Hi Maggie1,
I 'gave' the Dolphins In Depth tour to my DH as a wedding present in 2001. His recollection is as follows:
When you arrive you meet with the Living Seas representative who sits down with you in the attraction and gives you a run down of what's in store. He/she talks about the biology of the dolphin and goes over the rules.
Then you go into the behind the scenes area and you're shown some stuff about how dolphins communicate. They show you a device they have for the 'inter-species' communication research. They also take you into an area that is 'roped-off' from the general public, where you can watch the dolphins playing up close.
Next you go into a conference room area, and they show a video about dolphins, their communication, habits, behaviour, etc. He says they asked everyone to talk about themselves and why they were doing the tour.
Then you go to the change rooms and get your wetsuit. They take you back out to the tank, and you sit around a small portion of the tank that's outside of the 'main' Living Seas tank. They bring both dolphins into the smaller tank and one at a time they kinda 'jump' onto the concrete beside you, and they go over more of the 'structure' of the dolphin, and it's history (the dolphin's personal history). They do this for both dolphins.
Next it's back to the main tank area, and you stand on the 'roof' of the normal viewing area. This is where you get your 'one on one' session with the dolphin. You're standing in about 3 feet of water at this point. The trainer brings the dolphin up and you can pet it and talk to it, and ask the trainer any questions you have. You get about 5 minutes (although he says it felt shorter, so now he's not sure how long it was). They make a video tape of this while you're doing it that you get to take home with you.
After everyone's done, you're basically finished (except for showering, taking your wetsuit off, getting your shirt and tape, etc).
He says his memory is a little vague in some parts, but this is what he remembers. He really liked it, and wants to go again with me sometime (if only I wasn't afraid of being bitten by fish! lol). I did notice you mentioned your 5-year-old .. I don't know if you meant to take him on the tour, but I remember when I was booking it, they said you had to be over 13 to participate (this was before I mentioned it was for my husband .. heehee).
Apologies for the long post. Hope it helps you decide.
