Dolphin Swim in Puerta Vallarta

[mccasey]

Hi!

 

Anyone done the dolphin swim in Puerta Vallarta? How was it? Just booked it for my cruise on the Mariner (leaving Sept 6th). SO excited! This will be a life-long dream come true! Kinda nervous though!

[Demented_Avenger]

We swam with the dolphins in Puerta Vallarta a couple years ago and it was FANTASTIC!!

It was a dream come true for my wife and I. They have a very nice facility and you learn about the dolphins also.

Be sure to take some cash, because they will take your picture with the dolphins and you won't want to miss out on that.

We forgot to take cash and the very nice people who were in the cabin next to us were there and loaned us money until we got back to the ship.

I am excited for you.. you will love it!

 

Cruise on

Demented - :cool:

[mccasey]

Oh thank you! I'm so excited! Glad to hear it's a nice experience! Slightly nervous of being pushed under (accidentally) or something by the dolphins but still...!

 

Any idea how much the pics are? Do they also sell videos?

 

Thanks again!

[latterdayesther]

mccasey,

I just booked the Dolphin Encounter for us and my three grandchildren for Nov. The nice booking agent, "Martha" said that the 6x8 photos are $16., the 8x10's are $20., and the DVD is $50.

We plan on bringing some cash to cover photos.

Hope this helps! :)

latterdayesther

[mccasey]

That helps a lot actually! Thanks! I had read somewhere on here something about $150 for like 20 photos! Kinda much! Hopefully we can bring our own cameras too! Even though we'll be busy with the dolphins to take pics!

[STARFISH*4]

hubby swam with the dolphins (booked off the ship) and LOVED it...got pics and video too--$$$ but worth it for the LASTING MEMORY....i regret not doing it too but FEAR FACTOR kicked in but upon watching HIM i think i could have!

this is different than the DOLPHIN ENCOUNTER ...IF you really want to SWIM with them and get pushed around etc...this is the ONE...it was quite a bit cheaper than the ships tour ...lasted longer and the PEOPLE were so NICE!!

ENJOY

[mccasey]

Yeah I really wanna swim with them and ride their dorsal fin and get pushed up out of the water and stuff! Hopefully that's what I'll get. Booked the excursion through the ship (Royal Caribbean). It says you swim with them but...

[Jiffymom]

I will take my Granddaughter but is there anything to do if her parents want to come just to watch? Any beach or sitting area. Do they charge them to come and watch?

[rkv]

We are on the Mariner leaving Sept 27th. We would love to swim with the dolphins. Please provide names and/or websites of operators that you would recommend. We prefer to book on our own so save $$$$ but are willing to pay for a GREAT experience! Thanks.

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

In case any of you are going to Cabo, you might consider going there instead. I absolutely love this facility. DH & I went there last year and took our kids last February cuz they were jealous when they saw our pictures. A great facility that is walking distance from the ship tender dock.

[bigmohes]

Please post locations/names. This is high on my bucket list and would love to have the opportunity to check it off:)

[Clairescurtains]

I would love any information you have about private dolphin swim/encounters that are available and if they allow non swimming spectators. If watching is OK how much does that [and the transportation] cost? How cold would the water be in Jan?

Thanks for any assistance.

[7cruisin09]

This will give you some information.

 

http://www.cabodolphins.com/

[Brewster]

Hi!

 

Anyone done the dolphin swim in Puerta Vallarta? How was it? Just booked it for my cruise on the Mariner (leaving Sept 6th). SO excited! This will be a life-long dream come true! Kinda nervous though!

 

We just did this last week in PV (on the Mariner). We actually booked directly with Johan and Sandra (tour broker) who provided us electronic tickets and specific time for our tour. We did the Dolphin Swim (not the Encounter). The Dophin Center is run by Vallarta Adventures.

 

It was absolutely no problem getting a taxi to and from the ship (about a 20 mins ride from the port) for $15.00 each way (PV taxi rates are set by zones). The cabs in PV were relatively new and we felt safe at all times. We saved over $200.00 booking it directly. The only item different than the ship tour was that the ship tour included the $8 - 10 buffet lunch as well as transportation. You could buy the buffet on your own if you choose. The swim itself was exactly the same.

 

The PV Dolphin center is really nice (clean/scenic/etc). Staff and Trainers were really accomodating. Pictures were expensive ($99.00 for 8 photos - can print it or get a CD or $25.00 for a single photo) but were excellent professional/memorable shots.

 

The swim itself was a lot of fun. We got about a 15 - 20 min presentation followed by a half hour swim with the dolphins. The swim was done in groups of 8.

 

We definitely felt the tour was worth it.

[Brewster]

One item I forgot to add, we did the tour with 3 people (myself, DW and DD). Children under 12 were free when I booked with J&S for 1 adult rate.

 

 

QUOTE=Brewster;21106875]We just did this last week in PV (on the Mariner). We actually booked directly with Johan and Sandra (tour broker) who provided us electronic tickets and specific time for our tour. We did the Dolphin Swim (not the Encounter). The Dophin Center is run by Vallarta Adventures.

 

It was absolutely no problem getting a taxi to and from the ship (about a 20 mins ride from the port) for $15.00 each way (PV taxi rates are set by zones). The cabs in PV were relatively new and we felt safe at all times. We saved over $200.00 booking it directly. The only item different than the ship tour was that the ship tour included the $8 - 10 buffet lunch as well as transportation. You could buy the buffet on your own if you choose. The swim itself was exactly the same.

 

The PV Dolphin center is really nice (clean/scenic/etc). Staff and Trainers were really accomodating. Pictures were expensive ($99.00 for 8 photos - can print it or get a CD or $25.00 for a single photo) but were excellent professional/memorable shots.

 

The swim itself was a lot of fun. We got about a 15 - 20 min presentation followed by a half hour swim with the dolphins. The swim was done in groups of 8.

 

We definitely felt the tour was worth it.

[CowPrincess]

In case anyone is interested in NON-CAPTIVE dolphins, Wildlife Connection in Puerto Vallarta offers a great boat ride into the bay, dolphin viewing in the wild, and if the dolphins are willing you can swim with them. DH got to swim with wild dolphins in the open ocean. It was fanatastic :)

[STARFISH*4]

when hubby did this he booked right as we got off the ship dont know who thru (cant remember) but went to the water park place right outside of PV

short cab ride away...everything was FINE and well worth the $$$$ which was much cheaper than the ship...i did not participate so had to be over on the other side to watch--not real close tho...it was FUN watching

i wish now i had done it

[mccasey]

Just got back from my trip on the Mariner last night! Wanted to come back and share my thoughts on this excursion. The Dolphin Swim Experience in PV was definitely one of the highlights of my trip! I absolutely loved it!!! I specify that it was the Dolphin Swim Experience because there seem to be 3 options, the dolphin encounter (which seemed to be almost the same but shorter time with the dolphins, although not by too much, and no belly swim with the dolphins), the dolphin swim experience, which is what I did, and another one just called dolphin swim (where the group was much larger and you had to wear a life jacket as you were in the deep end of the pool, no platform to stand on, but I think they got to do almost all the same stuff we did).

 

It seems that everyone, no matter which group you're in (even observers) sits and listens to this short informational presentation (about 15 minutes). We did the swim in groups of 8 and we got to do and see a lot. We stood on a platform in the pool that was about 10 X 10 (totally guessing) and after that the pool dropped down to 18 feet deep. First we got acquainted with the dolphin as a group (could touch them, pat them and all that). Each person in the group got to feed a dolphin, dance with them, hug them, kiss them and be kissed by them, the men could "pick them up", then we all, as a group, stood back and gave them hand signals to swim fast (they go up to 40 mph) and sing and dance and do flips. Then finally we each got to do a belly ride, then we posed for more pics and could ask a bunch of questions. Then we got out and they brought out a sea lion and you could get a kiss from a sea lion if you wanted. Then we had our buffet lunch and picked out pictures. The pics are expensive but sooooooooooooo worth it! $25 each for a single print or 8 for $99, 16 for $139 or $249 (I think) for all of your pics (either printed or on cd). We bought 8!

 

I absolutely LOVED this experience!!! It was worth every penny to me & my husband!

 

The only thing we couldn't do that I thought we might be able to do is be pushed up out of the water by the dolphin. I've seen it done before on tv and stuff so I was excited about it. But apparently Pacific dolphins are quite a bit bigger and stronger than Atlantic dolphins and they could easily throw you way to hard or too far so they don't do it with Pacific dolphins unless you're well trained to do it. So our trainer did it to show us. On the other side of the pool with the other swim group, their trainer was surfing on a dolphin!

 

I'll post a few pics in a bit!

[STARFISH*4]

sounds like you had a WONDERFUL time...i wish i had done but hubby had much the same experience...i only remember 2 choices then...dolphin encounter....dolphin swim...he did the swim and was pushed up out of the water by the dolphins...it was AWESOME...this was in 2005 so maybe they have changed that...i definitely am gonna put this on my MAYBE ONE DAY list:)

[bzy1]

There are two different companies here in the Puerto Vallarta area.

One is at the water park, now named Aquaventuras (previously called Splash and later Sea Life Water Park) and the other dolphin center is Vallarta Adventures who does NOT have a water park but specializes in eco-tours and their dolphinarium.

I think this is where the confusion in coming from.

 

So, maybe it is best to specify the name of the company and not the name of the "swim" because each have similar names but are entirely different companies.

[mccasey]

Oh ok! I did it with Vallarta Adventures.

 

What does the other company offer? I wonder how the experiences compare!

[AZCAMM]

You can't go wrong with this one! It's one of our fav's of anything we ever did.

The dolphins are so sweet and fun and be sure to take a credit card or cash as they

take video and photos that you can buy right there from the dolphin center. Photos and videos not taken by ship's staff. We made the mistake of only taking $20 with us and were only able to buy 2 photos.

[Jiffymom]

I was getting confused also on the names. Didn't think it was two different places. Can you bring someone in just to watch but not swim?

[mccasey]

I was getting confused also on the names. Didn't think it was two different places. Can you bring someone in just to watch but not swim?

 

Hi! I know that where I did it (with Vallarta Adventures) they did have people just watching. Not sure if they had to pay and, if so, how much.

 

I also don't think they had videos for us to buy. They did have pics (I already posted the prices) and they gave you a promotional type dvd with those pics that you bought (if you bought one of the packages anyway). It has a part on Puerto Vallarta the city on it, then a part on the dolphin adventures, which shows people doing the swim and all that and gives some cool info on dolphins and how they take care of them there and even shows a dolphin giving birth) and then a section on all the different tours Vallarta Adventures offers.

 

Here are some of my pics (sorry they are so big - wasn't sure how to resize them!):

 

[Blanco1]

We are considering the dolphin swim for one of our excursions but want to know which place is best for the dolphin swim (not encounter).

 

I see there are two:

 

Aquaventuras - Royal dolphin swim (looks like you get a ride above the water)

 

Vallarta Adventures - Dolphin swim experience

 

Can anyone recommend one over the other?

They are both $149

 

Hope someone can help.

 

Thanks.