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swim with the Dolphins


carmal

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We are going to Costa Maya, Cozumel, Grand Cayman & Belize in March 09. My daughters ages 20 & 20 want to swim with the dolphins. I see Cozumel has a push, pull & swim at Chankanaab Park & a Swim & Ride at Dolphinaris. Does anyone have any recommendations at any one of these islands. I am looking for a good one that they will really enjoy.

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in january of 2007 my wife and i did the dolphin thing at chankenaab. we took a taxi and booked straight there. either way it wasnt cheap. i think total 330 for the 2 of us, but you did everything and I highly recommend it. We bought the dvd at the end and my 4 year old daughter falls asleep to it every now and then.

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In Cozumel it seems like they offer 2 different dolphin excursions. One is the Push, Pull & Swim at Chankanaab Park or the Swim & Ride at Dolphinaris. Is one better than the other. Or can anyone recommend a good Dolphin Excursion at Belize, Grand Cayman or Costa Maya? Thanks for any input! My daughters, ages 20 & 27 have been wanting to do this forever!

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Cozumel is wonderful...we did the Royal Swim and booked through their website.....got a much better deal then the ship offered. Cabs are at the end of the pier and I think we paid $6 each for that (sometimes the park runs specials and include cab fare or entrance into the park in their price) There is plenty to do at the park if you choose to stay all day too.

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Which one is the Royal swim in Cozumel? Do you get to interact with the dolphins? My girls want to swim with them & I hear they push you up by your feet. Do you have their website? We are going March 09, how soon before should I book? My husband & I will probably obeserve, can we go in and watch? Sometimes I think they charge to be an observer which is ok.

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My friend and I did the Royal Swim in Cozumel in November 2007. We booked it ourselves directly with Dolphin Encounters and it was a much better deal.

 

We were a small group - about 6 people and got to "hold" the dolphins, hold on to their dorsal fins while they pulled us, they pushed our feet and "kissed" the dolphins.

 

We got to do a TON more than the cruise line excursion did.

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My son and I did the Dolphin Swim and snorkle at Chakanaab last February and are going to do it again in January Next year. It was lot's of fun. Chakanaab is a beautiful park and the snorkeling is fun. If you Google Cozumel Insider you can purchase the Dolphin Swim and Snorkel for 103.00 per person, this includes entrance to Chakanaab Park. If you want to go snorkeling there you can rent the fins and mask andinflatable life evest for 15.00 for the day. There are thre event times per day. Last time we went we had signed up for the 1:00PM , we got there at 9:30AM and they let us do the 10:00AM event, so we had the rest of the day to snorkel and sight see.

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You can watch , but You do not have to be a strong swimmer to actually take part. You wear a life vest , basically all you have to be able to do is dog paddle out above 30 yards for the Dolphin to push you back to the dock. You can pet the dolphins, they give you a kiss, and you can hold them like a baby. They will push you on a boogie board and pull you by their dorsal fin. Also, they do tricks under water while you snorkel with them. It is a lot of fun. If you just want to watch you will have to pay the park entrance fee, there is a discount coupon for that also on Cozumel Insider web site. The cab to the park is 10.00 each way total, not per person. There are many other things to do at Chakanaab Park. Also, may I recommend in Belize, the Cave Tubing excursion, and in Costa Maya , the Power Snorkel excursions. l

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I second the dolphin encounter at chankanaab park it is just wonderful. It was my 2nd encounter....but first time in Cozumel. I highly recommend the "royal swim" That is where you get the most interaction.....superman foot push, pull, kiss, dance etc....... the website is dolphindiscovery dot com .

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If you do Cozumel, I too suggest booking yourself-I did it last April booked through RCCL, and they pack so many people into each group, the entire thing is a big pain in the tush-from finding 20+ cabs for your group, to 2 hour+ waiting times.

 

I actually left and went back to the ship (which was great, because everyone was in port and we had the entire pool to ourselves), never swam with the dolphnins, and got my money back from the cruiseline, because I had a 3 year old with me, and there was no safe, cool place for him to wait for our turn for so long. The problem is that the coastline is very rocky and jagged, and there is no guard rail of any kind to keep kids safely away from the water, impossible to keep a toddler occupied for such a long wait.

 

So next time, I will book myself and avoid the huge backlog of groups.

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My fiance and I have this booked for our first cruise! We went directly through Chak park, paid $150 pp for the Royal swim, but they were running some promotion where we saved $30 pp for a total of $60 off, so grand total is $240 for the 2 of us!...we figured if we're going to do it, might as well do it big! We can't wait! I'll def come back and post my review for CC! :p

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We did the Dolphin Trainer Program at Dolphinaris in Cozumel. Be booked directly with the facility at the first available time 8am. It was a little pricey, but WELL WORTH IT! We took a quick taxi ride and found out that we were the ONLY ONES scheduled. So, it was just DH and I swimming with the dolphins and doing tricks. We ended up swimming with 4 different dolphins, but no more than two at a time. Plus, we did tricks with another dolphin.

 

It was $179/pp, but includes a shirt, two drinks, lunch, and two pictures. We also purchased some more pictures and the DVD (we had to since it was just DH and I in the video!) Here's the link to the video. This excursion was one of the highlights of my life.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUbGHJeXTd4

 

This is what it includes:

Dolphin Time: 70 Minutes.

Duration: 3.5 Hours.

 

- Welcome tropical drink.

- Towels and lockers to be used during your time at Dolphinaris.

- Snorkeling equipment.

- “Behind the scenes tour” of the fish house and laboratory.

- Learn how to prepare the Dolphins’ diets and about training techniques.

- Behavior presentation.

- Personal anatomy lesson on dolphins

- Dolphin kiss.

- Dolphin ride.

- Swim freely with the dolphin with a snorkeling equipment.

- Unlimited use of the snorkeling area.

- Lunch.

- All participants will receive a Dolphin Trainer Certificate, a Dolphin Trainer T-Shirt, two pictures and two complimentary drinks.

 

Good luck!

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Does anyone know if there is a "swim with dolphins" in St. Thomas or St. Maarten I am 39 years old and have always wanted to do this, and have always said maybe next time, but this time I am gonna do it, because we will be in St. Thomas on my birthday and I would love to give myself this wonderful birhtday present:D . Thanks for all your help in advance.

Chris

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Does anyone know if there is a "swim with dolphins" in St. Thomas or St. Maarten I am 39 years old and have always wanted to do this, and have always said maybe next time, but this time I am gonna do it, because we will be in St. Thomas on my birthday and I would love to give myself this wonderful birhtday present:D . Thanks for all your help in advance.

Chris

 

I remember searching for someone before about this. There's no dolphin swim in St. Thomas or St. Maarten; however, there is a sea lion swim in St. Thomas available through Shoretrips (I highly recommend them if you book excursions independently).

 

http://www.shoretrips.com/common/search4.asp?rcode=CAR&lcode=STT&tcode=025310

 

Looks pretty fun to me! Enjoy!

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