Dr. Poole's Dolphin Excursion

[BethIRC]

Has anyone done this excursion on the PG? Do you have any opportunity to swim with the dolphins or is that only available at the IC in Moorea? I have read mixed comments on the excursion through Trip Advisor. The description on the PG excursion website does not show anything about swimming with them, but others show they allow it if the weather and seas are good.

 

Thanks!

[hvsteve1]

Didn't Regent drop swimming with dolphins tours from their available port excursions because they agreed with animal rights groups that such tourist attractions were not in the best interest of the dolphins? At least I thought I saw that last year.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Sorry, what's all that to do with Doctor Poole?

 

Poole is a zoologist, a scientist. He takes you out and shows you wild dolphins. You do not interact with them, just view them. It's a great excursion, if you see dolphins (which is most of the time), and sometimes whales (at certain times of the year.) The first time we went, we saw dolphins quite quickly, went about halfway around Moorea, and got a great little snorkel in as well.

[BethIRC]

Thanks Wendy, the follow up snorkel will be a nice end to the day.

[Kathy Z]

Beth, it worked that way for Wendy but you can not count on it. It all depends on how far and how much time it takes in trying to spot dolphins. We went on Dr. Poole's excursion during whale season and saw neither dolphins nor whales on our tour. He gave a very good commentary and we got to see almost the entire perimeter of Moorea but he had to phone for a bus to meet us when we had reached the last dock he could pull into and we were bused back to our starting dock. The group he took the following day had lots of sightings. It's a matter of chance.

[egret]

We did Dr. Poole's excursion in 2005. Again we spent alot of time looking dolphins before finally finding them, so we did not get to do any snorkeling. He makes it clear that he doesn't think too much of "swimming with the dolphins" or sting ray feedings.

We really enjooyed his talks. If you want to make a few points with him take some Zatarain's cajun spices or jambalaya mix. He probably is pining away for some taste of home.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Yes, sorry, Kathy's right. I didn't mean to imply you always get a snorkel. The second time we went, we spent the whole time looking for dolphins and did not see any. Kathy, do you remember when whale season is?

[Cowgirlup]

Whale season is July - Oct. We just returned from the July 11 11-day cruise. We did not take the Dr. Poole tour but our friends did (hi Gerre, Dennis & Erin!) and it also took them a while to see dolphins - they kept checking the various passes into the lagoon until they found some. We DID spot a whale off the ship on our way into Cook's Bay - fairly far away but we could see the spouting and the body as it came up for air. Very thrilling!

[BethIRC]

Egrit,

Thanks for the heads up on Dr. Poole's likings! I also understand the issue on how long it takes to spot the dolphins and/or whales.

[Kathy Z]

Whale season question has been answered. Just adding to say that the day following our tour with Dr. Poole we went on the Moorea lagoon and snorkeling excursion and spotted many spinner dolphins and then some whales. Our crew kept us out late as we followed the whales - a real nice bonus! All this plus great snorkeling. It was a favorite excursion. We were there end of August beginning of September that time.