Indian River Lagoon at Merritt Island: 20:30 or 21:30 tour?
Kayak tours from Haulover Canal. Manatees and dolphins light up the water as they move. Bioluminescence is only visible in real darkness, so the moon and the end of twilight decide which tour is worth it. Pick your date.
Mon 2 November 2026
Book the 20:30 tour
Darkness 5/5 ●●●●● · moon down, sky dark
| 20:30 tour | ●●●●● Pitch dark | moon down, sky dark |
|---|---|---|
| 21:30 tour | ●●●●● Pitch dark | moon down, sky dark |
Sunset 17:37 · Fully dark 18:57 · Moonrise 00:01, moonset 13:46 · Moon 36% lit (last quarter)
Next 30 nights
| Night | Moon | 20:30 | 21:30 | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 2 Nov | 36% | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | 20:30 |
| Tue 3 Nov | 25% | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | 20:30 |
| Wed 4 Nov | 16% | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | 20:30 |
| Thu 5 Nov | 9% | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | 20:30 |
| Fri 6 Nov | 4% | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | 20:30 |
| Sat 7 Nov | 1% | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | 20:30 |
| Sun 8 Nov | 0% | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | 20:30 |
| Mon 9 Nov | 1% | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | 20:30 |
| Tue 10 Nov | 4% | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | 20:30 |
| Wed 11 Nov | 9% | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | 20:30 |
| Thu 12 Nov | 14% | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | 20:30 |
| Fri 13 Nov | 21% | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | 21:30 |
| Sat 14 Nov | 30% | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | 21:30 |
| Sun 15 Nov | 39% | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | 21:30 |
| Mon 16 Nov | 48% | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | 21:30 |
| Tue 17 Nov | 58% | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | 21:30 |
| Wed 18 Nov | 68% | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | 21:30 |
| Thu 19 Nov | 77% | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | 20:30 |
| Fri 20 Nov | 86% | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | 20:30 |
| Sat 21 Nov | 92% | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | 20:30 |
| Sun 22 Nov | 97% | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | 20:30 |
| Mon 23 Nov | 100% | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | 20:30 |
| Tue 24 Nov | 99% | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | 21:30 |
| Wed 25 Nov | 97% | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | 20:30 |
| Thu 26 Nov | 91% | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | 20:30 |
| Fri 27 Nov | 83% | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | 20:30 |
| Sat 28 Nov | 74% | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | 20:30 |
| Sun 29 Nov | 63% | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | 20:30 |
| Mon 30 Nov | 52% | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | 20:30 |
| Tue 1 Dec | 41% | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | 20:30 |
Season
Dinoflagellates June to September; comb jellies glow in winter.
Indian River Lagoon at Merritt Island darkest nights by month
How the darkness score works
For each tour slot we follow the sky for 90 minutes. Twilight scores against you until the sun is 18° below the horizon. The moon counts in proportion to how much of it is lit and how high it is. 5 means pitch dark; 1 means the glow will be hard to see. Clouds, rain and the health of the plankton also matter and are not in the score.
Times are local (America/New_York). Calculated, not observed; tour operators set the real departure times.