Discovery Cove--Lifeguards

[My2BabiesLexis&Dill]

I'm soo excited about our upcoming trip to DC since we have never been there. But I'm starting to rethink my decision. LOL. I can't swim and the kids have been taking swim classes but aren't real good at it yet but I guess I want to make sure we aren't out in the water without proper supervision. And can someone point me to the thread about how deep the water is in the different locations, please!

 

[ocmom713]

We were just there yesterday! If you are doing the dolphin encounter you can request NOT to go in the deeper water for the swim part. The coral reef is deep and parts of the lazy river are too, BUT you can put your kids in life jackets that they have there. There are also noodles you can use as floats. There are also plenty of lifeguards.

 

[Capt_BJ]

I began working as a lifeguard in 1971 and retired after more than 33 years in the field.

- do NOT burden the lifeguard with looking out for you if you KNOW you should not be in the environment. A person that "can not swim" by their own admission has no business in water deeper than their ankles. And putting their children in that environment is putting them in danger while counting on others to look out for them. - get the hint I'm passionate about this?

- DC will offer a wet suit/vest and life jackets which offer plenty of bouancy. What they lack is the ability to turn you face up .... you or the kids could float face down for too long..... Do NOT rely on a flotation device even IF you can swim.

- Coral reef pool is deep - stay away

- Tell the dolphin encounter guide you can not swim

- Ray pool is knee deep at most and well supervised - but watch the kids

- lazy river is well supervised and for the most part shallow BUT the current makes finding your footing difficult at times. HINT - try to buddy up with a family of good swimmers......

I don't want to bust your vacation - but want you to come home with HAPPY memories. I've pulled TOO MANY folks out of the pool over the years. They all thought "they could handle it", including my own mother and sister in the same rescue

I'm a damn good swimmer - I don't go in my own pool at home unless someone else is home and looking out for me.

 

[adamas]

hmm..

When i did this i told my trainer that i could not swim and they brought me out to the deep water on my second interaction.. Not sure if that was due to being a trainer for a day or not.. Everyone there was very accomadating though so just let your trainer know and they will work with you to make sure that your day is enjoyable.. The thing i am going to do over the summer is learn how to swim so that when i go in december of 2011 i am ready to do the swim for real.

 

[My2BabiesLexis&Dill]

Capt BJ think you soooo much for that reply. That's what I was looking for. I don't want to push my limits either. I can handle the knee depth water but just didn't want to chance it in the other sections of the park. We can just hang out with the birds and I'll let the kids play at the beach area. If anything after all of that we can head to SW and start touring there.

 

[SmallWorld71]

There are life jackets of all sizes available; they are just like the ones you see at the Disney hotels. We were just there last week and DH (over 6 feet tall) used a life jacket in the snorkel area and the lazy river because he made the mistake of not shaving his mustache which caused problems with his mask. By using the life jacket he was able to keep his hands free to keep emptying his mask without worrying about swimming. Also, we ended up putting a vest on DD7 for the lazy river and the snorkel area about 1/2 way through the day because she was getting tired. Didn't interfere with the experience at all and the vests are free and located all throughout the swim/ snorkel area. I would say that anyone who is not a strong swimmer should have one on just to be safe. DS11, DS14 and I did not wear one and it is a lot of swimming if you really want to do everything. Both the lazy river and snorkel area have many areas where things drop from shallow to quite deep (I think 8 feet in the river, more in the lagoon).

As far as the dolphins, there is no reason to go into deep water if you don't want to. They offer the swim with the dolphin in both deep and shallow water. DH and the other dad in our group were a little nervous and they chose to stay in the shallow water. Same experience, just in a different direction. The rest of the experience, minus the swim, is held in shallow water. DD7 was the shortest one in our group of 9. She is just shy of 51" and was able to stand in the water fine.

While I think everyone should be comfortable in the water, there really is no need to be able to swim well.

 

[My2BabiesLexis&Dill]

Thanks for the reply! We are really getting excited about the trip. We leave Friday!! Woohoo!!