Dolphin Swin in Cozumel

[lcdmartin]

My family and are booked on the 4/23 Grandeur cruise. My kids want to do the dolphin swim (12 and 9). I see that there is a 10 year old age limit through the cruise excursion, do they really enforce this? I tried to book on my own through Dolphin Discovery but they were all booked (their age limit for the swim is 8).

Thanks for your help.

Lisa

[hardingk]

We booked through Dolphin Discovery directly. It is great and well worth it. If you don't have any other plans for the day in Cozumel, get off the ship as early as you can and got directly to Chackanub Park (sp?). They will tell you now that they are fully booked, but they always take more people that day. I called for 2+ months before we went to see if they had openings and they said no. But when we got to the park there were people at the gate selling the difference packages. Turns out that more then 1/2 our group signed up that morning for the tour.

[lcdmartin]

Thanks for the information, we are also taking our 3 year old with us. If my husband took the two older girls for the dolphin swim could my youngest and I see them while they are participating this or is it in an enclosed area?

[aggieastrosfan]

You could also try booking through http://www.cozumelinsider.com (same price as booking direct). Sometimes they have spots that Dolphin Discovery doesn't show, and vice versa. If that doesn't work I'd second the suggestion of tryiong to book the day of.

[Ann25]

Yes, your husband and son can watch but I think they charge you. We went there in 2003 and it was the greatest thing. You get to kiss them, they lift you out of the water by pushing against your feet, they jump over you & you get to grab their fins while they pull you through the water. It was fun.

Crusin 05

Ann25

[hardingk]

Your husband and son can watch on right on the side. The only charge is the $10pp charge they charge everyone to get into the park bc it is a national park. When we went last August my brother came along and was right above us on the walkway taking photo and video for us. No extra charge! If you give me your e-mail address, I will send you pics.

[dc-snoopy]

You should take the web-site and phone number for Dolphin Discovery. On our 2/6 sailing of the Jewel, we had heard from quite a number of people that the shore excurion and the DD were reporting the Dolphin Swim was full. But in Key West the night before, I called DD directly and they had spaces for us. Call the night before and check or as someone else suggested, catch a cab and go to Chakanaab yourself day of to find out. There is a 24-hour cancellation policy and they sometimes get cancellations 24-hours before especially if a cruise ship changes their itinerary for any reason. All of those pax can cancel their excursions without penalty. So always check the last 24 hours.

 

And in our group for the Royal Swim we had a guy whose wife and 3YO son were watching from the pier (no charge). In the first session at 10:00, the mother and son did the Dolphin Encounter (less interactive and less scary for the kid) and the father watched and took pictures from the pier above them. Then they switched and at 12:00 with us, the father did the Dolphin Swim and the mother and son watched from the pier. Since the mother had her hands full (she didn't put the son down at all for the hour we were in the water), the guy and I help by taking photos of each other with our water cameras. DW's hands were shaking because she was cold and she didn't want to risk blurring the pictures. It worked out great for both of us. You should have no problems watching from the pier or doing two back-to-back swims and doing the kid trade thing (just like at DW with the parent/guardian trades on rides).

[Renee L. Hill]

My 10 year old daughter and I just got back a couple of weeks ago from the dolphin swim booked directly with the park. My husband was able to film right above us on the platform. We bought one picture from them, $20.00 of the dolphin kiss, it was beautiful. She and I really had a blast.

 

Renee