Nassau family excursions

[straity]

What the best family excursions in Nassau?
Was thinking about the Dolphin experience. Has anyone done this?
Any other suggestions? Going with 3 kids, ages 3,6, & 9.

 

[UGAFan0829]

The DH and I did the Dolphin Encounter back in Jan. when we were there and loved it. It seemed to be a very family friendly activity as there were lots of families there. I think it would be a great one for your family to try as long as the little ones aren't afraid of the dolphins...Which there is nothing to be afraid of, they are so sweet and fun!!

 

[samc]

We did the Blackbeard's Cay stingray/beach excursion....we really enjoyed it (me, DH, DS-6, my brother & nephew-20). Lunch was included and better than I expected.

 

[deeron51]

We really loved the dolphin encounter! Let me take you through that step-by-step and give you some helpful hints, as well.

The Blue Lagoon Beach Day and the Dolphin Encounters (or swims that are also available for additional $$) are all at the same place so your whole family will be traveling together. You will find your excursion tickets in your stateroom when you arrive. You will have 2 tickets for each person. One is the actual ticket and the other is the waiver that you need to sign. You should sign for any minors under 18. We had to meet at 9:15 AM in Diversions (bar) for our excursion. The check-in person takes your waivers, gives you a sticker for your shirt and you get your towels. Please be on-time and do not forget your tickets. We had to wait for late-comers and also some people showed up without their tickets. Then we had to wait for them to come back!

Next, as a group, we had to disembark the ship - everyone must have their KTTW cards and picture ids for anyone 18 or older!!!!! Then, we all had to walk a pretty good distance to get on small ferry boats. BIG TIP - get to the front on the group!!!!! There did not seem to be enough seats on this ferry boat. There will also be tons of people trying to sell you bottled water. We didn't buy. You each get free cup of fruit punch on ferry - we were fine with that. Also, when you get on ferry boat, pick a seat that is next to an open window or even better a doorway. You will really be thankful for the breeze. The ferry ride took about 30 minutes, not the 45 that they told us.

When you arrive at Blue Lagoon, the family members going to the dolphin encounter will head off to the right, across a beach to the other side of the island. The others will just stay near the docks where the beaches are. They have snorkeling, boat rentals, etc. It is really not that big so you will not have trouble finding each other later on.

At the dophin encounter area, you will hear a brief talk about dolphins and then be broken up into groups of about 30. There are a few free lockers to put valuables and also a bench area to leave things like flip-flops and towels. We all wore water shoes so we were not required to take them off at any time. Your group of 30 will go to a covered-area (nice not to be in the direct sun) and actually sit down and hand your feet over the side into the water where the dolphins are free to swim in and out of. Once the trainer comes over with the cooler of fish, the dolphin sticks around. The trainer will break the group up into 3 smaller groups of about 10 each. It would be really great to get into the 1st group - we were stuck in the 3rd group. The trainer had the groups of 10 get into the water on a platform. Adults have to kneel down and one-by-one, you get to have a personal encounter with the dolphin. You get to hug, kiss, dance with, rub back and belly and touch their teeth. They also take pictures of all of this and video tape it as well.

Once your group is done, then you go up to the gift shop where you can see your photos and video. Then the 2nd group goes and then the 3rd group. So, if you are in the first group, you will not have to wait as long. It took quite a while for our pictures and video to be done. Of course, none of these are inexpensive but totally worth it when you see how great they come out.

Right before you get on the ferry from Nassau, you will each be given a blue ticket and a red ticket which will be for your lunch and a drink at Blue Lagoon. After you are done in the gift shop and have your pictures, you will walk balk over to where the docks are and meet up with your other family members at the beach. The line was pretty long for the food - the food was just okay, not great. We each got punch to drink - rum included for the adults.

We really wanted to be on the 2:00 ferry back. This ferry is much bigger than the one you arrive on so you don't have to worry about not being able to get on it. We sat upstairs but didn't realize that there would be a band downstairs and that they played games with the kids. So, you might just want to sit down there.

Because we had to wait so long for the pictures, we didn't even have any time to use the beach area. If we wanted to take the 4:00 ferry, we would of had 2 hours for the beach.

During the ferry rides, you pass some amazing houses along the shores!!!!

Have fun!