Best dolphin excursion?

[PHamrick]

It's on my bucket list to have an interaction with a dolphin. We are doing the Western Caribbean Itinerary C with stops at Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Jamaica and Castaway Cay. Has anyone had good/bad/indifferent experiences with any of the dolphin excursions? I don't need to swim with the dolphins if that makes a difference. We will probably take our kids 5 and 7 with us, but that's not a definite. THANKS!

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

I have done both in Cozumel they are the best, with Chankanaab being my favorite big park good experience and sea pools, . Dolphinaris comes second. enclosed pools.

 

[Bill B.]

We really enjoyed Chankanaab at Cozumel also. We did not swim with the dolphins there though. The water may be a little deep for the 5 & 7 year olds though. The current from the ocean is constantly trying to push you off the walkway you are standing on.
Out of all the port adventurers we have done this was our favorite so far....BUT Alaska is up next so we may have a new one here in a couple months.

 

[mary0305]

Another vote for Chankanaab in Cozumel. Our kids did the Royal Dolphin Swim in March and loved it. We booked with a tour company in Cozumel and not thru DCL and saved a considerable amount of money. The park is great and we spent the whole day there. Snorkeled and hung out on the beach. Would recommend it to anyone visiting Cozumel.

 

[PHamrick]

Sounds great! Can you give me more details on the actual encounter at Chankanaab? Any tips or anything to avoid? My son, who would be 7 on our cruise, is pretty tall and athletic so he might be fine on the platform. Will have to wait and see for my daughter. I see from their website that snorkeling might be out for both of them. What else would you do there? THANKS!

 

[JMHDisney]

We did Dolphinaris in Cozumel with two 6 year olds. One probably would have been fine at either location and one was going to be a little nervous no matter what, so we decided to go with the more controlled environment of Dolphinaris, which worked well for everyone. There's an easy to stand on ledge in the pool and very simple even for small kids. The trainers walk you through everything in the encounter. Only tip is that they sometimes go out of order in the line of people - I thought at first she had skipped one of the kids, but noticed later she didn't go in order on each "trick" but everyone did get to do everything.

I highly recommend booking directly with them - we got a package that included a CD of our photos included for cheaper than the excursion alone would have been if booked directly.

 

[MelSpees]

There are two dolphin adventures at Chankanaab. We did the encounter and there is also a dolphin swim. I'm not sure how they handle it with younger kids there. When we did it, it was all adults and the shelf to stand on was pretty low in the water. We were in an enclosure with a mother and baby. You don't get to touch the babies at all (which is probably good), but they're fun to watch. There is a free Sea Lion Show there and a small cove with a sandy beach. I'm sorry we didn't explore the rest of the area much. They take lots of pictures that you can purchase. They're not cheap, but I don't think they were that out of line with the pictures you buy on the ship. Wherever you choose to go, have a great time!

 

[GatorMomInNC]

It's on my bucket list to have an interaction with a dolphin. We are doing the Western Caribbean Itinerary C with stops at Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Jamaica and Castaway Cay. Has anyone had good/bad/indifferent experiences with any of the dolphin excursions? I don't need to swim with the dolphins if that makes a difference. We will probably take our kids 5 and 7 with us, but that's not a definite. THANKS!

We did Chakanaab with my (then) 6 and 9 year old and it was great, they really liked it. I remember having a difficult time choosing which of the different options to go with, we ended up doing the one where they swim with the Dolphins.

 

[Lisajaye]

Grand Cayman has one combined with Stingray City for a reasonable price. Best vacation memories we had! check it out through the excursions listed through the ship

 

[Famcruise]

We just got back last week and did the Dolphin Discovery at Chakanaab booked through the ship. We have 8 and 10 yr old boys and everyone loved it. Everyone wears life jackets-there was a 4/5 yr old girl next to me and she hung onto a parent maybe 50% of the time. You get to use the whole park for your entire time there-it really was beautiful. You might want to wear water shoes though-the platform was covered in algae and slippery. Also-negotiate picture prices!

 

[PHamrick]

Thanks for the tips everyone! I know my son will definitely love it. And, hey, I get to pick some activities for myself too! For those of you who went to Chakanaab, other than the dolphin encounter, what else did you do? Also, how long did you spend there? I'm wondering what else we might be able to do (pick up souvenirs, how early to leave the boat, etc.). THANKS!

 

[MelSpees]

We saw the Sea Lion Show and swam in the cove.

 

[LWILDP]

For those who've done Chakanaab would IT be appropriate for smaller kids? My son will be 8 (but not a super strong swimmer) and my daughter will be 4 1/2. I know that they would love the Dolphins but want to make sure they can enjoy it. Any recommendations?

 

[jamiepierce1]

We did Chankanaab in Cozumel last week and absolutely loved it.

 

[aprilbabes]

We did Chankanaab in Cozumel last week and absolutely loved it.

Great to know! Did you book with DCL or do privately? Did you do/see anything else there besides Dolphins?? TIA!

 

[maraque]

I did the Chankanaab Dolphin encounter with a 5 year old. She had to be carried because the current is strong on the platform. Your older kids may be fine on their own, otherwise they can just grab on to mom and dad for support. As an adult I had a hard time not having the current push me. Definitely bring water shoes if you can, we didn't have any and that might have made it easier to stand on the platform. Your kids will love the interaction, it is a truly amazing experience. We booked directly through the park. Were there the entire day, saw the sea lions, swam in the cove, had lunch and walked around for a bit. There was much more to see but we didn't get a chance to do it all. Definitely negotiate the pricing for the pictures if you are interested since you aren't allowed to bring a camera or take any pictures yourself. I think this is how they make their $$!

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Great to know! Did you book with DCL or do privately? Did you do/see anything else there besides Dolphins?? TIA!

We did it with DCL and did other things walked the grounds went to the beach.

 

[ScottishMummyof2]

Another vote for Chankanaab in Cozumel. Our kids did the Royal Dolphin Swim in March and loved it. We booked with a tour company in Cozumel and not thru DCL and saved a considerable amount of money. The park is great and we spent the whole day there. Snorkeled and hung out on the beach. Would recommend it to anyone visiting Cozumel.

I was about to post a similar question about the best dolphin experience on the western!! Who did you book with as I think that would be our preference to save some money! Was it easy to get transport from the port to Chankanaab? Many thanks!!

 

[mary0305]

I was about to post a similar question about the best dolphin experience on the western!! Who did you book with as I think that would be our preference to save some money! Was it easy to get transport from the port to Chankanaab? Many thanks!!

Just sent you a PM.

 

[cheermom2four]

Another vote for Chankanaab in Cozumel. Our kids did the Royal Dolphin Swim in March and loved it. We booked with a tour company in Cozumel and not thru DCL and saved a considerable amount of money. The park is great and we spent the whole day there. Snorkeled and hung out on the beach. Would recommend it to anyone visiting Cozumel.

Can you pm me also?