We went to swim with the dolphins on Saturday March 10th, 2007 at the Vallarta Adventures center in Nuevo Vallarta. We had a fantastic time, the experience was great!

Our time was at 1:00pm and we were told to show up 30 mins early. This really isn’t necessary unless you want to sit around and watch the group before you. One thing that we didn’t know is that Vallarta Adventures has 2 dolphin centers!!! We weren’t told about this. They are within about a 10 minute walk of each other but be sure to find out which one you need to be at. We had our taxi drop us at the wrong one.

Anyway, when you go don’t put on a bunch of hair products, sunscreen, perfume, cologne, etc. Basically, anything that can come off of you and pollute the water is a bad idea. They have outdoor showers for you to rinse off in before you get in the pool with the Dolphins.

So here’s how it goes, you show up, get checked-in and then go to the viewing area. The staff will then move everyone to the listening stations where you listen to a 10 minute or so audio presentation about the dolphins. This area is away from the public area of the center and you leave your belongings here while you are in the pool. We left our camera and stuff there and didn’t have a problem, the area looks over the pool. After the audio presentation you get ready to get in the water. Before getting in you must take a shower in your swimsuit to get everything off of you. Also – towels are provided, you do not have to bring your own.

When we were there I’d guess there were about 30-35 people. You break off into 4 groups, our group had 8 people in it. For our 8 people we had two dolphins and 1 trainer. You get in the water, which is a bit chilly for most folks. I was perfectly fine but my wife got out a few minutes early because she was so cold. Anyway, the dolphins swim in-between everyone in the group and you get to pet them. Then they do some tricks and pull people around the pool. There’s a photo op with the Dolphins ‘kissing’. There’s some more tricks and 1-on-1 interaction with the dolphins which was a lot of fun. After about 30 mins or so the show is over and the dolphins say goodbye. Everyone gets out of the water and files out past a couple of sea-lions providing ‘kisses’ another photo-op. Afterwards there are a couple of changing areas and of course the outside showers.

On the way out you have the opportunity to purchase a DVD of your group, $45 or photos, $10 each or 5 for $40 I think it was. If you buy 5 or more you also get a Kodak CD of the pictures that you bought. This was hard for us because there were so many good pictures.

When you are done seeing the Dolphins there’s also a parrot center, a small place to eat and a gift shop.

I had a great experience doing this and I would highly recommend it! The trainers were great and really help you enjoy the experience.

Finally, don’t wait until you get to Puerto Vallarta to make the reservations. Do it online directly through Vallarta Adventures and you’ll get a discount! Don’t book it through Expedia or anywhere else unless you want to pay more.