Western Dolphin excursion ?????

[ohMom]

i know there have been past threads on this - pardon my repeat - i've tried searching and soooo many come up, including Cruise Meet threads it overwhelms me!

here are my questions?

best Dolphin swim excursion??? i'm looking for quality, i'm willing to pay a bit more if the quality is worth it -- also convenience and effieciency with our precious port-day time

how young should one feel comfortable letting their child dolphin swim? say maybe a short but solid 8 almost 9 y/o?

TIA!

 

[PPFQP]

Hi -- you can read a description of our dolphin excursion last month here: March 26 Western Day Five (Cozumel)

We booked through Disney and did the Dolphin Encounter at Chanakab Park. I loved that it was a natural environment, rather than a pool. We could see people doing the dolphin swim (rather than the encounter) right by us. This is something you have to book on your own, not the Disney excursion.

My girls were 9, nearly 10 at the time. They are very strong swimmers -- swim team, etc. I don't think that they would have enjoyed the swim as much as the encounter -- it would have been overwhelming for them, despite the fact that they are extremely comfortable in the water and love dolphins. It is "swimming" -- the water is very deep and you are treading water wearing a life jacket.

The encounter, on the other hand, is done while standing on a platform in the water. You still wear a life jacket and interact with the dolphin in the water, but you have the security of resting your feet on something solid (well, relatively - it is a metal decking) and being able to hold on to fencing.

You will have to judge your own child's temperment. We thought the encounter was fabulous -- just enough for our first time. Now that the kids know what to expect, I would be comfortable doing the swim.

Hope that helps somewhat!

 

[ohMom]

PPFQP -- thanks for you reply - i'm heading over to read your trip report

any other opinions???