Dolphin Experience or Swim w/a dolphin?

[vegasgold]

:confused: Has anyone done either of these in Puerta Vallarta. Would love to 'swim with the dolphins', but don't know if it's worth the money!! ?? !! How about the dolphin experience? Any experienced dolphin swimmers out there?

[Desertbelle]

I swam with the dolphins in Puerta Vallarta last September and it was amazing. I had a great time. We got to spend a lot of time in the water with the dolphins. It WAS expensive but worth it for me.

[Karen Carney]

I loved swimming with the dolphins!! I also watched people having an "experience". What a waste of money. The people were standing on a deck suspended under the water so they stood in water up to their knees. The dolphins swam past and they could reach out and touch them. There is nothing like being in the water and moving around with them.

[SylviaB]

Swimming!!! No doubt!!! It's wonderful!!! We did it last year in Nassau and it was definately worth it! :D

[pjbrock]

We swam last week in Cozumel - The best thing we ever did-hands down. I would definately go for it. We were reluctant too but people who had done it said that you just had to do it once and I would agree. We're amazing all our friends with the cool video. And I never buy those videos and picture things but this was just too cool.

[emeraldcity]

I grew up with a father who always said "You don't want to do that!" So we didn't get to do much. And I have a lot of regrets about the missed opportunities to have shared experiences with him.

 

My kids won't say that about me!

 

My daughter and I swam with the dolphins in Cozumel. She loves to remind me about the startled look on my face as they pushed me along, standing on their noses ... and she delights over how far out of the water she was when her turn came for that maneuver.

 

It would have been a bargain at twice the price. You're not just buying the experience ... you're buying the memories ... and you can't put a price on that.

 

Go for it.

[LisaMichele]

Could you please tell me which excursion you were on?

Thanks.

[hstrybuf]

We swam with the dolphins in Cozumel last year and it was worth every penny! We booked directly through Dolphin Discovery and well in advance of our cruise. The photos and videos will keep us smiling for years to come. What an experience! :)

[emeraldcity]

We booked directly with Dolphin Discovery, too. Be sure and take a water camera with you (we used one of the disposable ones). They put you in a group of eight people and the others in the group will happily take pictures for you when you're getting your turn for one of the maneuvers.

[moofus]

How long is the excursion for swimming with them,,, is it an all day deal or is there time to do shopping, too?

[ccrn]

Acoording to the website, the royal dolphin swin is an hour, and you have to check in 30 minutes prior to your swim time, per my confirmation letter.

[spocruiser]

My wife, two sons (9 & 11) and I did the Royal Dolphin Swim last week on Cozumel. There are several levels of participation and this was the high end at $125/person. Expensive, but glad we did it as we all really enjoyed it.

 

They had us meet a half hour before in a small meeting area right by the check in area and we watched a short video. We then were instructed on how to do certain "tricks", i.e. our role (how you floated, grabbed, etc) for the Dolphin "kiss", "foot push" and "pull".

 

We then went out to the water in groups of eight, where we went through each of the tricks/interaction with the dolphins, typically two at a time, which allowed for my wife and I (since we were in different groups) to take pictures with a waterproof camera. I would note these did fine for close ups, but the pictures taken where my sons were out in the water with the dolphins were not great as there was no zoom mechanism on the camera. There were family members of other participants standing above us on the dock (we were on a platform in the water) taking pictures with much better cameras that that appeared to be a good option.

 

We did buy the video as I wanted video footage to add to my footage for the trip as a whole. Again, expensive ($50 for DVD), but pretty well done and footage I wasn't able to obtain being in the water myself.

[weezer64]

Does anyone know if the Royal Swim booked directly w/Dolphin Discovery is the same as the one booked directly w/ RCI - the Dolphin Swim and Snorkle for $136?

[spocruiser]

Cheryl;

 

Whie I have not reviewed the detail on the ship based excursion, I do not beleive the dolphin component of that excursion is the same as the Royal Swim. I may be wrong, but I beleive I have seen them distinguished in other posts, with the ship-based program not offering the same level of interaction with the dolphins. You may want to review the Cozumel boardsor other ports of call where Dolphin swims are offered. I think there there are several threads dealing with dolphin excursions.

 

In addition, while we saw groups with snorkel gear gathering and being marched off to other areas of the dolphin area, we did not use snorkel equipment in the Royal Swim. I did not, however, watch the groups with snorkel gear to see what they did. Chankanaab National Park was a great place to snorkel and a dolphin/snorkel excursion may be a great combination, although we snorkeled on our own.

 

Good luck.