Dolphin Swim ?? - Info/Review in GC & Coz Comparison ??

[LizaMM]

Hi All!

 

I would love to hear any reviews or info about Dolphin Discoveries and/or Dolphin Cove in Grand Cayman......

 

I am also interested if anyone has any comparisons to this excursion in Cozumel.

 

I used Dolphin Discovery in Cozumel in Feb for a Royal Swim and was very happy with them. We are sailing to both Cozumel and Grand Cayman next month and I was thinking about doing a Royal Swim in GC this time....

 

Thanks!!!!

[newcruiser30]

We just got back from G.C. on the Freedom. We did the Push, Pull, Swim/Turtle Farm excursion with RCI there; as you were asking. I really enjoyed the experience! I would not recommend going through RCI to do it though - every excursion we went on through the ship (3) was disorganized and running late. Afterwards we had almost no free time at the port.

After mass hysteria once arriving on the island, a guide finally gathered our group together and led us to a bus. He dropped us off at Dolphin Discovery, told us he would be back at noon to lead us to the turtle farm (directly across the road) and left. We had a fantastic time with the dolphins. You could tell the facility was brand new, there was even a fresh paint smell still. We split into 4 groups of about 8, each group got one dolphin (ours was "Kapi")to work with. The Dolphin trainer was a man from India who was very good and gave us all kinds of information about the habits, biology, and ecology of the dolphin. Then we lined up and one by one got to do different activities with "Kapi". It was a blast. The Push was my favorite. You lay on a boogie board with your feet over the end and the dolphin pushes you up out of the water by your feet for half the length of the pool. After about an hour, we were led into a viewing room to watch our groups' video, then to a gift shop. We bought 1 pic of each of us ($15 ea.), our tablemates bought the video ($50). Then we went outside the facility to wait for our tour guide from RCI. Only a few families were out there at this point. Finally most people trickled out and the guide told us to go ahead an wander across the street to the Turtle Farm, where he'd give us 30 minutes. I personally loved the Turtle Farm. I held a baby sea turtle and it was the coolest experience! We enjoyed that and returned to the bus (along with almost everyone else b/c it was noon) anxious to get back to town for shopping. Two people were lagging behind and we waited an additional hour for them, only to find out they had already taken a taxi back to the ship! This killed almost all our time in port. :( The tour guide dropped us off somewhere near the ship and we wandered around for about 20 minutes before we had to tender back.

 

This happened to us everytime we went with an RCI excursion. But we were newbies to cruising and felt safer going with the ship. Next time we'll book privately.

In summary, I would go to the Turtle Farm again, I wouldn't do the dolphin thing again. I just wasn't that impressed, even though it was a clean, professional, operation. It was a "once in a lifetime experience" for me.

 

Hope that helps!

[LizaMM]

THANK YOU for your review!!

 

I am sailing the Carnival Liverty next month and looking at booking privately.

 

 

Anyone else????