Dolphin Discovery Isla Mujeres — Attraction in Isla Mujeres

The website AND brochures for Dolphin Discovery are a bit inaccurate and have contradictory information. (For example, they say don’t bring cash because they accept cards, but then they say they need $15 cash (USD) for the dock fee.) I will do my best to explain my experience yesterday so that maybe it will benefit someone else.

I was the last one off the ferry which meant I was also nearly the last person in line to get checked in for the dolphin experience. (For a couple hundred people they have only TWO individuals checking people in, in the main building. There are lots of other staff milling about, like photographers, etc, but only TWO people checking in about two hundred.) Please also know you’ll be standing outside in this long line so be sure to apply your sunscreen before you get off the ferry.

They do not account for the people at the end of the line—they only rush to help those who got there first. I say this because after I hurriedly checked in and put my stuff in a locker, it was not even clear where I was supposed to go next. I wandered around trying to find signs pointing me in the right direction but the only signs I saw said, “fun, relax, love…” and other poorly used (marketing?) words?

Finally when someone in a staff shirt was walking by I asked him where I was supposed to go and he pointed to a set of stairs. I immediately took off for those stairs and walked out on a dock where at the end of it was a two-story open air building with a thatched roof. I got there, on the first floor was given a life jacket and I scurried upstairs to grab a seat on a bench…only to find out there were no seats left and the preliminary talk was about to end. (If they staggered everything according to when people were arriving to the little building on the dock, they could easily accommodate those of us at the end of the line, seeing as how it took me over an hour to get through that long check-in line.)

Also if it’s windy and the waves are choppy, the people who are 5’10” and taller will have the best time. I think the website says the shortest someone can be to be able to do this activity is 4’6” but I’m 5’2” and had a pretty difficult time. (Most of us women who were 5’4” and under kept getting battered by the waves.) It was hard to do the experience because the Dolphin Discovery guys kept yelling at us to stand up but we kept telling them we couldn’t touch the bottom! The life jackets were a bit in the way too.

After the experience is over, you walk back to the main dock with your group (be careful, parts of the dock were very slippery). There were 11 people in my group but the staff guy had been telling me to go in one of the afternoon groups because they would be so much smaller…but I checked later and I could tell the afternoon groups were just as big.

After we put our life jackets on a bench, they looked at our wristbands and told us if we were done and how to get to the places we needed to go. The wristbands are different but what they say are not actually what they mean. They make corrections with a sharpie on your wristband and note other things on it as well.

The buffet lunch was included in the price I had paid in the package I chose online and it was surprisingly nice. At the end of the day when it’s time to get back on the ferry, there’s a huge crush of people (led by Americans who acted like they had never stood in a line before).

Lastly, if you get pictures taken here and you want them on site, you are given a code to enter in an app you have to install. I believe pictures start at $50 and you pick out the ones of your from your group. I realize they need to protect their photos they took of us, but in order that you cannot just take a picture from the screen, they have a multi-color dolphin logo over all of the photos…which actually makes it extremely difficult to see which photos you are even in.

Overall it was a good experience but there are so many little (and a few big) things that could be changed to make it such a better experience, it’s a shame they’re not...

Went here yesterday with my boyfriend and son and overall the facility and what it has to offer is very nice. It ended up being last minute when we decided to go while exploring Isla Mujeres, so we did not purchase tickets in advance which I highly advise. Before even entering, they charged my boyfriend and I $39 each entrance fee because we were not swimming with the dolphins, only my son was. They quoted a price of over $100 for my sons excursion, but I remember seeing the price was less online. I showed him the online price was $69, and he went on to charge me $71 instead. I just read in another review they were charged $15 for the entry fee which includes open bar and a buffet. The buffet was a 4/10. Open bar 6/10.I had such a strong feeling I was overcharged, but its hard to find on the website where I could find the fee for entry only. They gave me a hard way to Go about accompanying my 10 yr Old son to the dolphin encounter. They said since he was tall Enough he could be alone. I refused so they allowed me to come. These type of gimmicks make me feel uncomfortable and annoyed that I always have to double check pricing for everything when I visit Mexico, especially excursions. I was told at the register once they let us in, that we had to pay for photos up front or we wouldn’t be allowed to get them later. It was a complete lie. They ended up trying to sell them to me at the end. The encounter was short. We were made to wait last in line to go down. I watched as all the other people went before us, but it didn’t make sense that we didn’t go with then. The only black family of the whole group. Only English speaking. Once we got in the water, the guide spent alot more time with the spanish speaking families and we had to wait last so he could translate. He was short with me, almost annoyed. I did not participate in the excursion, but during the one part where the dolphin pulls you and you hang on by his fins, my son kept messing up the hand placement because our guide did not explain the directions well with his broken English. I had previously offered to explain to my son during a different activity, but he quickly cut me off. Like I said he seemed annoyed only with us. He then asked this time can I explain to my son. At this point my son was on his third try. He still wasn’t able to get it and was very upset. There was no warmth or compassion from the guide. Had he let me explain in the beginning, my son would have been able to catch on. When we were done they presented purchasing of photos because they make sure you don’t have your phone to take your own. $89 for all photos and videos.I purchased photos for my son’s memories, but I would never come back here. If I ever even considered it so my son can try the one encounter, I would most definitely only purchase online. PURCHASE ONLINE SO YOU DONT...

We booked the manatee-only experience through PlanCun. We were a bit wary of the whole thing since we were not able to get really clear instructions from customer service nor in the confirmation emails. But we were pleasantly surprised with the organization. We got picked up on time with the shuttle service. We got to the dock and had to pay our transportation and docking fees, which were $15 each per person. So in total, transportation is $30USD per person for the whole day. They also tried to sell us the photo package, but we opted out. We got our wristbands then had to wait a bit before boarding the boat. The waves were rough that day so the boat ride was a bit rocky. It was about a 50 minute boat ride to the island. On the ride there a sales rep tried to sell us the VIP upgrade, but we declined. The ferry dropped us off right at Dolphin Discovery. Lockers are free, you just need to leave a piece of ID with them until you return the key. The lockers were a bit finicky, so you have to make sure it’s really locked. This might be why some other reviewers had their stuff stolen. While you wait for your scheduled swim time, you can walk around the small gift shop, lounge on the beach chairs, or swim in the pool. There wasn’t too much to do but since the animal enclosures are uncovered, you can watch the dolphins, sea lions, and manatees. The manatee experience itself was super fun. It was just two of us for our timeslot so we got plenty of time with the water potatoes. The staff taught us some fun facts about manatees and answered all our questions. We could tell that they really love these sea animals. Afterward, a lunch buffet was provided. The food wasn’t too bad but the soft drinks tasted off. They have two boats back to Cancun, the first at 3:30 and the second at 5:30. Since our shuttle wasn’t until 6:30, we decided to stay on the island until 5:30. They offer a free ferry ride to downtown Isla Mujeres where they let you walk around the town for a couple of hours. There is only one ferry, so make sure you listen closely to the instructions on how to get the ferry ride back. I would highly recommend going to downtown Isla Mujeres, as there are lots of souvenir shops and scenic areas. There was an option to pay for a taxi or rent a golf cart to get around the island, but since we were mostly shopping, we opted out. The ferry back to Cancun was on time. Our shuttle driver was already waiting for us when we got back to the dock. Overall, we were pleased with the organization and felt well taken care of the entire day. We would...