Which dolphin excursion in Cozumel??

[cmsb]

We are cruising on the Fantasy in July and I am almost to my booking window. I have DS7 and DS5 who love dolphins. There are two options in Cozumel - Dolphin Kids at Dolphinaris and Dolphin Discovery Cozumel at Chankanaab National Park. I don't know which one to choose!! I would greatly appreciate any thoughts/recommendations. Thank you!

 

[mrs.ariel]

DH and I went to Cozumel without the kids last year and stayed in a resort on the island.
We promised to wait to do the dolphin excursion until our kids were with us.

Our hotel overlooked the Dolphinaris, so we observed from above.
It looked like the Dolphins at Dolphinaris were in pools. I don't know what else they had there to do, because we didn't go there.

We went to chankanaab park for the day and snorkeled.

This Sept I think will book Chankanaab for our family to swim with the Dolphins.

At Chankanaab, you are in the ocean with the Dolphins, but it is a fenced in area so nothing else can get in/dolphins can't get out.

It looked like you stand on a platform in the water and take turns meeting/swimming with the dolphins.
Also at the park is a nice reef to snorkel and a beach.

If you look on Tripadvisor, they have reviews and pics of both places,
I think either one will be great!

 

[slmarkert]

We did Dolphinaris in early April and my kids loved it. I don't have anything to compare it to and the dolphin swim things always bother me a little, but it's all my kids could talk about when they found out about the cruise, so I figured we could do it once.

I went back and forth between the two and just ended up choosing one. The reviews on Trip Advisor are very comparable. I just did the observer and took pictures (which saved us about $250 ). I think you'd be fine with either.

 

[mrs.ariel]

Grandparents will be with us on the cruise, too- one of them will do the Dolphin Observer and take pics, too!
I just can't justify all that $ for pics!!

The dolphin thing kind of bothers me, too- but it's all my kids have talked about, too!!!

Plus, I think someday this opportunity will be available less often d/t the controversy around it....

 

[puffkin]

We just did Chankanaab last week. I really enjoyed the interaction and there was a lot to do at the park. We did not get the pictures because of the outrageous cost, so that was a huge disappointment. Everything closes at 5 though, so it is kind of a waste if the excursion is in the afternoon...definitely do a morning trip. It's about a 3 minute taxi ride from the port so easy to book on your own too. We had food included with ours, and it was gross. The park was gorgeous though.

And I didn't think the dolphins seemed unhappy. They could easily get out to open water if the wanted too. They are smart animals, they know they have it good there.

 

[jenifferf00]

Very interested in this as well. Those who have booked outside of DCL for either do you remember their cancellation policies for inclement weather? How much was a cab to get you there?

 

[Dhew79]

we did the Dolphin Swim at Dolphinaris in Cozumel. it was me and my daughter who was 6. She loved it and they had her go on my back when we did the belly ride, which worked out perfect. i would def do it again

 

[Wuzzles27]

We just got back from the Wonder 5-night Caribbean sailing which stopped at Cozumel. We did Dolphinaris and my DS(5) loved it! He just did the dolphin encounter so he didnt actually swim with the animals. He did get into the water with them though. We chose the all-inclusive ticket so that we could do other things afterwards. Food and drink included, even the alcoholic drinks.

 

[jjgarv]

DH and DD (10 at the time) did the dolphin swim at Chankanaab, and it was great! DD was a bit hesitant, but they were very encouraging and she had a blast! I think we were in one of the first groups of the day, and we stayed there the rest of the day. We would definitely do the dolphin swim at Chankanaab again.

 

[Donald & Daisy Duck]

We did the dolphin royal swim in Chankanaab in Cozumel this past August and it was alot of fun. That said though...my nephew is not a good swimmer and had a hard time with it even though you are in a life jacket. He was a little afraid in the water
We booked it on our own through Dolphin Discovery and had a buy one get one free deal so it was well worth the money. They also added a manatee encounter for free which was 15 minutes in with the manatees which are really gentle creatures.
All in all we really liked the swim but if you have little ones I would opt for the encounter rather than the swim. If I were to compare it to the dolphin encounter we did at blue lagoon in nassau, I would say nassau was better. More one on one dolphin time and less yelling from the trainer.