Sea Life Park, Puerto Vallarta

We were in PV on January 16, and we went to Sea Life Park and enjoyed the Dolphin Royal Swim and the Sea Lion Encounter. It was AWESOME!! We slept in a little and didn't arrive early enough to see any of the shows, but we did get a little tour to see the animals while on our sea lion encounter, and they have beautiful birds and some really cute little monkeys. There were even some three month old baby monkeys that were adorable. The toucans were cool as well. I've never seen a live one before.

We also didn't leave ourselves enough time to really take advantage of the waterslides, but we did do a couple runs and loved them. Even without the animal encounters, I'll bet a day there enjoying the slides would be fantastic... but then who would miss an opportunity to swim with dolphins or be kissed by a sea lion?

We booked online through their website, through their live chat option, and when you book the Royal swim with the dolphins, you get the sea lion encounter free. Just ask about it. The royal swim, with two dolphins, includes kisses, a cradle, lots of petting, and dorsal pulling (one hand on each dolphin's dorsal fin) and the foot push. I got pushed right out of the water to my ankles and it was incredible! For the sea lion encounter, we got kisses, cradled one, got to pet her, and then fed a larger male and learned a lot about sea lions, as well as differences between sea lions and seals. We LOVED it all, and bought some great pictures and dvds to remember the experiences!

I highly recommend the park and their encounters. Please feel free to ask any questions.

What was the price, if you don't mind me asking? Just wondering how much the ship marks the tours up. It sounds like you had a great cruise, I read your review in the NCL thread...:)

I don't mind at all, I'm just having a little trouble finding it... but it says $149 on the website, so I'm sure that's what it was. :) I think our ship's excursion was about $175 but didn't include the sea lions, and my daughter says that was her favourite part (we'd done a dolphin encounter last year). We had to provide our own transportation to and from the park, which cost us another $40, so we definitely came out ahead, although perhaps not as much as for some other excursions.

we are on the vision next week and i booked the royal swim and sealion for 149.00,but they said the water park will be closed?and how much is the cab ride?and how much are the photos and dvds?was the water really cold? thank you so much i cant wait to go next week :D jan

Oh, the tough questions!!

We paid $20 each way, but we didn't make any attempt to agree on a price before we left in either direction because we were in a hurry, and here at home, it would have cost much more than that for the distance we travelled.

The videos and photos my husband purchased... we bought all of them - and I really recommend it, since they do know exactly when to shoot and all that. They do allow you to bring a waterproof camera with you (they are also available in the gift shop, wish I'd seen them sooner), but you have to keep them inside your life jacket when the dolphins are near you. You can take pictures of your friends or relatives while they're doing the various activities and you're waiting your turn, though. The thing is you don't know what they'll look like until you get home, and my husband videotaped our entire encounter in Cozumel last year and missed most of what was on their video - as I said, they just know when to look and where. I believe our total package, with two dvds and pictures of three people with the Royal actions and sea lion actions, was around $340. It sounds really steep I know, but I've still got a picture of my daughter from last year's encounter as my desktop. It's one of the best pictures of her we've ever had.

There is a notice on the website that the waterpark will be closed Mondays and Fridays I think, for the next three months. We only had time for two slides, so it wouldn't have really made any difference for us, and they have a dolphin show, a sealion show, and an exotic bird show as well, so there are other things to do at the park if you time it right. We were running late so we missed all the shows, but everyone who saw them said they were good.

Now, the cold truth... the water itself was not particularly cold to us (we're Canadians, though, so...) but the air was once we were wet. The sun just chose that moment to pop under cloud cover unfortunately; while we were doing the two slides we were fine. In the sealion encounter we also didn't feel cold, since it's in a more sheltered area. It's worth braving it, though!

I'm sure you'll have a blast!! Enjoy your experience of a lifetime!! :)

thank you i am really looking forward to this,we live in fl so the water will proably be a little cold to us.were you on the cruise ship ? vision of the seas?i hope the water slides are open we will see.did you see any whales? in p v ? thanks jan:D

Hi Jan,

We didn't see any whales in PV, but we were pretty much just in a cab and at the park. We did go whale watching in Cabo and saw three, which were magnificent! I hope the slides are open for you as well. From the website, I'm not sure if I'm understanding it correctly, but they're either closed only on Mondays and Fridays, or from Monday to Friday... I'm not sure which. There is still plenty to do there, though. I wish we'd seen the shows. We were on the NCL Star.

I have been looking at booking this activity directly through the park because they will accept all of my children - cruise ship's age minimum is 8, and my 7 year-old son would hate to miss out. Actually, if I book the Dolphin Encounter it looks like the 2 year-old could get in the water also. Do you think Dolphin Encounter would be worthwhile as a first time ever swim-with-the-dolphins experience? Did you have any problem booking with Sea Life Park directly? Any tips/suggestions when booking? Also, how far from dock to park (time-wise), and did you have any problem getting a cab either way? Thanks!

We had no problem getting a cab either way, even though we were the last guests in the park and I was worried there wouldn't be one waiting. I think it took us about twenty minutes to a half hour each way. There's a fair amount of traffic, so I'd give it a half hour to be safe.

Last year, we did a dolphin encounter in Cozumel with Dolphin Discovery, the same company that does the encounters at Sea Life Park. We were with one dolphin, and we got a kiss, gave a kiss, and 'shook hands' with the dolphin, as well as being able to pet him, and we learned a lot about dolphins. It was my daughter's favourite day of our cruise. This year we booked the Royal Swim because we wanted to do more and because booking online included the sealion encounter. Depending on how strong your children are, they wouldn't be able to enjoy the full experience of the Royal Swim. Your two year old for sure wouldn't be able to; for your seven year old it would depend on him. My nine year old, who is over five feet tall, got a face full of water when she was pulled and I don't think she enjoyed the foot push as much as my husband and I did. She plugged her nose with one hand and had her eyes closed. :p

So... I know last year we were thrilled with the 'encounter'. I absolutely think it is a worthwhile first experience, especially if your two year old gets to come along. If you go online, you can use their live interactive chat to ask any questions you want and set things up, and then either call them or email them the details. Be prepared to spend some money on pics and the dvd as well, too. They're worth it! I think I mentioned earlier that you can also take a waterproof camera with you, but based on our experience last year, you won't get the pictures they get, and you would hate to get home and find out you missed the 'best shot'. One of ours from last year is still one of my favourite pics ever. I'll attach it - just picture your sweet angel's face where mine is...

I think as a first experience the 'encounter' will be just fine. My kids love the water, but I really have no idea how they're going to react to a dolphin. At least this way we'll all be together (me too!:)). Thanks for your help.

Thinking about booking the dolphin swim through Johann & Sandra. I wanted to take my son while my husband goes on the zipline tour. My concern is traveling alone via taxi w/out my husband. Anyone know how safe this is?? My last Mexico experience was in the 80's in Alcapulco where some street thug ripped my gold necklace right off of my neck as I walked past him on the street (I was 12 at the time). So naturally, I am still a bit concerned w/ safety in the Mex. Riviera.

I usually book ship tours (transportation is always included) however was thinking about saving some $$. Any advice is greatly appreciated!!!

Oh I was just reading about this excursion! It sounds like it would be so fun.

My only worry is walking around in my bathing suit. Not a pretty sight for anyone to have to see:o

Did anyone wear anything like shorts/Capri pants and a tshirt? Would that be to freaky?

If I didn't care about the water slides would you still recommend this trip? I just love the dolphins and sea lions/seals. I would like to spend all my time with them.

Also, I'm going solo so I will most likely book this through the ship so I don't have to take a taxi and find my way around by myself.

I'm torn between doing this in PV or doing it in Cabo and then doing another tour in PV.

Kaiiak, I don't know whether you're talking about PV or not, but I feel completely safe in the cabs there. Even when I was there in the late 80s, one of the girls I was with left her wallet in a cab and the cabbie brought it back to where he had dropped her off. :) Acapulco is a much different place than the other tourist areas on the Mexican Riviera. You'll see the difference yourself, I'm sure.

JoKen, I share your shame!! :p I'm no Barbie, but I got over my fear of walking around in my bathing suit some time ago. I just really don't give a rat's behind what strangers think of my body. I don't have time for that. I do my best to dress to 'minimize' when I can, but a bathing suit is a bathing suit and we don't have a lot of choices. :rolleyes: I do believe they had some rules about extra articles, but they didn't apply to us, so I could be wrong. I think I saw a kid in a tee shirt in one of the pools, but not with the dolphins. I really can't tell you about that, but if you go to the Sea Life Park site, you can chat live with someone from the park and they can answer all your questions.

As for going alone, you should see if anyone on your roll call is interested. Even if you go alone, I really can't see any issues finding your way. The taxis are inside the area where you get off the ship and they drop you off at the line up to get back in. The reason I chose to book independently is that my ship offered only the Royal Swim but not the sea lions. By booking directly through the park, using the live system, I qualified for the deal where I paid for the Royal Swim and got the sea lion encounter for free. It was much cheaper than through the ship, even with the taxi fare. I imagine, though, that you could book through the ship, and then contact the park and book the sea lion encounter separately. We met a couple of girls from another ship while we were there (Carnival Pride I think) and they were still there waiting for their ride back when we came back from our sea lion encounter. They were gone by the time we were finished getting all our pictures and dvds though, but we also bought tee shirts and things... I'm sure you could expedite it. :)

I definitely highly recommend doing the encounters. As I mentioned, I only got to do a couple of slides. We have waterslides at home and really only did them because they were there. We would absolutely have gone even if they were closed and would have had just as memorable a day!

Thanks for the tip to go to the web site and chat live. I just did and found out I can wear shorts and a tshirt.

I'm going to book my day with the dolphins and sea lions now! Thanks for the inside info. I can't wait to go and live out a dream of mine!

Thanks for the info. I too have heard that Acapulco is a bit more seedy than other ports on the Mex. Riviera.

I have been looking at booking this activity directly through the park because they will accept all of my children - cruise ship's age minimum is 8, and my 7 year-old son would hate to miss out. Actually, if I book the Dolphin Encounter it looks like the 2 year-old could get in the water also. Do you think Dolphin Encounter would be worthwhile as a first time ever swim-with-the-dolphins experience? Did you have any problem booking with Sea Life Park directly? Any tips/suggestions when booking? Also, how far from dock to park (time-wise), and did you have any problem getting a cab either way? Thanks!

I just went to the park's website, and it said the Sea Lion experience minimum age was 8. Did you see something different? We would love to go, but our daughter is only 7.

Thinking about booking the dolphin swim through Johann & Sandra. I wanted to take my son while my husband goes on the zipline tour. My concern is traveling alone via taxi w/out my husband. Anyone know how safe this is?? My last Mexico experience was in the 80's in Alcapulco where some street thug ripped my gold necklace right off of my neck as I walked past him on the street (I was 12 at the time). So naturally, I am still a bit concerned w/ safety in the Mex. Riviera.

I usually book ship tours (transportation is always included) however was thinking about saving some $$. Any advice is greatly appreciated!!!

I'm also a little concerned with taking cabs so for my first cruise, I'd like to stick with the ship excursions for the same reasons as you. I have noticed that some excursions say returning to the pier is at your own expense. How common is that? As a first timer, I'd like to keep it as safe and hassle free as possible.