What to do in Puerto Vallarta? dolphinwise that is...

[vossjemi]

Ok, so I have another thread going about dolphins in the wild. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=674923

 

I had hesitated to do one of the centers because I didn't know where or how they obtained their dolphins or how they treated them. The Open Air Expeditions company I was considering raised their prices from $50pp to $68pp, so for our family of 4, that is now $272 if we choose to do this excursion. No discounts for children. But, I waited too long to book....they are full, but Isabel is looking into the possibility of arranging another tour. So, still a possibility I guess. We liked this tour because of the eco nature with snorkeling and only 4-5 hours of our time.

 

Well, when we found out we might not be able to book it, I found Vallarta Adventures does something similar, but instead of snorkeling at Los Arcos (where Open Air takes you), VA takes you to Las Marietas Islands. I read on tripadvisor that Marietas has better snorkeling than los arcos...true? Anyway, price is $70 adult/ $35 child but online bookings get 10% discount, so total would be $189 for our family (cheaper than Open Air) AND you get a meal. Also, this looks like the same excursion Disney offers at a higher price, which with Disney would cost us $230. Does anyone know if I HAVE to book w/Disney? Or, will VA let you book direct at the cheaper price. Other than that, the only downside for me is the amount of time. It says its a 7 hour excursion (1 1/2 hours one way to the marietas). This is pirate night. We're doing Randi's Happy Horses the day before, and I'm worried that this long of an excursion, we will just be beat and too tired to stay up for Pirate Night. I'd really prefer a shorter excursion so we could go back to room and take a small nap in the afternoon. Kids are 6 and 8, but not used to staying up to midnight.

 

So, back to square one. Should I consider the official dolphin excursions at either Sea Life Park or Adventure Center? Which park is better? From looking at the website, it looks like Sea Life Park has lots of water slides and other things to do after your dolphin experience. However, kids under 8 can't do the swim, so if we went there it would have to be the encounter for both kids. $69 each...I'm not sure I understood, but if we just let the kids do the encounter, what do parents pay to get into the park? Do you take a taxi there? Approximate cost?

 

As for the Adventure Ctr, it looks like Disney is using them for excursions. Am I right? If I go here, do I HAVE to book with Disney or can I book direct for cheaper price? If I book direct, do I have to get there on my own? Cost? It looks like we could do the kids encounter for $210 and parents pay $70 to observe so $280 with meal/transport through Disney. I just can't justify the price of the swim...$520 for 1a/2k and 1 observer.

 

What would you do? Time/$ are both factors. TIA!

[AstridVallarta]

there are many dolphin excursions here in the area, but you cannot compare one with another.

 

First of all, all swimming programs, are with captive dolphins. The question is, will you support this kind of programs, if you read http://www.wspa-usa.org/pages/272_what_s_wrong_with_swimming_with_dolphins_.cfm this link. More and more countries have forbidden little by little swimming with dolphins.

 

Then, there are possibilities to see them in the wild. Unfortunatly for you, Open Air expeditions is fully booked that day. The other one that you are talking about is again a different kind of tour. Call it a booze cruise, and in case they see dolphins they will stay a little while. Why not that long? because they cannot, first of all because they have to go all the way to the marietas islands, wihich give them little time to stay with the dolphins, and they also have to go to a beach, so even less time. Vallarta Adventures has an exclusive contract with the cruiselines, so, as soon as they find out that you come on the ship, they will not let you book it for the online price that you saw.

 

About Sea Life Park, the entrance was 150 pesos (15$) for adults about a year ago. Taxi will be 20$ I guess. So, if I where you, I would wait for Isabel to answer of the possiblity of the other tour.

[vossjemi]

Thank you Astrid. I am really hoping for Isabel to come through with another tour. I shouldn't have waited to book. There were just so many other things I was researching at the time...airfare, hotels, cabs in LA, disneyland tickets, other ports, that I just failed to do it. I am not a fan of dolphins in captivity nor of any other animal held captive (but we have many zoos here that keep animals captive like elephants/giraffes/lions/etc..) I guess the real key is the animal treated humanely or not. I don't know enough about either of these parks to know for sure. Do you know where they got their dolphins and how they treat them? If so, please tell us.

 

Vallarta Adventures hasn't answered my email, so I'm thinking they can't tell me whether or not I can book on my own. I mean...if I did, who would know? They have a website. I can catch my own cab there. Once there, who would know where I came from? I guess the only glitch would be if DCL reserved the whole day so noone could book that day, even if you were staying at a local hotel. I think we've decided NOT to do the Marietas as its just too long, and not really wanting a booze cruise.

 

Sea Life Park seems fun with the water slides and all. Their website says its $18a/$14c for general admission.

[vossjemi]

Vallarta Adventures Response re: the Marietas Islands excursion(I've cut and pasted the relevant parts):

 

 

Thank you for your email and interest. Please see below for the answers to your questions

Cheers,

Jessie Hopwood

Vallarta Adventures OnlineCabo Adventures Online

Toll free 1 888 303 2653

Local (322) 226 - 8400 ext 425

Fax 011 52 (322) 297 1252

 

http://www.vallarta-adventures.com

http://www.cabo-adventures.com

http://www.cabo-adventures.com

 

The dolphins are here all year round so there is always a good chance that you will see them either to and/or from travelling to Las Marietas Islands. Unfortunately we can never guarantee seeing them so maybe you should keep it as a secret from the children.

 

 

How many people can go on this excursion?

It varies – it can be from 60-150pax depending on the size of the catamaran. To view photos of our fleet, visit

http://www.vallarta-adventures.com/snorkeling/fleet.html

http://www.vallarta-adventures.com/snorkeling/fleet.html

We never overbook our tours, the catamarans are very spacious, new within the last 5 years and have full bathroom facilities for men and women.

 

 

Is the boat you use covered?

Yes, we have both sunny and shaded areas onboard.

 

Yes, we serve continental breakfast, deli style buffet lunch and open bar throughout the day

 

 

 

 

All of the spaces available for this tour have already been pre-reserved by your cruiseline therefore you will have to book directly with them online on their website or once aboard with Shore Excursions.

 

By booking directly thru your cruiseline your tour will include transportation to and from our facility and a Vallarta Adventure Representative will be waiting to greet you upon arrival at the pier.

 

Moreover, booking directly through the shore excursions desk will assure coordination between the cruise ship and ourselves and a full refund in case the ship is late and the tour has to be cancelled.

**************

 

 

So, sounds like the party line is you must book through DCL (at least for the Marietas Islands excursion).

 

I still wonder if I just went on their website and booked a dolphin swim if I could do that or not. Has anyone done that on their own w/out going through the cruiseline? Did it work? It is such a HUGE difference in price! $520 for 3a/1 observer to do the swim; $272.70 to do it on our own. Also, the johann & sandra tours link shows these excursions (some with discounts). What's to prevent someone from just booking direct or with them to get cheaper tickets? How would VA know if you are with the cruise or hotel?

[AstridVallarta]

How would VA know if you are with the cruise or hotel?

 

You have to fill out a form where you put the name of your hotel...

 

Any company that organize dolphin excursions will always say that they treat the dolphins very well. And probably 99% of these companies do. Did you know they pay an average of 1.000.000 US per dolphin? So, of course they will treat them well, they need many tourists to pay their investment! Also, people say that if there are dolphins born there, it must be a sign that the dolphins are happy. hmmm, only a dolphin can answer that. As they do not have to hunt for their food they have nothing else to do than making babies ;) .

 

can you tell me again which date you will come? i can look around for you, no problem

[vossjemi]

I haven't heard back from Isabel yet so if they generally only have 1 boat of 12 people, I may be out of luck. We will be there thurs aug 7. Thanks. Not entirely sure what we are going to do...when asking the kids, both of them all of a sudden seemed to NOT want to snorkel. Out of the blue, they said if there are sharks in the ocean, they don't want to get in! They liked the idea of all the water slides/rides at Sea Life Park...we have something similar here called Whitewater (tons of water rides/just no dolphins/sea lions). Do you know if we just paid the general admission price if that would allow us to do all the rides and watch the shows, just not do the encounters/swims?

[AstridVallarta]

The good thing is that the change that you will see sharks is 0.0000001%

 

And yes, when you pay the general admission at sea life park, you are allowed to use all waterslides and can see all shows.

 

Sea life park is always really quiet, I have been there 3 times now, 2 times we where the only guests, and the other time there where about 10 more people.

[vossjemi]

Wow! I love the idea of no crowds! Another question about SLP. On tripadvisor I read the dolphin show is at noon. Is that true? Only once a day? I just want to make sure we don't miss it if we go. Thanks.

[AstridVallarta]

As far as I know it is noon, but here you never know, it can change suddenly too!

[jennbill]

Hello Astrid,

 

I don't want to hijack this thread but I have a question for you.

 

We have used Open Air Expeditions twice for whale watching in Puerto Vallarta and have absolutely loved our experiences. Isabel and Oscar have been wonderful. My question is this:

 

We are coming to Puerto Vallarta again for a week this October and would love to have some sort of turtle release experience. I remember Isabel saying that Oscar was a turtle expert. Does Open Air offer a "turtle encounter" or does Oscar do something on his own?

 

We are so looking forward to once again visiting one of our favorite places on earth. Any advice you have would be wonderful.

[vossjemi]

Vallarta Adventures response email when I asked if I could book the dolphin excursions direct:

 

Yes, almost all spaces of all our dolphin programs are pre-reserved by Disney with the other small chunk left pre-reserved by the other cruise ship that´s in port on the same day so I do not have any spaces to sell to you directly, sorry. Please remember that Disney´s prices are higher but include roundtrip transportation which is about a 30 minute taxi ride and also includes a great buffet lunch at the dolphin center.

 

Kind regards,

Jessie Hopwood

Vallarta Adventures Online

Cabo Adventures Online

Toll free 1 888 303 2653

Local (322) 226 - 8400 ext 425

Fax 011 52 (322) 297 1252

http://www.vallarta-adventures.com

http://www.cabo-adventures.com

So, looks like we are going to Sea Life Park. More bang for your buck.

[AstridVallarta]

Hi Jennbill,

 

With both Isabel and Oscar you cannot go wrong. Open Air does not organize any tours with turtles, but what you can do is get in contact with Oscar right away. As you know, he is a biologist and he is the one responsable for the protection of the sea turtles in the bay. October is a very good month to see the release of hunderds of turtles. His base is at the Marriott hotel, and works for a non-profit organization.

 

I would suggest you send him an email, maybe it will take a while for an answer, because I happen to know that he is really busy.. seaturtlesvta@aol.com Also, he made a website, which can be found on http://www.vallartanature.org/

 

Good luck!

[jennbill]

Thanks so much Astrid.

 

We are looking forward to contacting Oscar about our trip. He and Isabel were so very gracious and friendly our last time in Puerto Vallarta. Their love for the whales and dolphins in the Bahia de Banderas is so obvious.

[LVSue]

I'm thinking of a Feb cruise and Oscar and Isabel sound great. The only problem is that their tours are only at 8:30 and 1:30. HAL itinerary says it is in PV from 8-5.

 

Would Ocean Friendly on the eco-friendly site you gave be OK? Its tour seems to leave at 9:00, which might give us time to make it.