Dolphin Encounter and/or Swin

[AtoZgirl]

I've been to Cozumel before and love the place! I know I want to go explore but it has always been a wish of mine to swin with the Dolphins. I've heard excellent reviews and I think now would be a good time to try it, especially in Cozumel. Not to mention it won't take up the whole day... maybe an hour or two.

 

I want to know whats the best place to book through. Let me know your personal experience or what you've heard. (Like, is it worth a $50 price difference to have some private time with the dolphins, other than the hug, kiss, etc ie: the encounter versus the royal swim) Pictures would be nice, too. I know booking through the ship is a lot more expensive, so I'm 99% sure I'll go through the company I choose, directly. Thanks in advance.

[kgicker]

We went to http://www.dolphin discovery.com and we did the royal dolphin swim. For two people it was $300.00, but it was worth it. We were able to hug, kiss, hold, dance with, shake their flippers, they threw us up into the air, they took us for a ride. It was wonderful, I would do it again in a heartbeat.

[Irishlinny]

We booked thru cozumel insider dot com. It was at Chankanaab Park...beautiful place with lots of other things to do, too! We did the lesser of the 2 swims...$99 per person. Spent about 40 minutes in the water with her (and her baby!). You kiss, hug, and get a belly ride with her, and then you can snorkel with her, too (or him!). The Royal swim was the same but with 2 extra more intense swims.

Chankanaab was great...beautiful water...you can snorkel right there. They have a very large sandy area with palms and aidirondack lounges, 2 open air restuarants/bars (food was very good)...mariachi bands, a huge pool with swim up bar, a lagoon which was very nice for kids, a playground, smaller replicas of Mayan ruins that you can walk around, and gardens. They have very nice bathrooms and changing rooms and lockers. Was about a 10 minute taxi ride from the port.

Was our favorite excursion of the 4 we took on the Legend!

[CFitzRN]

We booked thru cozumel insider dot com. It was at Chankanaab Park...beautiful place with lots of other things to do, too! We did the lesser of the 2 swims...$99 per person. Spent about 40 minutes in the water with her (and her baby!). You kiss, hug, and get a belly ride with her, and then you can snorkel with her, too (or him!). The Royal swim was the same but with 2 extra more intense swims.

Chankanaab was great...beautiful water...you can snorkel right there. They have a very large sandy area with palms and aidirondack lounges, 2 open air restuarants/bars (food was very good)...mariachi bands, a huge pool with swim up bar, a lagoon which was very nice for kids, a playground, smaller replicas of Mayan ruins that you can walk around, and gardens. They have very nice bathrooms and changing rooms and lockers. Was about a 10 minute taxi ride from the port.

Was our favorite excursion of the 4 we took on the Legend!

 

Linny, I have a feeling that you would find the good in a horrible experience. You are SO positive and always seem to enjoy yourself! I love that. It's always great to hear your reviews. :)

[Irishlinny]

Linny, I have a feeling that you would find the good in a horrible experience. You are SO positive and always seem to enjoy yourself! I love that. It's always great to hear your reviews. :)

LOL, Christy!!! I would love to think I am that way, but not really:o But when I have something good to say, I love to share it! I have enough stuff to be negative about, but when I'm on vacation, what's not to love?!?;) Seriously, there are enough people who have negative stuff to say on the boards...life is too short...take the fun stuff and share it! And as has been said before....a bad day on a cruise is way better than a good day at work!:D

[morganboys]

double check to make sure which encounter you are getting. in the bahamas you have the dolphin encounter and dolphin swim. With the encounter you learn some dolphin facts, watch some tricks and spend about 10 minutes in waist deep water touching and petting the dolphin. You spend very little time with the dolphin and definately don't swim.

[TennisLover]

We did the middle level dolphin activity at Chankanaab Park. Booked on line (website prosted previously on this thread). There was the encounter for the youngest kids. Then the version we did -- you do get to ride on a dolphin, plus some other stuff. Very very cool. My cousin did the royal level -- I didn't get to see -- I guess they did more tricks with the dolphin. That was the most expensive.

 

We all loved it. You're right - no need to book through the ship.

[anaslile]

Amanda, I did the royal swim through Dolphin Discovery last Christmas, it was *definitely* worth it. Cab is $10 to CP (up to 4 people), and CP is wonderful! I loved it there. I paid about $90 for all my pics and the video.

 

Just because of when the Legend leaves, I'd try to book the 11 or 12 slot or the royal swim, if neither of those are available email DD and they'll adjust your time slot. Remember, Cozumel time is 1 hr behind ship time. Tuffy (Wayne) and his family is also going to CP to do the Dolphin swim, so you might be able to share a cab to the park with them.

[Nanatochase]

Definately do the Royal Swim. Yes, a little more money, but so worth it. I did it in December and loved it. I booked directly through Dolphin Discovery. If you book directly through them on their website and the time listed is not what you want, just give them a call and they will give you a different time. I had no problems at all. Have fun.

[bnsilly]

We just got back last week. We did the Dolphin Swim (NOT the "ROYAL SWIM")..Only difference was that we didn't do the thing where the dolphins push you up into the standing position out of the water, we didn't care to do that and saved $40 per person. It was a great experience..We did the one at Chakanaab as well and book directly through Dolphin Discovery as a prev poster listed..Have fun!

[CruisnGram]

We did the Royal Swim and it was worth every penny. Great interaction with the dolphins.

 

Book directly with Dolphin Discovery as some of the cruise ship excursions do not even offer the Royal Swim. They were running a promotion that if you booked 4 swims, transportation was provided for free. We did that and they did what was promised.

 

I have a link below to my cruise photos which incude the pics of both Chankanaab Park & the dolphin swim. Just scan through them till you see the ones labled "Chankanaab Park or Dolphin Swim". That way you don't have to look through a bunch of pictures of people you don't know on vacation! :D

 

PS: Check back in a few days as I'm picking up pictures tomorrow that we took ourselves with two waterproof camera's so there will be a lot more dolphin pics added soon.

[CFitzRN]

We did the Royal Swim and it was worth every penny. Great interaction with the dolphins.

 

Book directly with Dolphin Discovery as some of the cruise ship excursions do not even offer the Royal Swim. They were running a promotion that if you booked 4 swims, transportation was provided for free. We did that and they did what was promised.

 

I have a link below to my cruise photos which incude the pics of both Chankanaab Park & the dolphin swim. Just scan through them till you see the ones labled "Chankanaab Park or Dolphin Swim". That way you don't have to look through a bunch of pictures of people you don't know on vacation! :D

 

PS: Check back in a few days as I'm picking up pictures tomorrow that we took ourselves with two waterproof camera's so there will be a lot more dolphin pics added soon.

 

GREAT pictures - thank you for sharing! Beautiful family, and that Aiden is a gorgeous little celtic-looking boy with the name to match - the red hair - AWWW!!

[AtoZgirl]

Thanks... you guys are great as always. /But one important thing... we've been to Cozumel before and definitely love the place. We want to be able to shop and relax and I know the Dolphin royal swim only lasts an hour or so. What would be the best time to have time either before or after the swim to enjoy a few hours of Cozumel, too. Thanks. I'm just still a little sticky on the time differences, etc.

[Irishlinny]

Thanks... you guys are great as always. /But one important thing... we've been to Cozumel before and definitely love the place. We want to be able to shop and relax and I know the Dolphin royal swim only lasts an hour or so. What would be the best time to have time either before or after the swim to enjoy a few hours of Cozumel, too. Thanks. I'm just still a little sticky on the time differences, etc.

I just found a great website...Timeanddate.com where you can get the currect time all over the world...very cool. Wanted to double check for you regarding the time diff. So Cozumel is 1 hour behind ship time (like it was for us in Nov). I believe the time we were given for our swim was around 10:30, and they told us to be there (I think) a half hour ahead. We grabbed a taxi and got there in plenty of time. After the swim, we probably spent another 2 hours there, then went back to the port and went through some of the shops, and were still back on the ship before 4. So if you can get an early time, you'll have plenty of time to go wherever you want to shop. You don't have to be back on the ship til 5:30, I believe....I could be wrong...can't remember if you have to be back a half hour or an hour before...

[AtoZgirl]

i wonder though if the times they offer are in their time or ships time. So like if they offer a 10am time slot its really 11am ships time which gives me plenty of time to get off the ship, make it there, and spend about two hours there making it about 1pm (ship time) when we're done giving us more than a couple of hours to shop. AWESOME. I think I have it figured out hah

[Irishlinny]

i wonder though if the times they offer are in their time or ships time. So like if they offer a 10am time slot its really 11am ships time which gives me plenty of time to get off the ship, make it there, and spend about two hours there making it about 1pm (ship time) when we're done giving us more than a couple of hours to shop. AWESOME. I think I have it figured out hah

The tours are usually quoted in the local port time, so you have to figure out what time it is compared to the ship. You will love the cruise and the dolphin swim!!!! Have a great time!:D

[anaslile]

When we dock it will be 10 AM ship time, 9 AM local time. All the dolphin swims run on local time. So, if you chose a 10 AM time for the swim, it will be 11 AM ship time. Unless you book it through the ship, then the time you need to show up to meet the people who take you to the swim will be the ship time.

 

So, anything booked through Dolphin Discovery will be 1 hr behind the Legend. 10 AM swim, 11 AM legend time. 11 AM swim, noon Legend time. I'd go for an earlier time and that will give you plenty of time to walk around downtown Cozumel.

[c-dub]

Hi there. My ship will depart from Galveston, TX, which makes the ship Central time, thus the same as Cozumel time? The ship docks on April 21 at 9am, do you think i have enough time to make it to 10am Dolphin swim? In other words, i have 30 mins to get off the ship, take a cab and be there at 9:30am (since the tour ask us to be there 30 mins before swim start). Thanks.

[dlhamlten]

For those NOT doing any dolphin activity at Chankanaab, is there a place to watch those in your family that are ? Do you have to pay extra as a spectator to get into the viewing area ?

[whale-watcher]

For those NOT doing any dolphin activity at Chankanaab, is there a place to watch those in your family that are ? Do you have to pay extra as a spectator to get into the viewing area ?

when we went there were observer tickets available...for about $30 (including transportation from the ship and entry into the park). This allowed close access and excellent photo ops (although some posters report that observers are not allowed to bring cameras, we had no problems, and DW was able to obtain excellent still pictures and video).

[Irishlinny]

Hi there. My ship will depart from Galveston, TX, which makes the ship Central time, thus the same as Cozumel time? The ship docks on April 21 at 9am, do you think i have enough time to make it to 10am Dolphin swim? In other words, i have 30 mins to get off the ship, take a cab and be there at 9:30am (since the tour ask us to be there 30 mins before swim start). Thanks.

I'm assuming you're going to Chankanaab....and if so, you should have enough time. It's only 10 minutes tops by cab (and cabs are right there when you get off the ship). Enjoy! It's a great place!

[Irishlinny]

For those NOT doing any dolphin activity at Chankanaab, is there a place to watch those in your family that are ? Do you have to pay extra as a spectator to get into the viewing area ?

I believe that Cozumel Insider's price for park admittance was $16 (this was reduced to $4 if you booked a dolphin swim). This gives you access to everything the park has to offer (which I wrote about earlier in the thread), including watching all the dolphin encounters/swims. The dolphins are kept in there own section of the beach and it is wide open for viewing and pictures. I didn't see anyone being asked to give up cameras or not being allowed to take pictures, but of course they want to sell you theirs. In my opinion, the park was well worth the admittance and the cab fare (I think was $10 flat each way). Was a great day!

[c-dub]

I'm assuming you're going to Chankanaab....and if so, you should have enough time. It's only 10 minutes tops by cab (and cabs are right there when you get off the ship). Enjoy! It's a great place!

 

 

Irishlinny- Yes, going to Chankanaab. Thanks for your info. I will reserve the 10am slot. :)

[AtoZgirl]

is going through cozumel insiders better or dolphindiscovery? Both places have great revies I just didn't know if there is much difference between then.

[robinbtigger]

We booked thru cozumel insider dot com. It was at Chankanaab Park...beautiful place with lots of other things to do, too! We did the lesser of the 2 swims...$99 per person. Spent about 40 minutes in the water with her (and her baby!). You kiss, hug, and get a belly ride with her, and then you can snorkel with her, too (or him!). The Royal swim was the same but with 2 extra more intense swims.

Chankanaab was great...beautiful water...you can snorkel right there. They have a very large sandy area with palms and aidirondack lounges, 2 open air restuarants/bars (food was very good)...mariachi bands, a huge pool with swim up bar, a lagoon which was very nice for kids, a playground, smaller replicas of Mayan ruins that you can walk around, and gardens. They have very nice bathrooms and changing rooms and lockers. Was about a 10 minute taxi ride from the port.

Was our favorite excursion of the 4 we took on the Legend!

Thanks for the great review :). We (2 adults and 1 9-year old) will be on the 4-day Inspiration in August which stops in Cozumel and I am looking into possible things to do. We have snorkeled in Hawaii and I was hoping to snorkle in Cozumel as well. Is snorkeling equipment included in the price? We will probably being our own masks and snorkels, buy we'll need fins. Also, what about towels?

 

Thanks!