Thanks to cruising, I was able to cross off one of the items that had been on my bucket list since I was a teen.
Swimming with dolphins has long been something I have wanted to do. I’m a child of the 80s and a teen of the 90s, so it was inevitable that I would have a fascination with dolphins and want to be a marine biologist. While I may have a dolphin tattoo thanks to a spring break trip when I was 21, I never became a marine biologist, I wasn’t willing to move away from all my family to do so. Luckily, I have been able to address some of that love of all things marine life through my cruise adventures.
Getting to actually interact with a dolphin had long been a dream of mine, so when I finally was able to book a dolphin excursion, I took great care to find a good, ethical sanctuary to visit. I was lucky enough to find The Roatan Institute of Marine Science at Anthony Key’s in Roatan, Honduras while on a Western Caribbean cruise.
I love how this sanctuary operates as it actually opens the bay’s protective fencing every evening allowing the dolphins into the open ocean, making it the dolphins’ choice whether to come back every night. They also are very careful to not overwork the dolphins by only allowing them two encounters a day at most. And even that is if the dolphin wants to, which they usually do since they get so many treats for their efforts!
We chose a simple dolphin encounter where we got to touch the dolphins, have our photos taken with them, and watch them do tricks. There was a group nearby that looked to have booked a snorkel and swim with dolphin package.
Getting to see dolphins up close, especially for someone landlocked 350-some days a year, is an amazing experience. For many, it may be once-in-a-lifetime, but I definitely plan to make sure it is not once-in-a-lifetime for me! The best way to describe the feeling of touching a dolphin is like touching a wet, inner tube. When I was growing up, no one bought fancy floatation devices to go float on the river; instead we used tractor tire inner tubes. Black, and hot in the sun, with this unique smell. Anyone who used one will remember getting burned at some point! But the feeling of those rubber tubes when cool and wet is the closest description to that of a dolphin’s skin that I can come up with. And when the dolphin bumped up against my cheek for a “kiss” it was just a wonderful moment because it is something that was so surreal, especially for a girl from the ozarks!
While I always wanted to swim with dolphins, once I started cruising I added getting to hold a sloth and swimming with stingrays to that list, now I am down to just waiting to book an encounter with stingrays. We had one booked once and it was cancelled due to rough seas, so I am still waiting. What excursions are on your bucket list? I’d love to know as I need to add a few new ones to my list! Comment below!
Cruising From The Ozarks 