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| Animal Encounters (Dolphins and Stingrays) |
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| The first thing to keep in mind about these excursions is that you will be interacting with the magnificent creatures in a very controlled environment. Out of necessity for the safety of animals and guests alike, dolphins and rays have to be trained to interact with humans, especially the concentrated numbers of humans they will see during an excursion. Consequently, their environment is usually quite restricted. |
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| Still, the experience of being face to face with a dolphin or a stingray can be a thrilling memory. Part of the excursion is the education you get about the animals, which is full of interesting facts. Given that most humans will only see them in pictures or on a video screen, it’s a worthwhile experience if you got the bucks. |
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| Dolphins |
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Dolphins In Captivity |
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Just so you know, there are some passionate advocates who hate the idea that dolphins are exploited for the tourist trade. If you check out any message boards or search for reviews on this type excursion, you may find yourself besieged with those guys (some would call it getting FLAMED). Their main objection is that, even if the conditions are good, dolphins shouldn’t be kept in captivity for a variety of reasons. |
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On the flip side, proponents of captivity argue that the public awareness that arises from millions of people having a personal encounter with a dolphin actually helps protect the species in the wild. We’re not taking a position here, just passing on the info. |
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| Dolphin excursions fit into one of three categories. In the order of the level of interaction you get (and the price) they are: |
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| Encounter |
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| The main appeal of this excursion is that you get to have personal contact with a dolphin. The encounter takes place in a pin with one or two dolphins. You take a seat on the dock surrounding the pin with your feet dangling in the water. While the dolphins swim around your feet and maybe do a few tricks in the pin, the instructor gives a talk about dolphins, which is way better than watching something on the Discovery Channel. At some point you move individually into the water on a submerged deck, which has you in water up to about your waist, and a dolphin swims up next to you and you get to know him, or her. You can even get a dolphin kiss if you’re so inclined. (This is a great time for one of those photo ops we’re so fond of). No, you don’t get to frolic with the dolphins, and it is a bit pricey ($100+ per person), but it is a neat experience. After all, these are DOLPHINS. How many of them have you ever met one before? |
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| Play |
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If you want a bit more “encounter” in your dolphin encounter, and you have the extra bucks ($50 - $60 more per person), it’s worth it to do this excursion. You’re pretty much guaranteed that you will find a Dolphin Encounter on your excursion choices, but the swim is not always available. On this excursion you are usually taken to a lagoon (sometimes it’s a large pin), in which you actually get in the water and play with the dolphins. You still get the orientation before getting in the water, and the instructors will teach you some simple hand signals you can use to get the dolphins to do tricks. |
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You can’t really imagine what it feels like to have one of these wonderful, gentle animals swim up to you, nudge you, splash you and all that until you do it. It’s pure child-like delight. You only spend about 25-30 minutes in the water, which is probably long enough, since you’ll be surface swimming with a pair of fins which can wear you out. But, the main reason for limiting the time is because the handlers only allow 5 or 6 people in the water at a time, so you have to take turns. It’s not cheap by any means ($150+ per person) but it may be the only time in your life that you do it. We’ve known some people who were disappointed in the limited experience of the encounter we talked about earlier, but we’ve never heard of anyone who didn’t love getting in the water with the dolphins. |
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Swim |
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Okay, ready for something even closer to the real thing? This is the jackpot of dolphin experiences when it’s available. There are only a few places in the Caribbean that have the type of physical facility and animal training program necessary to offer this type activity. In this excursion, the dolphins follow you out into the ocean, cruising right along side your boat. Once you get off-shore, you get to swim with the dolphins in the open water. Now THAT’S cool! It’s generally like the “play” experience above except that you are in deep water rather than a sheltered lagoon a pin. It feels completely different, and the dolphins do tricks (like jump over you and lift you up out of the water) that they don’t usually do in the enclosed areas. In groups of 5 – 6 you get to surface swim with the dolphins for 25 – 30 minutes. Because you are going out into the deep water, you pay more for this experience (about $50 more than the lagoon version), and some folks may not think it’s worth the extra money. |
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In a few ports, you might have the opportunity to do an open water scuba dive with the dolphins. To do this there has to be a UNEXSO facility, or something similar. The experience is like the swim, but you are underwater with the dolphins. These excursions are quite expensive because you are bundling two excursions that are costly in their own right – dolphins and open water scuba diving. |
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Sting Rays
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When it comes to interacting with the animals, we think you get more bang for your buck with the stingrays than you do with the dolphins. Your encounter is a combo “encounter-swim-play” experience. The rays are enclosed in a large water pen, about the size of a baseball infield. And there are a lot of them of different sizes and ages. You get in the water with the rays (with snorkel gear) and you float around with them. It’s truly amazing to see how gracefully they navigate the water.
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The rays are trained to be friendly to people, and they easily engage, swimming close, even sucking your skin. They’re barbs have been removed, so you don’t have to worry about getting speared or stung. For the money (about $50), we think its well worth it. In most cases, the sting ray pin is part of one of the private beaches that provides the beach excursions, so you get the beach package also if you want it and you also get to snorkel. |
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| Prescription Sun Glasses |
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Articles we've written about
Cruising In The Caribbean |
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Ten Mistakes When Taking A Cruise - It’s a shame to lay out
$250 - $2,500 on a dreamy
cruise vacation only to encounter unnecessary mishaps and
inconveniences. So, in an effort
to minimize the likelihood of a
bump in the road to your perfect
vacation, here are some common
potholes that can tarnish your
experience.
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Eleven Expert Cruising Tips - Some useful,relevant tips and
ideas, and other neat stuff you
can use to make their cruising
experience better.
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Hooked On Cruising (And I Like It!) - It's official! I have a
condition, a disorder by some
people's assessment. It's called
"Caribbean Obsession Disorder",
and there really is such a thing.
Imagine that!
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