Sea Life Park

[daughtersrus]

Has anyone been to Sea Life Park on Oahu?

We're going to the island in July for my DD's Make-A-Wish trip. They have suggested going here even if we decide to not have DD swim with a dolphin.
DH would need to hold her in the water as she is physically disabled. She also has hearing loss and wouldn't be able to wear her aids in the water (she has tubes in her ears so she would need to wear her swim molds). We're still going back and forth on the swim part but if we decide not to swim, would it still be worth it to go to the park? We'd love to hear from others that have gone.

Thanks!

 

[wvjules]

IMO, no it would not be worth it to go if you are not going to do the dolphin swim. It is a very small park with not a lot of animals. They do have a dolphin show but I dont think it would be worth taking time out of all of the other things to do in Ohau to go to this park.

BTW, we did the Dolphin swim and it was the most incredible thing I have ever done.

 

[KandD]

I agree, not worth it if you are not going to do the dolphin interaction. But if I remember correctly I think they may have some sort of other animal encounter, maybe sea lions or something? I only did the dolphin encounter but maybe the other animal encounter would be better for your daughter?

The park is not even really a half day park without the dolphin encounter, it is very small.

I hope your family has a wonderful time!

 

[daughtersrus]

Thanks for the replies.

I'd love to hear more about the your dolphin encounters like how long it was? anything special that you had to do/listen to before? was the water warm?...and anything else that you care to share.

DD is non-verbal so there's really no way for us to ask her if she wants to do this. We just have to trust our own instincts.

 

[MM27]

I did the dolphin swim on my departure day because our flight was so late in the evening and our cruise had us off the ship so early. The park is nice, but as others have said, it's not really big. I wanted to do the sea lion encounter, but they didn't have any more room when we got there.

The dolphin encounter I did was not really a swim. We had a video to watch first and then when we got in the water, we basically stood in a line and got to interact with the dolphins. One of our dolphins was blind and old so I don't know if that was part of the reason for less active encounter. I was a bit disappointed because I did a dolphin swim/snorkel in Cozumel a few years earlier and it was fabulous.

So anyway, we stood in the line, we fed the dolphins fish, we did a kiss (they take your picture and then have it for sale later on) and some other things. The water on the platform we were standing on was probably about 4 feet deep. The dolphins obviously were in a deeper part of the pool and would come over to us to do the things.

If you've seen the movie 50 First Dates with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, Sea Life Park is where Adam Sandler's character worked. It's neat to see those things in person and some of the views from the park are amazing.

 

[nashville_minnie]

We went to a luau dinner at Sea Life Park (in '06) & got to get a little bit of a feel for the park prior to the luau (you had to trapse through the park to get to the luau grounds). I enjoyed getting to drive over & see that part of the island, even just for part of the day.

I would say sure, go ahead and go, even if you will not do a dolphin swim/encounter. You never know what joy might come of the day...