Has anyone done Dolphin Cove at Grand Cayman?

[1153rsmith]

I am researching excursions that are not through disney and have found Dolphin Cove Grand Cayman. Have any of you done one of their Dolphin encounters or swims? They look reasonably priced.

My DD would love to swim with the dolphins, but I just can't pay the $125 per person DCL wants for it. Dolphin Cove is $75.

I checked Trip Advisor and it seems to get really good reviews.

Does anyone have information on it?

 

[TimonPumba]

We used Dolphin Cove. We used this company because we had a three year old and a one year old at the time, so they were able to do the encounter (they would have been too young with Disney). It was definitely less expensive than doing it with Disney. The other good thing was that since they don't have a contract with Disney, they don't hesitate to book you privately.

We were happy with the experience. We were traveling on our cruise with another group, and they did Dolphin Discovery. From what I saw of their video, it seemed like the dolphin swim was slightly better at Dolphin Discovery. My husband and eldest child (eight years) did the dolphin swim at Dolphin Cove, and it seemed like the part where you hold onto the dolphin while it swims was longer at Dolphin Discovery.

We were able to travel to Dolphin Cove by arranging it with the company. They charged for this service (sorry, I can't recall how much), but it was in a bus/van, and they met us right where we entered Grand Cayman after getting off the tender. The tent from the company was close and easy to identify.

We bought the CD of both the encounter and the swim, but only the DVD of the swim. They considered us to be from two different groups (even though we are one family) since we three of us did the encounter and two did the swim. I was able to convince them to put the pictures together of the encounter and the swim on one CD and only charge us for one, but they refused to put both the encounter and swim on one DVD.

We combined our dolphin experience with a trip to Sting Ray City through this company, which also is not possible with the Disney excursion. We liked Sting Ray City, but would rather do it when our kids are older (our eldest liked it, but it was hard with the younger two in the ocean).

If you have any other questions I might be able to answer, please ask! The one other note worth mentioning is that we were allowed to wear sunscreen. The group we travelled with that used Dolphin Discovery was not allowed sunscreen, and they got very, very burnt.

 

[Ginger Renae]

Please do your research on these operations. They are inherently cruel to the dolphins. Dolphins are wild animals that belong swimming free in the oceans. They don't want to be imprisoned in a tank to swim with you and be your friend.

 

[lexandme]

Please do your research on these operations. They are inherently cruel to the dolphins. Dolphins are wild animals that belong swimming free in the oceans. They don't want to be imprisoned in a tank to swim with you and be your friend.

Thank you for being an advocate for the dolphins! Go to sea shepherd.com for more information on just how cruel these operations are.
Dolphins are large wild animals. They become neurotic in captivity. It's a matter of time before someone is killed during one of these swims. The smile is deceiving, they are not happy. Be compassion, teach your children to respect these minds in the waters.

 

[1153rsmith]

Thanks for the input. I'm not looking for a debate... just information on the experience.

 

[lexandme]

Thanks for the input. I'm not looking for a debate... just information on the experience.

Not debating, educating.

 

[Majordis]

We were able to travel to Dolphin Cove by arranging it with the company. They charged for this service (sorry, I can't recall how much), but it was in a bus/van, and they met us right where we entered Grand Cayman after getting off the tender. The tent from the company was close and easy to identify..

I booked Dolphin Cove privately for May 13 at 12 noon Cayman time. What time can we expect to arrive back for the Tender?(we are doing the Dolphin Swim only). This is my first time booking privately and I am a little nervous about missing the last tender. I know the travel time to and from is 30 minutes. Can you share your experience?

 

[LimoFam5]

Interested in Dolphin Cove info as we r booked for our October cruise

 

[Ginger Renae]

Not debating, educating.

Agreed. I will say that I do not understand how anyone who professes to love dolphins enough that they feel they *must* swim with them doesn't bother to see The Cove. It absolutely blows my mind that anyone could spend their dollars supporting an industry that does such harm to the animals they profess to love.

So my question to anyone who still feels the need to swim or touch a dolphin, have you truly done the research and just don't care or are you afraid to do the real research behind these dolphinariums?

 

[goosedwn]

Agreed. I will say that I do not understand how anyone who professes to love dolphins enough that they feel they *must* swim with them doesn't bother to see The Cove. It absolutely blows my mind that anyone could spend their dollars supporting an industry that does such harm to the animals they profess to love.

So my question to anyone who still feels the need to swim or touch a dolphin, have you truly done the research and just don't care or are you afraid to do the real research behind these dolphinariums?

Ginger Renae, I hear you and I absolutely agree with you. I at first agree to let my children to do the dolphins excursion but now I don't want to. My 11 yrs old dd and 6 yrs old son still want me to let them do the dolphins excursions. (. I can just tell them that they are not doing it because I am their mom, period but I want them to understand the concept but I am at a lost right now how to explain to kids so young and so love to touch and swim with dolphin. Do you have any advices?

 

[TimonPumba]

I booked Dolphin Cove privately for May 13 at 12 noon Cayman time. What time can we expect to arrive back for the Tender?(we are doing the Dolphin Swim only). This is my first time booking privately and I am a little nervous about missing the last tender. I know the travel time to and from is 30 minutes. Can you share your experience?

We had our dolphin swim and encounter at 10:30. We left at 11:45 for a two hour Sting Ray City tour. I believe we were dropped back off at the dock at around 2:15.

I think you will have plenty of time, especially since you are not doing Sting Ray City.

 

[wcw57]

we went to dolphin cove...as all things in Grand Cayman (imnsho) it was meh....clean enough i guess but looked terribly understaffed for the SMALL amount of people there and the experience (which we watched for quite some time) looked less than thrilling. Maybe it got better later...maybe not.

and just let me add that I love dolphins.....especially with lemon and butter!

 

[Ginger Renae]

Ginger Renae, I hear you and I absolutely agree with you. I at first agree to let my children to do the dolphins excursion but now I don't want to. My 11 yrs old dd and 6 yrs old son still want me to let them do the dolphins excursions. (. I can just tell them that they are not doing it because I am their mom, period but I want them to understand the concept but I am at a lost right now how to explain to kids so young and so love to touch and swim with dolphin. Do you have any advices?

I would just explain to your kids that to get the dolphins, the industry takes the dolphins away from their families. Explain that dolphins have strong family bonds, like humans and splitting up their families makes the dolphins very sad and it's not nice for people to support a business that is so mean to the animals.