Which dolphin experience???

[CheapMom]

We are doing a 4 day cruise and a 4 day stay at WDW. I would love to be able to take my 9 and 7 year olds on some kind of dolphin experience. I am flexible as to whether I do this in FL or in the Bahamas.
Anyone have an opinion on what is the best experience???

 

[CruiseRay]

We just got back from the 10/2 cruise and did the Dolphin swim in Antigua. It was conducted by "Dolphin Discovery". From their literature, it appears that they have several locations - Cancun, Riviera Maya, Cozumel and others. The excursion was WAY over-priced in my opinion - $180 for an adult! If you intend to go with them, consider doing what I did: I inquired at the excursion desk as to whether they would accomodate an observer or not. The only person in my family of 5 that really wanted to do this was my daughter (13yrs old - adult fare) and I did not want to have to pay $360 for her to go (with me accompanying). After a couple days at sea the desk called us and let us know that they would allow me to go as an observer for $20, so we booked it.

It was a fantastic experience for her, of course, but still - I had to spend $200 for her to swim with the dolphins for about 25 minutes. Another dad in the group didn't realize that he'd just spent $360 for his daughter (and him) to do it. I guess his wife booked it. I didn't have the heart to tell him what I'd done. He was already a little bit sick about it.

Here's my real sticky point with this company: They wouldn't allow anyone to take cameras into the water with them. They claimed that you could harm a dolphin if you let the camera dangle and it scraped their eyes. Perhaps. I think the real reason was that they had their own people taking photos and they wanted us to buy them. The exhorbitant fee they charged wasn't enough for them- they wanted another $12 for each photo you bought (in fairness, they were well done). Also, they shot a video of the experience. After the swim, they had us all go into a room and view the video as they edited it together with music and special effects. Again, this was very well done and recorded onto DVD. The price? $40. (regularly $60, but since we were with Disney and all...) Imagine even thinking of saying no to your child after seeing this.

Oh, one more thing, I was an observer, right? I could take my own pictures and video. Right? Sort of. They had the groups facing away from shore for all of the good stuff - dolphin kissing, etc. I got no shots of that. I HAD to buy their $12 prints. I thought that was pretty clever of them.

As for the people at this location, they were all top notch - very knowledgeable and friendly. Their photos and video were excellent. In the end, I would do it all again, but only because there was no (cheaper) alternative for a Dolphin swim/encounter on our cruise.

So, maybe my experience will help you with yours. Good luck and take plenty of cash.

 

[eander5696]

I also was on the 10-2 Antigua Dolphin adventure. My niece loved it. I snuck my dig camera into the water for about the first 10 mins of the lagoon stuff, but then quickly took it to shore when I realized we would be swimming out into the lagoon. My instructor was right next to me, and he did say the only cameras not allowed were the underwater cams b/c the dophins could attempt to eat them.

To my extreme pleasure, there were other things for us to do there other than the dolphin swim, we got to meet and touch a three toed sloth, macaws and parrots, and saw other birds.

The best part of it was actually getting into the Stingray tank with the stingrays (stingers removed) and the starfish. The cool part was finding out we were also in the tank with a large nurse shark. Some of the children jumped out of the water quickly upon hearing this!!!!! The shark was shy and stayed away from us, but I guess had the potential to come over and check us out??

The instructor dumped some frozen squid into the water and the stingrays went nuts eating them up and swimming around us. They are curious animals and swam all around our legs and feet, and let us pet them. We also got to hold the starfish and take pics. This was very exciting for us, as she had always wanted to swim with dolphins, so the price was not a big deal. BUT she also had to have the pics and the video, so the poster above is correct, be prepared to spend money!!!

 

[CheapMom]

Thanks for your input. After looking at my available options I think the price is just too high. I am sure we will have plenty of fun even if we don't get to do the dolphin experience.

 

[ivanova]

Look into Discovery Cove www.discoverycove.com

It would be $229 per person for the dolphin encounter and $129 for anyone doing the non-dolphin package (but at least 1 person in your group has to be doing the encounter).

 

[weluv M&M]

We did the Dolphin Encouter in Nassau.I was a HIGHLIGHT of our trip!! If you are on the 4 day cruise this would be for you. I don't remember the cost but they do allow "observers" at no charge. Check them out at, doplhinencounters.com.

 

[CheapMom]

How long does the dolphin encounter last? I see that the dolphin swim is 30 minutes. Is the encounter a lot shorter?

 

[ivanova]

typically the difference between dolphin swims and encounters is:

SWIM - you are in deeper water SWIMMING with the dolphins

ENCOUNTER - you are typically in waist deep water, you get to touch (sometimes kiss) the dolphins but not actually swim with them.

 

[eander5696]

My experience was 4 hours. This included transportation to the site as well, which was about 20 mins. We were in waist deep water with the stingrays and shark, and in waist deep to begin with the dolphins, then walked into the water, eventually swimming where it was so deep the dolphin swam under us. Ours was def. worth the $.

 

[tksbaskets]

We did the Dolphin Encounter and loved it. We only spent about 15 minutes in the water but enjoyed all the commentary from the dolphin handlers about their behavior, habits, etc. Our boys were 11 at the time and were listening the entire 2 hours.