snorkeling and swimming with the dolphins in St. Thomas?

[evanandsamuel'smom]

I am trying to find information on good places to have a dolphin encounter, maybe just "meet and greet" and a short encounter in St. Thomas?

Also, any good places to snorkel? I really want to book excursions on our own and not through the ship. Thanks for any info!

[bigasufan]

We're on the same Mariner cruise in September. I would like to do the same thing, so maybe we'll see each other.

[bigsky]

Don't know about St Thomas, but we've swam with the dolphins and it was awesome! Do the most you can afford. We were swimming with them and they would come to us and drag us around. Some you just get in the water and kiss them. But try and spend as much time in the water with them. A once in a life time experience! Enjoy!!

[VAHockeymom]

Depending on what day you're in St. Thomas, there is an excursion that goes to Tortola via ferry to do the Dolphin encounter. There are several locations in the Caribbean and elsewhere that offer this. We did it in Cozumel last year and it was by far one of the greatest highlights of our trip and something the kids will remember forever.

 

Here's a website for some additional info.

 

http://www.*****

 

Enjoy!!:D

[Charles4515]

I am trying to find information on good places to have a dolphin encounter' date=' maybe just "meet and greet" and a short encounter in St. Thomas?

Also, any good places to snorkel? I really want to book excursions on our own and not through the ship. Thanks for any info![/quote']

 

There are several good places to snorkel from St. Thomas. On St. Thomas itself at Coki Beach. Even better is Trunk Bay on St. John which you can get to by ferry.

 

As far as dolphins, no. The dolphin encounter places in the Caribbean are mills that capture and use dolphins to make fast cash from tourists. St. Thomas is part of the U.S. Virgin Islands. The U.S.A. has high standards for keeping dolphins in captivity. There are places that meet those standards, mostly in Florida but none in the U.S. Virgin Islands currently.

[VAHockeymom]

There are several good places to snorkel from St. Thomas. On St. Thomas itself at Coki Beach. Even better is Trunk Bay on St. John which you can get to by ferry.

 

As far as dolphins, no. The dolphin encounter places in the Caribbean are mills that capture and use dolphins to make fast cash from tourists. St. Thomas is part of the U.S. Virgin Islands. The U.S.A. has high standards for keeping dolphins in captivity. There are places that meet those standards, mostly in Florida but none in the U.S. Virgin Islands currently.

 

I'm sorry Charles, but I don't agree with you that the dolphin encounter I posted about is a "mill". That may have been true years ago, but in this day of raised awareness, these companies must adhere to higher standards. The Discovery Dolphin locations have a breeding program and release program. They do not "capture" dolphins as you state, but in fact many are there after injury and rehabilitated and / or born in captivity. They are very well treated and seem to enjoy interacting with people. I say all this as someone who studied and wanted very much to work with these magnificent creatures, but alas that wasn't the route my life took. I hope you will at least look at the site I posted before passing judgement. Happy Sailing.

[Charles4515]

I'm sorry Charles, but I don't agree with you that the dolphin encounter I posted about is a "mill". That may have been true years ago, but in this day of raised awareness, these companies must adhere to higher standards. The Discovery Dolphin locations have a breeding program and release program. They do not "capture" dolphins as you state, but in fact many are there after injury and rehabilitated and / or born in captivity. They are very well treated and seem to enjoy interacting with people. I say all this as someone who studied and wanted very much to work with these magnificent creatures, but alas that wasn't the route my life took. I hope you will at least look at the site I posted before passing judgement. Happy Sailing.

 

Most of the foreign dolphin facilities capture their dolphins from the wild. They are wild animals. Don't believe the marketing hype from Discovery Dolphin. They exist only to make money.