Dolphin Encounter | Dolphin Academy

We did the snorkelling with dolphins package and had an amazing time in the water with 2 dolphins. The training is impressive and the animals seemed to be happy to tolerate us swimming around with them. The niggling feeling afterwards though was that we were processed through the aquarium as a cash generating commodity. I'm saddened there was no educational element to the experience - we were not informed as to the ages of the dolphins, their names, how they came to be there, their relationship with each other or the trainer. Are they rehomed and trained here, or are they bred on site to become performing animals? Some education around dolphins themselves as a species would have been very welcome too - anatomy, physiology, lifecycles etc. Doesn't need to be advanced biology, but I would have liked my children to have left with a better knowledge of dolphins, rather than having to ask me about them afterwards. Similarly, there was little to explain what the aquarium does to help the local marine flora and fauna. Maybe they don't do anything, which will make me feel even more uncomfortable about the visit, but in this day and age where the social license and acceptability of zoo's and animal exhibitors is under question, they should have been shouting more about the good they are doing. Instead, there seemed to be more interest in accosting us with an army of computer operators after the experience to encourage us to buy photos and squeeze the last few dollars from us. Overall, an experience of mixed feelings.

Would not let us accompany our son to the experience, he was afraid to go alone to the waiting spot. They refused to let us take him there

The entire experience was amazing for our family of 9! The trainers were fun and entertaining. We had so much interaction with the dolphins! A highlight of our trip. Definitely worth doing!

I had the most incredible experience swimming with dolphins yesterday! The way the staff treated the dolphins was truly heartwarming. It was evident that the dolphins were genuinely content and well-cared for. The dolphins were in a beautiful lagoon with seawater, rather than a pool. This natural setting made the experience even more special and authentic. Overall, I absolutely loved my dolphin swim. It was an unforgettable experience that I would highly recommend to anyone. Thank you for such an amazing experience!

My husband and I had an amazing experience snorkeling with the dolphins here! We were able to spend 30 minutes with them which was an incredible amount of time to feel like we really were able to interact closely with them. The trainer was amazing and made sure that all of us in the water got our share of dolphin time. She also had them perform some tricks for us while we were in the water that were just spectacular. I will never forget this very special day interacting with these extraordinary creatures.