Dolphinaris AND Chankanaab?

[mayyong]

We booked a Dolphinaris dolphin swim excursion because they will allow my 5 year olds to participate. We would also like to snorkel in a kid-friendly environment and it seems like Chankanaab is the best place for that. Will we have time to do both? Our Dolphin Swim is from 10:15am-1:15pm at Dolphinaris and I need to be back at the ship by 3:30pm. Is there enough time to snorkel at Chankanaab (or somewhere else)? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

[volive]

I would take a taxi to the Money Bar, the snorkeling will be better than Chank. and you wont have to pay the $20+ entrance fee. Money Bar has great food/drinks, also you can rent the gear from Money Bar, as long as your 5yr old is a decent swimmer, throw a life jacket on him/her and stick with them. Shouldn't be any worse than Chank.

[beachman727]

our 5 and 7 year olds did the swim but onlly the interactive one, not the full ride the dolphin thing. i believe they have a restriction on height for the full swim, but check their website. there were lots of kids there when we were there in march.

[mitsugirly]

Since Chankanaab offers dolphin swims and the price to get into Chank is included ($23 pp value), why would you not just book the dolphin encounter at Chankanaab and spend the entire day there? There is tons of things to do and see there. You can't go wrong. It's a BEAUTIFUL place. I can give you links to both of my reviews and the dolphin swim we did while there in Sept 2011 and March 2012 if you'd like. Just let me know.

[sunshinesmiles]

Originally Posted by mitsugirly

Since Chankanaab offers dolphin swims and the price to get into Chank is included ($23 pp value), why would you not just book the dolphin encounter at Chankanaab and spend the entire day there? There is tons of things to do and see there. You can't go wrong. It's a BEAUTIFUL place. I can give you links to both of my reviews and the dolphin swim we did while there in Sept 2011 and March 2012 if you'd like. Just let me know.

We are traveling end of May. I would LOVE to see your review and swim Thanks!

[mitsugirly]

Originally Posted by sunshinesmiles

We are traveling end of May. I would LOVE to see your review and swim Thanks!

Here is our review from 7 months ago, Dolphin swim: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showp...7&postcount=65

Review from Chankanaab 7 months ago: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showp...0&postcount=59

Review from a month ago at Chankanaab: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showp...0&postcount=59

My oldest daughter did the dolphin swim a month ago, but we did not (since we had already done it on the cruise before that). So, I did not do a review on it, but they did take some video of it and a few pictures. The pictures are located in the same album on the first page and the video is on the very last page. The dolphins got my daughter WAY up in the air. It was amazing.

You will find a link at the bottom of each review that will take you tons of more pictures.

[Olliebaby]

Why do you have to book Chankanaab through the cruise line? It's so much more $$.

[biksgirl]

mitsugirly: you were allowed to have your camera with you to take pics while doing the dolphin swim? I thought no camera's were allowed so they would force you to buy their pics. If I'm wrong, that's great!!

[mitsugirly]

Originally Posted by biksgirl

mitsugirly: you were allowed to have your camera with you to take pics while doing the dolphin swim? I thought no camera's were allowed so they would force you to buy their pics. If I'm wrong, that's great!!

Yep, everyone has been reporting that you are allowed to have your camera and both times we went, it was not a problem.

When we did the swim with my 3 year old, they would have the dolphin pose for all 3 of us and look toward their camera and then they would have us look toward our camera for a picture. They were very flexible and made sure that we got our camera pictures too.

So no problems with a camera if you are at Discovery (at Chankanaab) and as long as you are a participating customer doing the swim.

[mayyong]

We are back from our Dolphinaris Swim and Ride excursion. It was a beautiful facility! We just ended up doing a little snorkeling in their cove afterwards since they had some sting rays that my boys wanted to see. This made for a relaxing time there, and we got to watch the dolphins play for a little longer than other people who headed straight back to the ship.

The excursion itself was great and we would recommend it to anyone with kids who are less than the minimum height required at Chankanaab. Any child 5 and under is free through Carnival, and they were allowed to ride on our backs as the dolphin gave us a belly ride through the water - the highlight of the excursion! The next time we go to Cozumel, we will check out Chankanaab, but for the ages of my children on this trip, Dolphinaris was perfect.

[mitsugirly]

Originally Posted by mayyong

We are back from our Dolphinaris Swim and Ride excursion. It was a beautiful facility! We just ended up doing a little snorkeling in their cove afterwards since they had some sting rays that my boys wanted to see. This made for a relaxing time there, and we got to watch the dolphins play for a little longer than other people who headed straight back to the ship.

The excursion itself was great and we would recommend it to anyone with kids who are less than the minimum height required at Chankanaab. Any child 5 and under is free through Carnival, and they were allowed to ride on our backs as the dolphin gave us a belly ride through the water - the highlight of the excursion! The next time we go to Cozumel, we will check out Chankanaab, but for the ages of my children on this trip, Dolphinaris was perfect.

Sounds like you had a wonderful time. I just wondered if you would clarify for me (and others)... Your child rode on YOUR back, as in a piggy back ride, and then you were on the dolphin as they pulled you around? Is that how they did it? I know that Discovery has a height requirment for the actual dolphin "swim" with the dolphins. Our, then 3 year old, was able to do the "encounter" with the dolphins...as in get in the water with them, they got a kiss and gave kisses back, shook their hand/flippers and held their hand/flipper for pictures. So I just wanted to know exactly what the difference was. Thanks in advance.

[mayyong]

Yes, they allow a child to hold onto a parent like a piggy back ride (legs just floating in the water), and then the parent is the one who holds the dolphin's fins. My oldest was just old enough and tall enough to do the belly ride by himself, but opted to ride on Daddy's back instead for his turn. The kids didn't get splashed in the face this way since they were higher up (Dad still did) so they really enjoyed it.

[mygirlsemandsam]

I fully agree with mitsugirly. Go with Chankanaab National Park.
We have done both and this one was awesome. I did not like
Dolphinaris. The areas are so small and they had 15 people in our group! We were on the end and the dolphin hardly ever came down to where we were. I told the trainer that the dolphin was skipping my 10 year old daughter and myself and he said "don't worry". Well, he never corrected the issue. My children had a nice time, but having done Chankanaab with my husband a year earlier, I was disappointed. At Chankanaab the areas are triple sized. Groups are 10-12 and there were two trainers for our group. Plus you can snorkel. Cozumel is a very easy safe town to go off by yourself.