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Published: September 14th 2007
We had heard about a "swim with the dolphins adventure" in town and not only was it pricey, it also was booked up since it was high season. We had decided to skip it, but the Dutch couple staying at the B&B with us convinced us at breakfast that it was not to be missed! Our hostess helped us to get on the waiting list, and sure enough, two spots for the 7 AM swim opened up on Monday morning.
After our awesome seal swim yesterday, we were quite excited to go on a swim in the open ocean with wild dolphins. We have never wanted to patronize the dolphin swims with captive dolphins, and the only other time we've swam with them was at
A Talking Dolphin Spoke to Me.
The set up was pretty slick - nice new building, new equipment, glossy "safety" video. In contrast to standard scuba diving signals, we were told to use the thumbs up sign for OK and wave our arms frantically if we required help. Who came up with this?
We were placed on the smallest of the 3 boats (read = choppiest ride) and headed out in search of the dolphins. The previous day,
they had been right in the protected bay and our Dutch friends spent 2 hours with them just frolicking around in calm waters. Today orca had been spotted in the area and so the dolphins were on the move. We spent nearly an hour at high speed just trying to catch up to them. There were 3 of us out of the 10 or so on the boat who did not get sick. Just watching other people getting sick was enough to take us to the edge. Ugh.
Once the dolphins were in site, it was a mad rush of activity to get our snorkeling gear on and wait for the whistle to blow, signaling we could jump in. I have never been so cold in my life! The shock of the freezing water was intense and I had to consciously tell my muscles to swim. the lack of neoprene booties was excruciating. The dolphins were moving at a good clip and we had to swim against 6 foot swells to get in the midst of them. We were told to make noise to get their attention. Having 60+ wild dolphins swim by to check us out was an
incredible adrenaline rush! Unfortunately, it only lasted about 30 seconds before the whistle sounded again and we were told to swim back to the boat. Now, you recall I said we were on the smallest boat, right? Well, this boat did not even have a swim ladder at the back so you had to hoist yourself onto the deck (being sure to time your attempt with the swells). This was absolutely exhausting and we all plopped back into our seats panting like crazy. Then we were off again to repeat this entire sequence 3 more times. Tired does not even begin to describe how we felt when we returned to shore. Our "guide" (who did not even get wet) asked the group with pure tourguide enthusiasm - "Wasn't it all worth it to swim with our amazing Dusky Dolphins??" She obviously expected everyone to exclaim "Oh yes!" Instead we all fell silent and looked at her with intense disdain.
We really felt this was a money making operation at heart. They should have cancelled the outing with the sea conditions and the dolphins so far from shore. It was disappointing overall. We were also surprised that we never signed
a liability waiver, nor did we actually get a "guide" in the water!
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angela
non-member comment
sad it was disappointing
it did seem like such a money-making endeavor. i mean, that's sooo dangerous that you guys were supposed to swim in 6-foot swells! that's just too dangerous and i'm sure it would've been awesome in calm waters like that dutch couple experienced but man, i was so excited to see you got to swim with wild dolphins! but then after i read it, i felt bad that it was just a big disappointment. does seem all about money, huh? sad. i would've loved to do it in calm seas! oh well...