Grand Cayman - Dolphin Extreme Swim & Turtle Farm

[JackieB10]

Has anyone ever done the Dolphin Extreme Swim and Turtle Farm in Grand Cayman? If so, what did you think of it? We are considering this excursion for our January 2016 Magic cruise. My kids and I have done Discovery Cove in Orlando and loved it and my kids have been asking to go back. My BF and his son will be joining us and have never swam with dolphins before, so this is really for them. I want it to be just as fun as our experience at Discovery Cove.

 

[MarleneP]

I did the Grand Cayman Turtle Farm with my DS (9) this passed December. I know a lot of people have enjoyed it but we did not think it was worth the money. The included lunch was horrible. Seeing the turtles was cool and my son could go in the tank to pet/hold one. We attempted to leave early and go back to the boat but didn't have any luck in getting transportation. So we just sat around waiting for our bus.

 

[DISNEYFAN3260]

We did this in 2013 with our young teens and preteens at the time who had never done a dolphin swim and they enjoyed it. My husband and I had previously done the Blue Lagoon dolphin swim at Nassau so we were REALLY disappointed with the Grand Cayman version. We felt it was dirty and the staff weren't friendly or informative. I felt like the animals were not well cared for, especially at the Turtle Farm. It was really sad. And the extent of the hard sell over dolphin swim photo packages at the gift shop was ridiculous! Several of us from DCL went to guest services to complain that night (separately - no one knew until later that others had done it too). Everyone received a partial refund from DCL. Maybe they are using another location now, I don't know. But if it is the same place as 2013 I would stay away!

 

[gumbypee]

when i went in october 2012 - it was the best excursion i have ever done in my life. everyone was nice, the animals seemed cared for and not abused. it was utterly amazing

 

[FindMeAFishingSpot]

I guess it's all a matter of opinion. We did the dolphin encounter a few weeks ago because we have a younger child. Absolutely loved it. And we wish we had more time at the turtle farm - kids had a ball! It was the best excursion we have done by far.

 

[DISNEYFAN3260]

I guess it's all a matter of opinion. We did the dolphin encounter a few weeks ago because we have a younger child. Absolutely loved it. And we wish we had more time at the turtle farm - kids had a ball! It was the best excursion we have done by far.

Or maybe they have made improvements or have new management. Either way, I'm glad to hear others have had better experiences!

 

[aprilbabes]

I recently did a lot of research on this exact topic because we'll be headed to the western Caribbean in July. The reviews of dolphin encounter/swim in GC were less than favorable. I felt like for that much money it should receive glowing reviews. So, we decided to do the dolphin encounter in chankanaab in Mexico instead. This had MUCH better reviews! We still plan on visiting the turtle farm in GC but I've read you can easily do it on your own and just shown up that day as a walk-in.

 

[aprilbabes]

I recently did a lot of research on this exact topic because we'll be headed to the western Caribbean in July. The reviews of dolphin encounter/swim in GC were less than favorable. I felt like for that much money it should receive glowing reviews. So, we decided to do the dolphin encounter in chankanaab in Mexico instead. This had MUCH better reviews! We still plan on visiting the turtle farm in GC but I've read you can easily do it on your own and just shown up that day as a walk-in.

 

[malibuconlee]

We did this excursion last week. Booked it the night before, so very last minute. My daughter loved it, she's 6. It was interesting. I felt the Turtle Farm portion was very rushed. Overall the excursion was chaotic. Not sure if that's normal or if the earlier in the day downpour had thrown everyone/everything off schedule. They stopped running tenders for well over an hour earlier in the day. We had an afternoon excursion and were literally the last ones back on the ship before leaving Grand Cayman. We laughed about the photographer we had being the "grumpiest tour guide ever". Never got the family picture as he said the camera wasn't working, but all the other families in the group got them. I didn't see the Turtle Farm only option as an excursion on our cruise. I know a couple without children took a cab and spent the day on their own. Not sure I"m comfortable enough to do that yet! Definitely negotiate for the price of the pictures if you want them. Vast differences in what people paid from our group. I know one family paid 4 times what we did.

 

[redsonja76]

 

[LWILDP]

I recently did a lot of research on this exact topic because we'll be headed to the western Caribbean in July. The reviews of dolphin encounter/swim in GC were less than favorable. I felt like for that much money it should receive glowing reviews. So, we decided to do the dolphin encounter in chankanaab in Mexico instead. This had MUCH better reviews! We still plan on visiting the turtle farm in GC but I've read you can easily do it on your own and just shown up that day as a walk-in.

I would really love to hear about your experience after you go. We're doing the Western cruise in Jan 2016 with a 4 and 7 yr old so would really appreciate any insights and reviews. TIA!

 

[Conorama]

We did it in January and would not recommend it unless everyone is REALLY keen on Dolphins (2 adults, 1 6-year-old). Here is why:

A) Between waiting around in a lounge on the ship and then at port, we were waiting around for over an hour before we even got on the bus. Huge waits at port just to get everyone their bracelets - like 20-30 minutes at least.

B) You walk about 5 minutes - Then, you have about a 20-30 minute bus ride.

C) You get 45 minutes only at the Turtle Farm (the main part we enjoyed) - not enough time if your kid is actually interested in the turtles. (Though to be honest, in retrospect, I suspect DS and I could have stayed as we weren't getting in with the Dolphins.)

D) DS and I were the observers as he didn't want to go in the water with dolphins ( Extreme or other) - we ended up sitting around, with no shade, for almost 2 hours, by the time DH got changed, stashed his stuff, waited around for at least 20 minutes before he even got in the water ... then it's about another 30-45 minutes before they all get out, then more waiting for seemingly mandatory group photos, and then more waiting for getting changed again. Fortunately, I just decided to feed DS and me since we couldn't see DH anyway in the water ... so that kept the boy from being a mess. There is an air conditioned store, but that gets uninteresting pretty quickly.

E) THEN, there was more waiting for DH to find his photos on the computer and more lines to buy them.

F) After that, you get another wait for a bus ride, and then the same bus ride back.

We were wiped after that - and DS and I really only got 45 minutes of looking at turtles - with hours of waiting around.

So- it might be worth it if everyone is keen on doing the actual dolphin encounter - but it sounds like there are better places to do that.

If we had our time back, we would have found a beach for all of us, and found dolphins somewhere else.

Hope that helps! And maybe others had a much better experience, but the observers do not really have a great time. The lack of shade is mentioned in the description, I think - but we didn't know how long it was going to be.