Dolphin Cove deal

[VermeulT]

I was in Grand Cayman earlier this month. As much as I have always wanted to swim with the Dolphins, as did my family, paying $100+ per person (times 4) was out of my budget. I do think their pricing is better than what I've seen on other islands. But still.

 

Our island tour bus stopped at Dolphin Cove for 20 min. We had the option to go into this area and watch the dolphins, or go to the Turtle Farm across the street. We chose to go watch the dolphins.

 

Inside, one of their photographers was offering a deal... you could have a dolphin experience for a bargain. These could be in or out of the water (depending on what "experience" you chose). In the water, 5 min only, no extra play time, etc. Just in the water, do your thing, and out. 1 experience for $30 or 2 for $45. I don't remember all the options, but several "experience" choices were - 2 dolphin swim, kiss, balance the ball, ride on dolphin.... the price included him taking your picture and you got a CD at the end with the digital files (about 4 per experience).

 

IMO this was perfect. We got to do it, we didn't have 12 or whatever other people in the group. Just me and the dolphin. And we got fantastic pictures. WELL worth it.

 

The photographer said this was something new Dolphin Cove was trying. Hopefully, it will continue, because for $45 - if I ever get back to Grand Cayman... I'm there!

[Kajunswty]

I was in Grand Cayman earlier this month. As much as I have always wanted to swim with the Dolphins, as did my family, paying $100+ per person (times 4) was out of my budget. I do think their pricing is better than what I've seen on other islands. But still.

 

Our island tour bus stopped at Dolphin Cove for 20 min. We had the option to go into this area and watch the dolphins, or go to the Turtle Farm across the street. We chose to go watch the dolphins.

 

Inside, one of their photographers was offering a deal... you could have a dolphin experience for a bargain. These could be in or out of the water (depending on what "experience" you chose). In the water, 5 min only, no extra play time, etc. Just in the water, do your thing, and out. 1 experience for $30 or 2 for $45. I don't remember all the options, but several "experience" choices were - 2 dolphin swim, kiss, balance the ball, ride on dolphin.... the price included him taking your picture and you got a CD at the end with the digital files (about 4 per experience).

 

IMO this was perfect. We got to do it, we didn't have 12 or whatever other people in the group. Just me and the dolphin. And we got fantastic pictures. WELL worth it.

 

The photographer said this was something new Dolphin Cove was trying. Hopefully, it will continue, because for $45 - if I ever get back to Grand Cayman... I'm there!

 

what island tour were you on? ship sponsored or independent?

[VermeulT]

It was an independent tour that we picked up on shore. There are tons of people with signs. I think they wanted $20/pp. Don't be afraid to negotiate. I got the girl down to $15/pp.

[Kajunswty]

It was an independent tour that we picked up on shore. There are tons of people with signs. I think they wanted $20/pp. Don't be afraid to negotiate. I got the girl down to $15/pp.

 

thats great! where did you go for $15? i love bargaining

[Kajunswty]

So I contacted DC for a quote & to see if they offered spectator pricing. Got a polite email saying that they can not make reservations for me since I'm in a cruise ship they have a contract with. Shoulda known better than to mention that...:(

 

 

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[VermeulT]

Here is the review I posted for this port:

 

We negotiated with a driver for an Island Tour for $15pp. It was a kind of weak tour. "Tour includes....." meant "the bus will pass and will pull over so that you can see ...." Not exactly what I expected. Our stop in Hell was rushed. When we pulled away, I was disappointed to see that we didn't stop at the official post office, but a store next to it. (Not sure if we missed anything, but felt like we didn't get the full experience).

We next stopped at Dolphin Cove. We all really wanted to swim with the Dolphins but my budget couldn't afford 4 x $100+ for the experience. You can go there and watch others for free. A worker there offered us a deal - 1 x experience for $35 or 2 x for $45, both included a cd with their photographer's pictures. We could pick from a list including two dolphin pull, kiss, and a few others. This was too good to pass up, so I got our things out of the van and told the driver thanks but see ya! It was awesome. The guy told us this is something new they have recently started. We took the public bus back to the port area.

We then went to snorkel at Eden Rock. SO easy to get to! From what I had heard, it was a great spot. It was a bit of a let down. Who knows if it was the weather, the time of day, or the slightly rough waters. But there weren't many fish to be seen We were exhausted, so after only 20-30 min we headed back to the ship.

[Kajunswty]

thank you for sharing your experience

 

have a great day :D

[VermeulT]

The Tour was advertised to include the Governor's house, Hell, Tortuga factory, Dolphin Cove, Turtle Farm, and 7 mile beach.

 

The driver stopped at the entrance for the Governor's House. She told us a few things and then we proceeded to Hell. She gave us some local info along the way - answered questions about housing costs and other things about living there. She also pointed out the oldest house on the island, etc.

The Dolphin and Turtle Farm are across the street from each other. The driver stops and you have 20 minutes to go to either (or both). You can observe at the Dolphin place for free. The Turtle Farm has a fee.

After that - she was going to drop us off at some point the beach. I don't remember (Sorry) if she would come back to pick us up or if we would have been on our own to get back to port.

 

I had read on here that you could easily take the public bus for $2 (?) per person each way. So you could probably do it on your own for less. That's up to you.

[Kajunswty]

The Tour was advertised to include the Governor's house, Hell, Tortuga factory, Dolphin Cove, Turtle Farm, and 7 mile beach.

 

The driver stopped at the entrance for the Governor's House. She told us a few things and then we proceeded to Hell. She gave us some local info along the way - answered questions about housing costs and other things about living there. She also pointed out the oldest house on the island, etc.

The Dolphin and Turtle Farm are across the street from each other. The driver stops and you have 20 minutes to go to either (or both). You can observe at the Dolphin place for free. The Turtle Farm has a fee.

After that - she was going to drop us off at some point the beach. I don't remember (Sorry) if she would come back to pick us up or if we would have been on our own to get back to port.

 

I had read on here that you could easily take the public bus for $2 (?) per person each way. So you could probably do it on your own for less. That's up to you.

 

we haven't used the bus system there but i think thats what we'll do since we're only interested in Hell, Tortuga factory, Dolphin Cove, Turtle Farm all things we can do on our own. thanks again for posting!