Where to swim with dolphins?

MommaBerd

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jul 5, 2011
We are doing Western Caribbean itinerary, and we’d like to swim with dolphins. However every port has at least one excursion (through DCL or otherwise) to swim with dolphins. Has anyone done multiple experiences and can offer a comparison? Anyone have a disappointing or terrible experience with a location? I’m leaning toward Chankanaab, only because they also have other activities. I have read reviews for at least two or three providers, and they have all been mixed. Thanks in advance!
 
We've done it at Chankanaab and had a great day. We're going back in November - haven't decided whether we'll just be hanging out on the beach/snorkeling or doing another activity. If you do go, be sure to bring cash. Photos can be expensive. I left almost all of my cash in the safe in our room but they were good enough to bring the CD to the ship and let me pay for it then (I wasn't the only one!).
 


We also went to Chankanaab and had a great time, I would go there again. A lot of excursions were cancelled in GC on our cruise because of rough seas, so I'm glad we did it in Cozumel. There is a restaurant by the pool and another one farther down the path with seating by the beach. We ate at the one on the beach and had a really good combo plate, prices were very reasonable. They had chicken fingers, so if you have a picky kid who won't eat anything else, it's a good place to get lunch. The tequila hut gave us lots of free samples to try and the guy who helped us was very nice and wasn't pushy at all about trying to get us to buy anything. I did buy a bottle of chocolate tequila that was really good. Try to book the earliest time you can, there's a lot to do after your dolphin swim.
 
We went to Chankanaab too and had a great experience. First and only time with dolphins though, so I have no comparison point. The kids liked the pool, DH and DS did some snorkeling, and the little sea lion show was cute. Photos are expensive, but it's possible to haggle.
 
We went to Chankanaab too and had a great experience. First and only time with dolphins though, so I have no comparison point. The kids liked the pool, DH and DS did some snorkeling, and the little sea lion show was cute. Photos are expensive, but it's possible to haggle.

I was hoping to do a snorkel excursion in Cozumel but saw that Chankanaab has a sea lion meet/swim that my daughter would love so I guess will have to get a little snorkeling in at Chankanaab. What did your DH and DS think about the snorkeling there?
 


Another vote for Chankanaab for a few reasons. First let me say it’s the only place we’ve done it so I can’t compare, but it was great. First, on the advice of others, I didn’t plan it for GC because that is the most frequently missed port because of rough waters due to the tendering required. Sure enough we missed GC in May so we would’ve missed out. Also we purchased the package online through Dolphin Discovery and saved a bundle. Over 1/2 the price of the same excursions thru DCL and it included lunch and drinks with alcohol if that interests you. Also they threw in the sea lion (or manatee, can’t remember which it was) encounter at no extra charge. Pictures were pricey but we expected that.
 
I was hoping to do a snorkel excursion in Cozumel but saw that Chankanaab has a sea lion meet/swim that my daughter would love so I guess will have to get a little snorkeling in at Chankanaab. What did your DH and DS think about the snorkeling there?

DH said the snorkeling was pretty good - plenty of fish, but not much coral (they stayed pretty close to shore). It was DS's first time snorkeling in the ocean (before that he had only used the snorkel in the pool). Entry was easy with ladders from the rocks and it was fairly calm.
 
We also went to Chankanaab and had a great time, I would go there again. A lot of excursions were cancelled in GC on our cruise because of rough seas, so I'm glad we did it in Cozumel. There is a restaurant by the pool and another one farther down the path with seating by the beach. We ate at the one on the beach and had a really good combo plate, prices were very reasonable. They had chicken fingers, so if you have a picky kid who won't eat anything else, it's a good place to get lunch. The tequila hut gave us lots of free samples to try and the guy who helped us was very nice and wasn't pushy at all about trying to get us to buy anything. I did buy a bottle of chocolate tequila that was really good. Try to book the earliest time you can, there's a lot to do after your dolphin swim.

Very good point. While no port is a 100% guarantee, any time tendering is involved, the risk of possibly missing it or having excursions cancelled because it's too rough to safely tender goes up. So if something is a must do, you're better off going with one at a docked port.
 
Does anyone know how Chankanaab compares to Dolphinarius? They are super close in price and the descriptions also sound very similar. It will be my DH and DS7 and I. We have never done any other dolphin encounters so we have nothing to compare it to.
 
While the dolphin part would be the same, I don't think Dolphinaris has all the extra stuff to do once you are done with the dolphins. When I was reading reports from people who went to Dolphinaris, they never mentioned doing anything else there. I haven't been there, so don't know for sure what extras they have. At Chankanaab there's a pool, snorkeling at the beach, sea lion show, a tequila hut that gives free samples to taste, a restaurant w/in door and beach seating, and more. You can do all that at no extra cost.

Edit to add that lunch does cost extra, I should have said that in the above.
 
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While the dolphin part would be the same, I don't think Dolphinaris has all the extra stuff to do once you are done with the dolphins. When I was reading reports from people who went to Dolphinaris, they never mentioned doing anything else there. I haven't been there, so don't know for sure what extras they have. At Chankanaab there's a pool, snorkeling at the beach, sea lion show, a tequila hut that gives free samples to taste, a restaurant w/in door and beach seating, and more. You can do all that at no extra cost.

This very helpful! Is lunch included?
 
This very helpful! Is lunch included?
Ooops, sorry I should have mentioned that no, lunch is not included, but it was reasonably priced and was good. We ate outside by the beach. We looked at indoor restaurant menu and it was more expensive. I edited my above response about lunch being extra.
 
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Ooops, sorry I should have mentioned that no, lunch is not included, but it was reasonably priced and was good. We ate outside by the beach. We looked at indoor restaurant menu and it was more expensive. I edited my above response about lunch being extra.

Lunch was included for us - at the outdoor restaurant that had a "buffet" and n/a drinks included, alcoholic ones extra. Now, the food was TERRIBLE, and as a vegetarian there was almost nothing I could eat, but it was included. We never found the beach, but loved the dolphin activity and the sea lion show. Our kids (4&6 at the time) were pretty beat after that, so we just went back to the boat for the afternoon anyway.
 
We are doing Western Caribbean itinerary, and we’d like to swim with dolphins. However every port has at least one excursion (through DCL or otherwise) to swim with dolphins. Has anyone done multiple experiences and can offer a comparison? Anyone have a disappointing or terrible experience with a location? I’m leaning toward Chankanaab, only because they also have other activities. I have read reviews for at least two or three providers, and they have all been mixed. Thanks in advance!

I asked this same question last year: https://www.disboards.com/threads/dolphin-encounters-western-caribbean.3610962/

We never made a decision :rotfl:

EDIT: My FIL wants to do Dunn's River Falls, so we will likely do this one:
https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/...h-jamaica-dolphin-swim-and-dunns-river-falls/
or this for my 4 year old: https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/...aica-dolphin-encounter-and-dunns-river-falls/
 
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Lunch was included for us - at the outdoor restaurant that had a "buffet" and n/a drinks included, alcoholic ones extra. Now, the food was TERRIBLE, and as a vegetarian there was almost nothing I could eat, but it was included. We never found the beach, but loved the dolphin activity and the sea lion show. Our kids (4&6 at the time) were pretty beat after that, so we just went back to the boat for the afternoon anyway.

When did you go? We went nearly 2 yrs ago. There wasn't a buffet where we ate. Wonder if we ate at different outdoor places??? The place we ate at was down the beach, past the pool and snorkeling area. That's a shame the food for you wasn't good, especially since you had already paid for it. We had similar experience with our excursion in San Juan.
 

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