Dolphin excursion in Nassau

[WooWoo]

Has anyone ever done this? It says it is a 4 hour excursion. I am sure you don't get to interact with the dolphins that long though. It is very pricey and I don't want to pay that kind of money if it is more of a knowledge tour for 3 hours and 40 minutes and only 20 minutes with the dolphins.

 

[WooWoo]

Bump for today's crowd....

 

[Mr. Bill]

My 8 year old granddaughter and I did the Dolphin Encounter last week. Yes, a little pricey but worth every penny! It was educational, fun, professionally done and (in my opinion) the highlight of the trip.

You are actually in the water with the dolphin about 20 minutes but you observe others (groups of 8) complete their encounter. Everyone’s reaction to the dolphin is different and it is fun to watch them in the water. The entire process takes about 3 hours – boat ride to/from the island, instructional video, etc.

I highly recommend it. It is very popular and books out ahead of time. You can save money by booking directly with them.

Go through a search engine with “dolphin encounter” for their web site.

 

[MrsPete]

We did it last November, and it was fun. It's not something I'd want to repeat again and again, but I'd recommend it. Here's what we did:

At the appointed time we met in one of the onboard bars to receive instructions and towels.
The dolphin people and the Blue Lagoon day people met together.
We all walked together through a cheesy market to a double-decker ferry boat. The ferry ride to the island was almost an hour, and this time is included in the 4 hours estimated by Disney.
When we reached Blue Lagoon Island, the beach day people were instructed to head left, while we dolphin people headed right.
When we reached the dolphin area, we heard an informative 15 minute talk, then we headed out to the dolphin area.
The instructor was very good. He talked to us about the dolphins, then in groups of 8-12 we entered the water and interacted with the dolphins. We were under a covered shelter, so the program could've gone on even if it'd rained.
First they did a picture. Every familiy got into the water with the dolphin one by one and had a picture made.
The first group to get into the water had more time with the dolphins because the instructor explained what he was doing with each "trick". Those of us in the second and third groups were with the dolphins for less time.
Once we'd finished meeting the dolphins, we exited through the gift shop.
Once our dolphin time was over, we were free to eat lunch (they'd given us tickets onboard the ship) and to spend time on the beautiful beach.
The ferry boats returned to the ship at (I could be wrong on exact times here) around 2:00 and 4:00. We could choose to return early or late.

Do not pay for BOTH the dolphin excursion and the Blue Lagoon Day. Once you're on the island for the dolphins, you can stay on the beach for free.

 

[SRUAlmn]

We did this when we were there with Royal Caribbean and it was really great! Yes, it is VERY expensive, but IMHO it was worth it. I absolutely LOVE dolphins and you get to interact a lot with them. Everyone sits together and watches a 15 minute video about safety and dolphin habitats etc... Next, you go down to the water area in groups of about 15-18 and you all sit around the edge of a squared off area where the dolphin is. They show the group some general training stuff and then you walk down into the water on a platform in groups of 5-6 (they keep families and groups together for video and picture purposes.) You all take turns interacting with the dolphin. You get to kiss them, dance with them, feel their body and teeth, hug them, all kinds of stuff. The guys and girls who do the encounter are SO FUNNY and they make something that could be pretty redundant very interesting. One warning...if you have any small cuts on your legs or feet make sure you have a band aid over them. The water has many small fish in it and they have very sharp bites. We were told they will only bother you if they 'smell' blood. I had a small cut on my foot that was 3 days old and they got me! It doesn't really 'hurt badly' it's just startling. Also, they videotape the entire experience and take pictures while the dolphin kisses you, etc... These are all available for purchase. I told myself when I went that I wasn't going to get suckered into buying anything since the excursion itself cost so much. However, once I saw how cool it was and everything we got to do, I really wanted to buy the video to show my family and friends. I don't remember exactly but I think it was around $25?? Our pictures didn't turn out very well so I didn't have to feel tempted The boat ride out to the island is actually pretty long and we got caught in a bad storm, but it was a nice time to rest and take in the sights because you pass some BEAUTIFUL houses and also Atlantis. It was a great close up view of things that we couldn't see from Nassau. Sorry for the long post, but I had wished someone had told me great details before we went. It was most likely something we will never do again, but it was TOTALLY worth it! Let me know if you want to know more


HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!

 

[Blueeyes101817]

i also went to dolphin encounter when i cruised with royal caribbean..i loved it and to me it was worth every penny..next time i am going to do the dolphin swim, which was full when i went..but i would definitely do it again!

 

[WooWoo]

Thanks for the information! I am going to share with the family and see what they think.