 ft elevation, did you mean Baranquilla and La Cienega lagoon to its east?

I seem to remember a bioluminescence outside of Cartagena, Isla Baru IIRC.

It was def outside Bogota but now I have to go through my old trips to figure it out. We were staying on a Finca in the foothills.

 

[captain]

La Parguera Bioluminescent Bay

La Parguera is a bioluminescent bay found in the southern town of Lajas— a two-hour drive from San Juan. One of three bioluminescent bays found along Puerto Rico's coastline, the bay's glowing effect is made possible by micro-organisms called dinoflagellates, which emit a short burst of light...

www.discoverpuertorico.com

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

It was def outside Bogota but now I have to go through my old trips to figure it out. We were staying on a Finca in the foothills.

Nope. I'm an idiot. It was outside Puerto Escondido in Oaxaca and we snorkeled.

Did I mention I'm a pothead?

 

[fortmorgancay]

Looking to go on a dazzling night dive and witness bioluminescence underwater. I know nothing out there replicates what we saw in “Life of Pi” but I wanna just get Recs and thoughts on anything that is the closest to that kind of display as possible.

Hello hello, I have done a little bit of research in Roatan with the blessing that over here we have activity within the full moon cycle and also in the new moon cycle, they have variations respectively, for the full moon cycle you mark your date and the best one is two day after the full moon, the most important part is you need to get in the water at the beginning of the nautical twilight, the new moon cycle works in a different way, the exact day of the cycle is the best one, then the 2 days and after are ideal as well.
I have reports that go from 12 inches of water to 100 feet, in my opinion the ideal range would go in the 20 to 40 foot mark.
I call it <It's an outer space dive>

 

[tursiops]

There are several different kinds of bioluminescence, and optimal conditions are not the same for all of them. The bioluminescent plankton (like certain dinoflagellates) need high concentrations to really be impressive, so the warm growth months of June-October (N. Hemisphere) are good months, but warm waters anywhere will usually suffice. Superclear water means low concentrations; high concentrations make the water a bit murky.
The Noctiluca scintillans dinoflagellate is bigger and brighter, and can be really impressive. It responds to agitation of the water, and puts off flashes that last about 80 ms. Wave your hands arpound the the really bright points of light are probably Noctiluca S.
Ostracods are not plankton, but are small crustaceans. They produce the "string of pearls" and are only known in the Caribbean. A great article is here.
A full review of marine bioluminescence is attached.
Other good sources are:

Bioluminescence

ocean.si.edu

and

The Weird, Wonderful World of Bioluminescence | Smithsonian Ocean

ocean.si.edu