I did this with my Daddy and it was absolutely
FANTASTIC!!
It was like fate that we did it in the first place. We had never planned to do it, but we were in Seaworld waiting for Shamu and there was an announcement saying there was space for 2 people to be trainers for the day the next day (I think they only allow 12 people per day?) so we went for it and got the places! GREAT!
We arrived in the morning and everyone was greeted by the staff (who were wonderful!). We had our pictures taken and they were printed on an ID card which we hung around our necks (and kept as anice souvenier).
We were then taken to get our wetsuits and life jackets and on the way got a complimentry photograph taken by some beautiful trees and bushes then we collected at the end of the day.
We were all fitted with our wetsuits and life jackets and split up into 2 groups.
My group tooks the VIP tour of the animals first. We saw all types of exotic birds in the aviary and petted a sloth. We had an expert telling us how they look after these animals and all about them.
Next up we fed some stingrays and sharks (!!!)
It was so cool though!! For the sharks we long stick with a 'claw' on the end that we put the food into and held it out to the shark. We open the claw and the shark ate the food from the claw! It was amazing to be so close to sharks but feel safe!
Next up we all got into the water with stingrays- so scary! We were given fish for them that we had to hold in our hand with part of the fish sticking out the top. The stingray would come over and suck the fish right out of your hand! It was incredible!! You could feel the stingray really suck at your hand! Just make sure no fingers are sticking out!! Dont want a stingray thinking it's a fish!
Finally it was dolphin time! As trainers we were able to have 2 sessions
with the dolphins so this was the first session. We had to watch a short movie beforehand and put our waterproof cameras (which we were all given for free at the start!) in a locker. Finally we all went into the water with the dolphins. We had 2 trainers telling us what to do. We were given commands to do to make the dolphin do tricks. It was hilarious. At the end of the session, we all gave the dolphin a kiss. My daddy was the last to kiss the dolphin and as he has a moustache the dolphin kiss him and got really excited and started clapping! It was absolutly brilliant and hilarious!
We then all got a shower and put on clean, dry t-shirts (again we were given these for free!) and went for lunch. This was part of the deal aswell. Tables were reserved for the trainers so we really felt like VIPs! We all queued up and got our food (sorry can't remember what we ate but rememeber it was nice!). It was nice to have a wee rest.
After lunch we were able to snorkel with the tropical fish!! It was incredible and one of my favourite parts of the day! It was so relaxing and we got some great shots of me and my daddy with the fish.
After snorkelling we went on another behind the scenes tour of the dolphins. We were shown the food preparation room (smells of fish funnily enough lol). The cool part here was the chart on the wall showed the names of all the dolphins and the exact amounts they have to eat- each dolphin eats different amounts of food! Then we were shown their toys and how they train them to do tricks and obey commands. Finally we were taken to the water that all the dolphins are kept in are we weighed a dolphin!! Really made us feel like we were real trainers!!
Finally we had our second dolphin interaction. This time we got to swim with them!! First of all we had to swim up beside one dolphin and hold onto it's fins and it swam with us dragging alongside it. Secondly we were put in between 2 dolphins and held onto both of them and we were dragged along really fast. It was incredible!! Both of the dolphin interactions were filmed so you could buy the dvd at the end.
After this our day came ot an end. We picked up our complimentry photos and bought some more professional photos of us withthe dolphins and the dvd. It was all quite expensive but it was a once in a lifetime opertunity so we didn't mind paying the money.
We could stay in Discovery cove for the rest of the day and snorkel or relax on the 'beach' if we wanted with the other guests. Me and my daddy snorkeld again for a bit before leaving. All in all it was a fantastic day!!
When we got our cameras developed the photos were fab!!
It's a very expensive day so it would take a lot of consideration to spend that amount of money (or like me and daddy- no consideration at all lol
)
Hope this helps, ask any questions.
Gemma
