Feebback on the Dolphin Excursion in Cozumel?

[MissyinNM]

Any feedback on the Dolphin Excursion in Cozumel? We have a 5 year old and a 4 year old. Trying to decide....

 

[dzneprincess]

I did this on my own in Oct of 2003. We did the Royal SWIM and it was worth EVERY SINGLE penny. We only had about 8 in our group and we got a lot of one on one time with the dolphins. It did not appear to be that way for the people that did the excursion thru the cruise line. There were so many of them in each group, I was very glad that I had booked it on my own. www.dolphindiscovery.com

 

[mark & sandra]

Any feedback on the Dolphin Excursion in Cozumel? We have a 5 year old and a 4 year old. Trying to decide....

They won't be able to do the Dolphin Royal Swim. It's less if you book directly with Dolphin Discovery. You'll need to pay for a cab, approx. 10.00 each way, and park entry, 12.00 per person. Disney does include this in their excursion costs. Remember that you'll be standing on a deck submerged in the water. It may be over the heads of your kids...Mark

 

[Robert and Kelley]

We did the Regular Dolphin Encounter offered through DCL. It was wonderful. We enjoyed it as well as the kids. We would someday like to do an actual swim with the dolphing though. I would recomend the Dolphin Encounter 100% though. Be careful though as we saw one family with a younger child (about 4) decide he did not want to go..and didn't. I felt so sorry for the family. Only mom and 1 DS got to go.

The encounter is on a platform waist deep in the water. You get to touch and even kiss a Dolphin while watching them swim.

 

[MarkLem]

You can hold your kids if the water is too deep for them to stand on the platform. Even the non swimming excursion (where you stand on the platform) is good. They video it and also offer a video tape afterwards. The park has a nice beach with a rocked-in kiddie area (so no nasty sea creatures can come in). We spent the afternoon on the beach as well. Food is available right there as well.

 

[markºoº]

We did the dolphin encounter in Cozumel back in August through DCL. While not fantastic, the kids really enjoyed it.

The only problem we had was staying on the platform. Depending on the time of day, the current tide, and your height, the water could be waist deep or closer to shoulder deep. In addition, the platform is slippery since it is covered in algae. All there is to hang on to is the chain link fence behind you. With 5 and 4 yr olds you will need to hold them. This can be difficult as you hold the child and hang on to the fence, especially if the water is a little rough. Also remember that this is salt water - not all kids like salt water, especially if some gets splashed into their eyes or mouth.

That said, our boys (5 and 12) did really enjoy it. Mom and Dad were a little too busy holding DS5 and hanging onto DS12 so they would not float off the platform. Neither one could stand and the water was a little rough at times, especially when boats would go by. Both boys also had some "discomfort" with salt water spray/splash but not enough to ruin the experience.

In retrospect, I think we would have enjoyed something like Discovery Cove in Orlando much more. The enclosed area and constant water level is helpful for children. But for a quick interaction, Cozumel was ok.

Try to check on tides and book when low. We did the first one (10:20 depature). Maybe one of the later times would be better.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

My children enjoyed it the lowest age was 4 at the time, you had hold them in the water.

It was excellent but word of warning do not take Video cameras into the pools as the Dolphons slash a lot and sea water destroys them.