looking for best dolphin excursion for my $$$$$

[fisherman4life]

i have found thousands of different dolphin excursions to do in Nassau and i have no idea which one to pick....please share any past experienced good and bad. help guide me in the right direction:confused:

[scubagirrl]

i have found thousands of different dolphin excursions to do in Nassau and i have no idea which one to pick....please share any past experienced good and bad. help guide me in the right direction:confused:

 

There are only two outfits that do the dolphin excursions in Nassau. THe others are just middlemen, selling the tours and adding on their piece of the action.

 

Dolphin Encounters at Blue Lagoon (my pick) www.dolphinencounters.com

Atlantis - Dolphin Cay (www.atlantis.com)

 

There's a deep water swim for each.. as well as an encounter program.

[seahawkfan]

Went to Dolphin Encounters at Blue Lagoon two weeks ago and it was amazing. It really is just a gorgeous island.

[D&Asailtoday]

Seahawkfan, How was the water temp? we will be sailing on the 22nd of february. Thank you for any info the Kids are so excited to swim with the Dolphin's. D&A

[scubagirrl]

Seahawkfan, How was the water temp? we will be sailing on the 22nd of february. Thank you for any info the Kids are so excited to swim with the Dolphin's. D&A

 

 

Wetsuits are available free of charge for the dolphin and sea lion programs.

 

The beach water should be arounf 75/76 and is shallow.. so it's stays warmer.

[cruz.n.carebear]

We just did a dolphin encounter at Dolphin Encounters on Monday. I was super excited because all of the wonderful reviews we had read of the company and were expecting this to be the highlight of our trip. I have to admit that our experience was not the greatest, but part of it is completely out of anyone's control.

 

We booked directly with Dolphin Encounters for the 1:30 encounter. We knew to block out 3 hrs. We had to be back at the ship at 5:30 so this gave us an hr afterwards for the bridge and/or taxi.

 

Our dolphin was misbehaving. We began our encounter and it went and during the 3rd families phot, it swam over to another group and pushed a person that was floating. So it was put in an extended time out (seriously) while the trainer went to find us another dolphin. Two of the dolphins were on strike (her words) and hadn't worked in 2 weeks and none of the other dolphins wanted to come over. As time ticked by, our dolphin finally was released from time out and came back over. During the first families session of dancing, hugging, etc it went back over to the other group and pushed another person. So BACK to time out. At this point it was going on 3:15 and the clock was ticking as to getting back to the ship. To make this long story short, we ended up having to move to another section all together with another dolphin. There was no way to control this type of situation because after all - these are wild animals~

 

After we were done and changed, the boat leaving the island at 4:15 was completely full. We explained that we had to get back to our ship by 5:30 and they called the other captain and they were 20 min away. They promised us we would make our ship but that we couldn't get on that boat because there was no room. By the time that we left the island to head back (it was the last boat of the day so we had to wait to make sure no one else was there) it was almost 5pm. It was extremely stressful because we knew that we still had to catch a taxi or a ferry to get from Paradise Island back to the cruise terminal. Dolphin Encounters did offer to take us directly to the cruise terminal and called ahead to our ship, which we were very grateful for. We were ten minutes late, but thankfully we made it.

 

The moral? Don't do the 1:30 - even if you think you have time. It was just waaay to stressful and you don't want to spend the last few hours in Nassau in a panic! Also - I wasn't very impressed with our trainer. She did not seem to have a good rapport with the dolphins and just wasn't very customer oriented. I was very impressed with the facilities and most of the ppl working - but I think we just got a dud as far as our trainer. She seemed very immature.

[seahawkfan]

D&A, everyone thought the water was pretty cool. They do have wetsuits that are free. Your family will love it. The staff is friendly and the beach is beautiful.

[daydreamer713]

Went to Dolphin Encounters at Blue Lagoon two weeks ago and it was amazing. It really is just a gorgeous island.

 

How long was the whole tour? How much time do you actually spend with the dolphins?