Dolphin Discovery Tulum-Akumal — Attraction in Quintana Roo

I recently had the opportunity to swim with dolphins, which is considered to be a highlight experience that everyone should try at least once. Due to its affordability compared to other providers near Tulum, I chose "Dolphin Discovery Akumal." To ensure I wouldn't miss out on anything, I naturally booked the most expensive package, the Dolphin Royal Swim.

In a group of approximately 8-12 people, we began with an introductory session with the dolphins. The following activities were individually carried out in turn with all participants, while waiting for our turn at the poolside alongside others, which took quite some time.

The dolphins swam by the participants, allowing us to touch them.

Similar to the first activity, but this time they swam by in a way that allowed us to touch their bellies.

We extended our hands in the air, and the dolphins touched our hands with their mouths for about 5 seconds.

The dolphins positioned themselves in front of us, and we were able to hold onto their fins.

We were allowed to throw a plastic bottle, which the dolphins would retrieve and place in a box.

Up until this point, it was the "more affordable" program. However, since I opted for the slightly more expensive package, there were two additional highlights:

The Royal Swim: We swam in the water, and the two dolphins approached from behind, allowing us to hold onto their dorsal fins as they swam by. In this way we were pulled across half the pool.

While swimming on our stomachs in the water, both dolphins approached from behind and nudged our feet, propelling us partially out of the water, depending on our body stability. At the end, we waved goodbye, and the program was over.

Honestly, considering the price I paid, I expected more. In summary, the website advertised 60 minutes in the water, which is technically true. However, out of those 60 minutes, around 50 minutes were spent waiting and watching the other participants, leaving only 5-10 minutes for active interaction with the dolphins.

In my opinion, this does not constitute a proper "swim with dolphins" experience. The best part came when I viewed the photos taken during the activity. Upon inquiry, they demanded $80 USD per person for the digital photos. After some negotiation, I was offered a deal of $120 USD for the photos of two people. From my perspective, this was significantly overpriced. I would have considered paying around $50 USD, but even that would still be expensive for someone simply pressing the camera's shutter button a few times. Based on what was offered, I would not choose to do it here again. There is another provider in the area, and perhaps their...

One star for the actual thrill of the animal encounters.

The trainers were brilliant and friendly. The rest of the staff, particularly the front desk and photographer, were abrupt, rude and didn't care about the customers.

I am always conflicted about attractions like this and zoos, I wish for my kids to see animals like Dolphins and Seals and I know it makes me a hypocrite but the pens/cages are abysmally small and whatever 'certification' the place has the space for the animals is inadequate.

There'll be a copy & paste reply from the owner citing how suitable the cages are, whatever the reply below, they are unsuitable. We saw a dolphin still in the water with its nose out of the water which is a sign of distress(?).

We were sold the encounters: Dolphin, Manatee and Seal with an hour or so on a boat with snorkeling, all for $140 USD per person (family of 4) through a beach seller.

Upon arrival there was the surprise of an additional tax!! About $400 MXN. We had Pesos but the woman on the front desk converted the peso price from USD and charged us a conversion rate despite having Mexican currency, as our 'account' was in USD so ended up being charged $412 Pesos extra... ridiculous. This woman was cold, had no customer service skills and was just going through a script.

Special mention goes to the photographer, an angry woman who shepherds you from one encounter to the next, tolerating no slow walkers and with absolutely no warmth and personality whatsoever.

As you'll know by now, the photos are ridiculously expensive, we didn't get any and the annoyance of the photographer at the end when we turned them down was palpable, she was not pleased.

If you can have someone out of your party stay in the bars surrounding the dolphin cage they have a great, unobstructed view of the activity and you'll get good photos with a decent camera, saving yourself lots of money.

Lastly, we were told that my son could take part in all encounters but he was unable to see the Seal up close due to safety, fair enough but educate your reps/agencies with all the info regarding height...

DO NOT COME HERE unless you want to talk to horrible people. Crazy expensive. 45 USD for one digital or printed picture, rude workers. Brought our 1 year old and they were horrible to her. We had already paid for pictures online but when we arrived they forced us to pay for the pictures of the baby who can not stand on her own but ended up having no pictures of her on her own even after they made us pay due to this and said there would be no group ones even though we had like five group pictures and refused to refund us for money that wasn't even used for anything. Going in there were only one family in front of us but ended up waiting ages and nothing was said to us. Then they proceeded to rush us to get ready and in the end we still had to wait ages as they weren't even ready, there was also no official changing room or benches to get ready and put suncream or anything on and ened up doing it by the lockers. Our baby was crying due to the sun being in her eyes, they gave us an umbrella for her but began moaning two seconds later when it was in the pictures and the experience was unbelievably short and rushed like a conveyor belt, no personal touch to it at all. They moaned and gave us dirty looks and spoke in Spanish to each other when our baby cried like we were a bad family and when we came to pick pictures and we said about a refund they said that we couldn't get a refund because our baby was crying which is straight rude and obnoxious I will never understand why people think that just because we have a baby we should put our lives on holt. Completely put a sour mood on the rest of the day and will not be coming back. Even speaking to others who said they come every year said that it has gone terrible and has been cut short as there used to be a full show and you could ride and play with the dolphins. Do not come. Not worth your...