Swimming with dolphins on Curacao

$ 204

Next to Mambo beach
Animal friendly in natural lagoon
Max. 6 people per 2 dolphins
Tuesday through Saturday, 3x a day

30 min. with dolphins in the water
Photos optional
Popular excursion, book on time
Free cancellation up to 1 day in advance

Swimming with dolphins! A dream for many and it you can realize that dream at Curacao. In an animal-friendly way, you can enjoy swimming with dolphins. Book Swimming with Dolphins now, the most chosen dolphin excursion in Curacao.

Watch the video of Dolphin Swim Curacao

Dolphin Swim

Rate

US$ 204 p.p.
No minimum age: participants are at least 4.3 ft. tall. tall, can swim and are not pregnant.
If you are between 4 and 4.3 ft. feet tall, you may do a Dolphin Swim if accompanied by an adult participant.
Spectators may join in for US$ 22 p.p.

These rates include all-day admission to Sea Aquarium Park, including prior to your Dolphin Swim.

Location

You can easily park the rental car in the Mambo Beach Boulevard lot (free) or across from LionsDive Beach Resort (paid parking).
Sea Aquarium Park may be a bit tricky to find, see directions here.
No hotel pickup is offered for this excursion.

What to expect

Please check in at the Dolphin Academy desk at Sea Aquarium Park no later than 15 minutes before your scheduled time. If necessary, you can change there, but it’s more convenient if you’re already wearing your swimsuit. The dolphin trainers will assign you to a small group (max. 6 people) and provide you with swim fins. There will be several groups, so pay close attention to which group you’re in and follow “your” dolphin trainer.
Once you’re in the lagoon, the two dolphins will come over to you shortly. The dolphin trainer will split the group into 2 or 3 smaller groups, and then each group will take turns interacting with a dolphin. Have the dolphins sing, spin around with them, get a kiss, or play one of the other fun games with the dolphins. In between, the photographer will take some great photos of you, which you can view afterward and purchase if you’d like.
Meanwhile, the dolphin trainer will tell you about the dolphins, making it an educational outing as well. Of course, there’s also plenty of opportunity for you to interact one-on-one with a dolphin. There are plenty of opportunities to pet them and go for a little swim together.
Another nice tip: you don’t get to borrow a snorkel set, but if you bring your own snorkel set you can use it for the last few minutes. Then you can also have fun interaction with the dolphins underwater.
You will see that time flies by, soon half an hour has passed and the Dolphin Swim is over. Afterwards you can take a shower and change clothes. You will leave the Dolphin Academy via the Photo Shop where you can buy a nice souvenir of this wonderful experience.

Included in this excursion

Access to Sea Aquarium Park for all day, including prior to your activity.
Use of swim fins (mandatory, you may also bring your own).
At an additional cost: photos of your Dolphin Swim, afterward in the Photo Shop.

Additional Information

Swimwear and towel
Sun protection for in the water: waterproof sunscreen (coral-friendly) or a UV shirt
Optional: own swim fins
Optional: own snorkel set. You may take it off for the last few minutes to interact with the dolphins underwater.
You are not allowed to take a camera into the water at a Dolphin Swim. Pictures will be taken by a professional photographer. If you still want to take your camera into the water, book a Dolphin Snorkel, you are allowed to take your camera into the water.

As with almost all excursions these days, Dolphin Swim requires you to fill out a waiver that you do this activity at your own risk. Advice: do this in advance “at home” in your accommodation. In the confirmation e-mail you will receive a link that you can use to arrange this in advance on your phone or laptop.
If that does not work, it is no problem, you can still do this at check-in. But in doing so, you then have to do it on a tablet that is in a waterproof case. This is a bit difficult, so it will take you much longer than if you have already done this relaxed at home.
Should you still need to do this on the spot at check-in, keep in mind and arrive 5 minutes earlier.

There is no age limit for a Dolphin Swim. The participant’s height is considered:

1.30 meters or longer: you may do a Dolphin Swim independently. For children up to 1.45 meters long, it is mandatory to wear a life jacket.
Between 1.20 and 1.30 meters tall: you may do a Dolphin Swim accompanied by a (full-paying) participant aged 18 years or older. The accompaniment is always 1-on-1: per adult max. 1 child.
1.20 or smaller: unfortunately, you are not allowed to do a Dolphin Swim. You can, however, do a Dolphin Encounter.

The length will be measured on the spot and that result is binding. These rules are fairly strictly and rigorously enforced by Dolphin Academy staff, no exceptions are possible.

Pregnant women and children smaller than 1.20 meters are refused admission to a Dolphin Swim. For them a Dolphin Encounter is suitable.
For people with a mental and/or physical disability it may differ per person whether or not you are admitted to the Dolphin Swim. In any case this has to be reported in advance and the dolphin trainers will decide per situation whether it is possible without endangering the safety of participant and dolphins. Important details here: the participant must be able to enter the water independently and swim/water pedal independently for half an hour. The participant must be able to follow instructions from the dolphin trainer directly and independently. Dolphin Academy staff cannot be assumed to provide assistance.

Frequently Asked Questions About Swimming with Dolphins

On Curaçao, there is only one place where you can swim with dolphins, and that is at Dolphin Academy. The chance of swimming with “wild” dolphins in the open ocean is very slim. If you take a boat trip a little further out to sea, you might occasionally spot them, but they don’t gather at a specific location there (unlike, for example, the sea turtles at Playa Piskado). So swimming with dolphins somewhere out in the open sea isn’t possible. You can only swim with dolphins at Dolphin Academy, next to Mambo Beach.

Yes, photos will be taken of you with the dolphins. They’ll be taken anyway, so you don’t need to make a separate reservation for them in advance. Afterward, you can view the photos in Photoshop, and only then do you need to decide whether or not to buy them. You can also have photos printed on T-shirts, mouse pads, mugs, etc.
If you’d like to have a video made of your Dolphin Swim, that’s possible. However, this must be reserved well in advance and is subject to the availability of a Photoshop staff member.