In Cozumel - Dolphin Discovery or Dolphinaris?

Anjelica

DIS Veteran
Joined
Oct 13, 2004
www.dolphindiscovery.com

www.dolphinaris.com

Anyone been to either one? Probably be my husband, daughter (5) and son (2) and myself who would be interested in going. Now it will either be my husband or myself who will do it with my daughter while the other one watches and entertains the 2 year old. Any recommendations on either? I know DCL does their excursion with dolphin discovery but if you recommend dolphin discovery did you do it with DCL or go with a differing tour?

TIA
 
Hmmm - interesting about Dolphin Discovery if folks are wanting to take their children for the dolphin encounter - per their website:

Children from 1 to 5 years PARTICIPATE FREE. This promotion applies ONLY upon client request
If you have 1 to 5 years children, DO NOT INCLUDE THEM inside the reservation at the time to make your purchase. Please note that refunds do not apply after the reservation is made on line. If you include child and pay for it, refunds do not apply
After your reservation is done, please e-mail us or use the Comments Area and ask for the free space for your children 5 years old and under

I know going through DCL the ages for the dolphin encounter start at 3 and you pay for that as well. I would like for my 2 year old son to "somewhat" enjoy as he loves animals and water. Anyone booked Dolphin Discovery outside of DCL? I guess one of the draw backs to booking by ourselves is we would get a refund from Disney if the boat couldn't dock that date, etc.
 
I guess one of the draw backs to booking by ourselves is we would get a refund from Disney if the boat couldn't dock that date, etc.

We're going to do a Dolphin Discovery program on our own in December and have no qualms about booking that way vs. DCL as the Dolphin Discovery website FAQ states that if your cruise ship is delayed or diverted away from Cozumel that you're entitled to a full refund upon verification of the delay or diversion with the cruise line.

http://dolphindiscovery.com/cozumel/cozumel-faqs.asp

HTH some with your decision-making process.
 
We're going to do a Dolphin Discovery program on our own in December and have no qualms about booking that way vs. DCL as the Dolphin Discovery website FAQ states that if your cruise ship is delayed or diverted away from Cozumel that you're entitled to a full refund upon verification of the delay or diversion with the cruise line.

http://dolphindiscovery.com/cozumel/cozumel-faqs.asp

HTH some with your decision-making process.

How do you get from port to Discovery (taxi)? How much does that generally run and how long does it take to get there from port? TIA (and yes your response helped alot).
 


How do you get from port to Discovery (taxi)? How much does that generally run and how long does it take to get there from port? TIA (and yes your response helped alot).

I haven't actually been there yet, just know what I've learned from this boad and the website. I asked CraftyMouse about her experience doing the Dolphin Discovery program and she said the taxi ride was about $10 or so plus tip and the ride was about 10 minutes. You can read about it in her great trip report here - this link goes right to the Cozumel page:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1636950&page=6
 
We did the Royal Dolphin Swim through Dolphin Discover and it was fantastic. It easily ranks among our top 3 excursions of all time (along with an EcoTour in Antigua and Tulum in Cozumel).

If you'd like to read about our experience here's a link to my trip report... http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1636950&page=6
It's the second post on the page.
 


We just did the Dolphin Discovery at Chankanaab. We booked through DCL. My DD 7 really enjoyed it. We had a 4 or 5 year old boy who wasn't so thrilled with it in our group. You need to keep that in mind. A 2 year old could not stand on the platform so you would be holding him the entire time.

Overall, it was a wonderful experience getting so close with the dolphin. Except, I wish we could have had more one on one time with the dolphin and I felt the photo opportunities were rushed.
 
I'm set on Dolphin Discovery at Chankanaab but I am wondering if anyone can tell me if it is worth the difference between the Swim Adventure and the Royal Swim.
 
I posted this last week

Dolphinaris review

We just returned from the Western 03/08 and I wanted to post a review of the Dolphinaris excursion as there seems to be so little information on this Dolphin excursion. I was traveling alone with my 2 young daughters 5 and 7, and I was getting conflicting reports on if I would be able to take both childrean at Dolphin Discovery so I was glad when DCL added the Dolphinaris excursions. Dolphinaris has a kids excursion where they go alone without an adult, the adult does have to be an observer, I think the cost through DCL was $104 per child and $25 for the adult, so it was much cheaper than Dolphin Discovey, and I knew there would be no issue of getting there and being told I needed an adult for each child.

We meet at 11:55 and where put in a taxi for a short maximum 5 minute cab ride to to Dolphinaris. The facilities are brand new and very clean, and if you look on their web site exactly like the pictures. Once we got there, everyone was broken into groups and given life jackets. I overheard some of the parents say that the trainer was concerned that he had too many kids on this day, that he usually had 6 but on this day there was 18, I am not sure if I believe the 6, but 18 did seem high.

The kids were taken to the pool and what I really liked was that the area they were on in the pool was a cement platform with water about 2 ½ feet deep, that did not move., so I was not worried about my daughters being there by themselves. The observers were overlooking this area about 50 feet away.

The kids spent 1 hour in the water with the Dolphins, there were 3 Dolphins in the pool and they did all kinds of tricks and races. All the kids who wanted to get a kiss and also to shake hands with the Dolphin got to do that, while the one training was taking each child to a Dolphin, another trainer on the other side was doing tricks with another Dolphin to entertain the kids.

My oldest daughter loved it and did not want to get out, my 5 year old did not want to touch the Dolphins, but she stayed in the water the whole time and seemed to be having fun. All the other kids were having fun and I think only 1 got out about 45 minutes into the hour. When the kids left they were given a small plush Dolphin that is the favorite memento of the trip.

There was a small area that you could go in and swim after but we did not stop there. The change areas were clean and towel and locker rentals were available for $3.00. There is a restaurant bar area but we did not eat there.

When I booked through DCL, it said the excursion was 45 minutes in the pool and 1 hour total, but it ended up taking us almost 4 hours, so that was the one down side, luckily I had packed some snacks with us. The kids got in the pool from 1:30-2:30 and then by the time we got back to the port it was 3:30 and then we did some shopping at the mall outside the port.

When leaving we did have to ask for a taxi voucher for the return but there was no issue in them giving it to us. We never got the pictures as they said it was going to be another 15 minutes and there is no way they wanted to wait.
136_3658.jpg


136_3659.jpg

__________________
 
Need advice: pre purchase the dolphin excursion online or just purchased tickets when you got there? Don't want to go through Disney Cruise necessarily (too expensive).
 
Personally, I just did Dolphinaris on the 12/8 Eastern Fantasy, and while it was a really nice, clean facility, loads of Dolphins, several interactions, I found the whole thing was run as a photo op for their hugely expensive photos. Maybe it was just my trainer, but everything was staged, go here, do this, bend your knees, look at the camera. It was not an experience that they happened to take pictures of. The only thing that wasn't as staged was the belly ride, and there was one picture of me with my eyes closed and my face screwed up, and the rest all had water completely obscuring my face. At least the fact that the pictures were so bad saved me from spending money on them.

Again, this is just my experience; maybe they don't all do it this way. I was glad I finally did it, but am not at all anxious to do it again.

Sayhello
 
You probably can get a deal if you do it online and be guaranteed a slot but you cannot admit to being on DCL. If you just show up I assume you pay the going rate and it is possible they could be sold out.
 
Need advice: pre purchase the dolphin excursion online or just purchased tickets when you got there? Don't want to go through Disney Cruise necessarily (too expensive).
I don't know about purchasing it when you get there, but the dolphin excursions are frequently the first excursions to sell out through the ships. If you really want to do it (either through DCL or direct) I'd suggest booking it ahead of time.

Sayhello
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!














Top