Dolphin Encounter's?- Western Caribbean

[lklgoodman]

For those that did the Dolphin Discovery in Cozumel, what is the transportation situation? Is it a taxi or shuttle? If it is a taxi, is that included in the price of the excursion, if booked through DCL?

We were put in vans(I guess that's what you mean by shuttles) that held around 8-10 people. It was included in the price. Very easy, they(the employee from DD will meet you on the ship) walk you right to them and put you on the vans, same with returning from DD.

 

[Disneybridewifemama]

My family did a dolphin excursion at Dolphin Discovery in Cozumel last Jan. The national park where it is held is really nice and has a lot to do, for free. After we were finished with the dolphins we really enjoyed everything that the park had. We saw a sea lion show, no extra cost, ate lunch on the beach, walked around the gardens, and did some tequila tasting, also free. There's also a nice pool and beach area where you can go swimming and I think you can also snorkle, we ran out of time for everything. Pics/video can be taken. We were given a free pic of our family in front of their dolphin statutes. There's free lockers to keep your stuff in. I don't know about the other places. We were going to do the dolphins in Grand Cayman's, but then I read on here that there's a greater chance of excursions being cancelled there because of tendering. Instead we signed up to do stingrays in Grand Caymans. Sure enough strong tides cancelled our excursion, along with many others. A Carnival ship tried to tender before us, gave up and left. I only mention this because if doing dolphins is a must do, you may want to choose either Cozumel or Falmouth for it. I don't know how common it is to cancel excursions at Grand Caymans, but I would have been really upset to miss the dolphins if we had chosen to do it there. Turns out we were able to do the stingrays at cc.

Is there zip lining at that national park?
Is snorkeling extra for the members of our party who will not be swimming with the dolphins?

 

[lklgoodman]

I don't think they had zip-lining there, pretty sure they didn't. Snorkeling is free, unless you need to rent a mask/fins from them. You can bring your own if you have them. We didn't snorkel there, so don't know how nice the area is. If you do a search for Discovery Dolphins in Cozumel or Chankanaab Nat'l Park, you should find some sites that give info about what it has. The only extras we had to pay for was our lunch, and the tequila we bought, so sad my bottle is now empty. There's a restaurant with seating inside. We passed it and ate at another restaurant on the beach, good inexpensive food. If you have picky kids who only want chicken strips and french fries, they had them at the outside restaurant, not sure about the other one.

 

[ChicosWife]

We were put in vans(I guess that's what you mean by shuttles) that held around 8-10 people. It was included in the price. Very easy, they(the employee from DD will meet you on the ship) walk you right to them and put you on the vans, same with returning from DD.

Wow! That sounds great! I was wondering why DD was cheaper than the the one at the National Park, but then I figured it's because people can explore the park after where as DD is not as large? How was your experience?

 

[lklgoodman]

We did the Push, Pull, and Swim one at Dolphin Discovery(it's the one in the Nat'l Park). We(my dh, my 8 yr old dd, and myself) all enjoyed it. It did seem to take awhile before we actually got in with the dolphins. That's mainly because the guide takes the time to go over everything that there is to do at the place after you get done with the dolphins. We were done with the dolphins a little before noon, so we went to the sea lion show(missed the beginning of it) but what we saw was cute. We then ate lunch on the beach, good inexpensive food. We then walked around some and saw the replica of the ruins, went to the tequila hut and tried some free samples. It was then getting close to the last shuttle time so we went to look for some souvenirs and to get some ice cream. Our group was given a free pic of our family standing in front of their dolphin statue. We didn't know we were getting this until we got to the place. I did not buy any of the photos from them. One complaint that I've read about all of the different dolphin places is how extremely expensive it is to buy their pics, like hundreds of dollars. I knew going in that I would not be buying any, so I was happy to get the free pic. I've also read how pushy the people are about trying to get you to buy the pics. I did not encounter this at all. I went to the photo place, told them my name and that I was there to get my free photo. The lady who helped me was very nice, didn't try to get me to buy anything. Same thing at the tequila hut, the man who helped us was friendly and didn't push us to buy anything, we did buy some tequila because I wanted to. There were some other things to do at the park, but we simply ran out of time. I would recommend that if you decide to go there to try to get there as early as you can so that you'll have more time to do stuff afterwards. We signed up for it at around 10am(that's when we met on the ship), they had several shuttles that you could get on to go back to the ship, the last one was at 3, that's when we left. Also keep in mind that you will be in the ocean with waves,standing on a platform with railing behind you to hang on to, so if you get scared in that type of situation, you may not want to do this. I think some of the other places have you do it in tanks. You will have on a life jacket. There was someone in our group who couldn't swim at all. They had a life guard come out to be with him, also to help with anyone else who needed it. I'm not a great swimmer, but had no problems at all. My dd had just learned to swim 6 months before our trip and she loved the waves. I felt it was safe and well done. There was another family in our group with a 7 yr old and she also had fun. I grew up in OK and now live in Ohio, so I can't say how good or bad the beach is at this place, the only beach I've been to is CC.

 

[ChicosWife]

We did the Push, Pull, and Swim one at Dolphin Discovery(it's the one in the Nat'l Park). We(my dh, my 8 yr old dd, and myself) all enjoyed it. It did seem to take awhile before we actually got in with the dolphins. That's mainly because the guide takes the time to go over everything that there is to do at the place after you get done with the dolphins. We were done with the dolphins a little before noon, so we went to the sea lion show(missed the beginning of it) but what we saw was cute. We then ate lunch on the beach, good inexpensive food. We then walked around some and saw the replica of the ruins, went to the tequila hut and tried some free samples. It was then getting close to the last shuttle time so we went to look for some souvenirs and to get some ice cream. Our group was given a free pic of our family standing in front of their dolphin statue. We didn't know we were getting this until we got to the place. I did not buy any of the photos from them. One complaint that I've read about all of the different dolphin places is how extremely expensive it is to buy their pics, like hundreds of dollars. I knew going in that I would not be buying any, so I was happy to get the free pic. I've also read how pushy the people are about trying to get you to buy the pics. I did not encounter this at all. I went to the photo place, told them my name and that I was there to get my free photo. The lady who helped me was very nice, didn't try to get me to buy anything. Same thing at the tequila hut, the man who helped us was friendly and didn't push us to buy anything, we did buy some tequila because I wanted to. There were some other things to do at the park, but we simply ran out of time. I would recommend that if you decide to go there to try to get there as early as you can so that you'll have more time to do stuff afterwards. We signed up for it at around 10am(that's when we met on the ship), they had several shuttles that you could get on to go back to the ship, the last one was at 3, that's when we left. Also keep in mind that you will be in the ocean with waves,standing on a platform with railing behind you to hang on to, so if you get scared in that type of situation, you may not want to do this. I think some of the other places have you do it in tanks. You will have on a life jacket. There was someone in our group who couldn't swim at all. They had a life guard come out to be with him, also to help with anyone else who needed it. I'm not a great swimmer, but had no problems at all. My dd had just learned to swim 6 months before our trip and she loved the waves. I felt it was safe and well done. There was another family in our group with a 7 yr old and she also had fun. I grew up in OK and now live in Ohio, so I can't say how good or bad the beach is at this place, the only beach I've been to is CC.

You are right. DD is at the National Park. I had the 2 confused. The Dolphinaris one is more expensive!

 

[abuck75]

We did the Dolphin Discovery in Cozumel last year. We booked on our own and were able to get a discount. Had an amazing time! My daughter was just over five when we did the encounter. We all had a great time! The photo below was taken by photographers at the encounter. We were in the water with them the whole time. She needed me to help steady her in the water especially when she got her personal encounter with the dolphin. It was one of the highlights of our trip last year!

To be clear, was this booked directly on the Dolphin Discovery website? It looks like they are offering a 25% discount, however it looks like the only times available are 1:00PM and 3:30PM. I'd be scared that is a bit late in the day. Could do the swim, but they will only let a 5 year old do encounter (our youngest).

 

[abuck75]

Actually was able to book through live chat on Dolphin Discovery website for a pretty good rate ($200 for 2 adults, one child + 5 yo swim with adult) for the encounter. I have until tomorrow to pay. I must say I'm always a little nervous paying for something like this out of country in advance, given I couldn't dispute for another 4 months if something goes wrong, but I imagine they'd have a terrible name if it was an issue.

 

[CinderellaDreamer]

We did the Jamaica dolphin encounter last September. It was my family’ favorite excursion. We did the turtle farm in cayman and diving in Cozumel. The Jamaica excursion had a great tour guide on our bus who sang and entertained us the whole drive out. We got to the facility and each got in the water to pet the dolphin and hold it in the water. Then a second time where it swam over to each person for a kiss and interaction. We were strictly told no photographs. Afterwards we had a nice lunch. Then we went through the lorikeets and fed them. Very fun for my kids. Very friendly birds. We held an iguana. We also got to get in a different tank and pet a stingray. This was a surprise to us, and I’m not sure it was supposed to be included. It was very fun though. Then we boarded our bus again to go to Dunn’s River. Climbing the falls was challenging, but very fun. (Be sure to have cash on the bus for the falls guide’s tip).

We loved it and had the best day. We bought the photos which weren’t cheap, but they were gorgeous and worth it. My favorites from the trip.

Hope this helps with your decision! You’ll have a great time no matter what you choose!

 

[MSPeeler]

View attachment 278890

We did the Jamaica dolphin encounter last September. It was my family’ favorite excursion. We did the turtle farm in cayman and diving in Cozumel. The Jamaica excursion had a great tour guide on our bus who sang and entertained us the whole drive out. We got to the facility and each got in the water to pet the dolphin and hold it in the water. Then a second time where it swam over to each person for a kiss and interaction. We were strictly told no photographs. Afterwards we had a nice lunch. Then we went through the lorikeets and fed them. Very fun for my kids. Very friendly birds. We held an iguana. We also got to get in a different tank and pet a stingray. This was a surprise to us, and I’m not sure it was supposed to be included. It was very fun though. Then we boarded our bus again to go to Dunn’s River. Climbing the falls was challenging, but very fun. (Be sure to have cash on the bus for the falls guide’s tip).

We loved it and had the best day. We bought the photos which weren’t cheap, but they were gorgeous and worth it. My favorites from the trip.

Hope this helps with your decision! You’ll have a great time no matter what you choose!

Did you book the Dolphin/Dunn's with Disney as a packaged excursion? If so, Was it the Dolphin SWIM or the Dolphin ENCOUNTER, they are 2 different excursion on the port adventures page and the website states the Dolphin encounter is only 15-minutes. It doesn't seem that would be long enough to get all of that interaction to me?

So for all of the questions, we are still really undecided! My middle child is allergic to feathers, is there a way to "skip" the bird part of the tour? If you don't mind me asking, what was the cost of the photo package? I'd like to include that in my budget since I know already that I will purchase them if we decide on Jamaica.

THANKS!

 

[CinderellaDreamer]

We did book it through Disney cruise excursions. It was the Encounter, not the swim. My daughter was scared of the swim. It was a short experience, but very memorable. It was about fifteen minutes per person, broken into two times.

You did not have to do the lorikeets portion, or any other part. I think most people just hung out at lunch and the photo purchase location. Lunch was jerk chicken and pasta.

I cannot remember the exact amount of the photo CD, but I believe it was about $130. It seemed high, but there were a bunch of photos of each of the five of us. All very good and in focus. Bright sunny day, so they were great quality. We previewed them and couldn’t pick just a couple so went with all! I had no intention of spending that much, but they were really good.

 

[MSPeeler]

We did book it through Disney cruise excursions. It was the Encounter, not the swim. My daughter was scared of the swim. It was a short experience, but very memorable. It was about fifteen minutes per person, broken into two times.

You did not have to do the lorikeets portion, or any other part. I think most people just hung out at lunch and the photo purchase location. Lunch was jerk chicken and pasta.

I cannot remember the exact amount of the photo CD, but I believe it was about $130. It seemed high, but there were a bunch of photos of each of the five of us. All very good and in focus. Bright sunny day, so they were great quality. We previewed them and couldn’t pick just a couple so went with all! I had no intention of spending that much, but they were really good.

15 minutes per person is understandable! I’m imagining 15 minutes for the whole group LOL!

Lunch sounds delicious. I have have a party of 5 (2 adults, 3 Kids) so I imagine the photos will be a bit higher for us, but that gives me a good ballpark to go off of. Thank you!!!

 

[CinderellaDreamer]

That’s how many were in our party, so the price should be the same.

 

[ChicosWife]

We did book it through Disney cruise excursions. It was the Encounter, not the swim. My daughter was scared of the swim. It was a short experience, but very memorable. It was about fifteen minutes per person, broken into two times.

You did not have to do the lorikeets portion, or any other part. I think most people just hung out at lunch and the photo purchase location. Lunch was jerk chicken and pasta.

I cannot remember the exact amount of the photo CD, but I believe it was about $130. It seemed high, but there were a bunch of photos of each of the five of us. All very good and in focus. Bright sunny day, so they were great quality. We previewed them and couldn’t pick just a couple so went with all! I had no intention of spending that much, but they were really good.

Do you remember what the prices were per photo?

 

[CinderellaDreamer]

Do you remember what the prices were per photo?

I’m sorry, I don’t remember; but it was something high like $15-20 per photo.

 

[tee11]

Has ANYONE had a 2 year old with them on these excursions? We are looking at Cozumel vs. Cayman. Option is to have 2 year old with my DH who then would be Observer... did anyone have them in the water? My 2 year old likely would not be afraid, and likes water a lot, too. Looking for any input at all for that age group and the Dolphin excursions.

 

[MSPeeler]

Has ANYONE had a 2 year old with them on these excursions? We are looking at Cozumel vs. Cayman. Option is to have 2 year old with my DH who then would be Observer... did anyone have them in the water? My 2 year old likely would not be afraid, and likes water a lot, too. Looking for any input at all for that age group and the Dolphin excursions.

From what I’ve read, other than the dock you’ll stand on in the water possibly being too deep for him to stand on, he may be ok. My son will have just turned 4 when we attempt this. I’m curious to see what others say.

 

[wanderlust7]

Has ANYONE had a 2 year old with them on these excursions? We are looking at Cozumel vs. Cayman. Option is to have 2 year old with my DH who then would be Observer... did anyone have them in the water? My 2 year old likely would not be afraid, and likes water a lot, too. Looking for any input at all for that age group and the Dolphin excursions.

From what I’ve read, other than the dock you’ll stand on in the water possibly being too deep for him to stand on, he may be ok. My son will have just turned 4 when we attempt this. I’m curious to see what others say.

I did Dolphin Discovery in Cozumel with my 5 year old DD. The water was about mid-chest and I had to hold my DD either in front of me or to the side. There was some minor movement to the water due to the waves and sometimes I had to go on tip toe and re-balance. My DD mentioned that she drank some sea water when I didn't hold her high enough.... But I'm a self-proclaimed weakling.

I was in a group with another family. They had a younger boy maybe 2-3 years old (not really sure). The dad held him and it seemed fine, except he didn't want to do some of the interactions (like kissing the dolphin).

 

[ChicosWife]

We did the DD in Cozumel. It was a good experience and afterwards, you get to explore that rest of the park and enjoy the pool and other animals for free!