Dolphinaris Cancún — Attraction in Quintana Roo

We recently visited this facility with high hopes of an unforgettable experience of swimming with dolphins. However, our excitement quickly turned to disappointment due to a multitude of reasons, chief among them the treatment of the dolphins, the prohibitively high costs, and the restrictive and undisclosed policies.

To start with the most distressing aspect, the condition of the dolphins. Their fins and bodies were visibly scratched, indicating potential discomfort and distress. Their housing conditions were equally concerning, with the dolphins crammed into what seemed like alarmingly small pools. At one point, one of the dolphins fell ill and had to be hastily removed. It was a sad sight that raised serious questions about the welfare of these magnificent creatures.

Now onto the pricing structure and policies. The high entry fees were just the tip of the iceberg. Unbeknownst to us until we arrived, the facility has a strict no-cell-phone policy near the pools, effectively eliminating the possibility of capturing your own memories of the experience. The alternative is their photo package which comes with an excessive price tag ($200 for a family of 4 and $250 for a family of 5). Individual photos are also available for purchase at a steep $40 each.

We felt cornered into this expense as the staff seemed to ensure that those who did not opt for the photo package had their dolphin encounter positioned far from the patio deck (the only place where cell phones were permitted). This sly tactic left a sour taste, compounding our overall dissatisfaction.

And the expenses didn’t stop there. Joining your family in the pool (since you can't take photos) incurs additional charges: $20 for a locker and another $20 for a towel.

Most frustratingly, we were not made aware of the phone policy and the pricing of the photo package when purchasing our tickets through the representative. The lack of upfront transparency felt like a deliberate attempt to force guests into additional expenditure upon arrival.

In conclusion, our visit was far from the memorable experience we had hoped for. The primary concern is the wellbeing of the dolphins, which, based on our observation, is questionable. This, combined with the exorbitant pricing and the less-than-transparent policies, resulted in a disappointing experience. This is not an outing we would recommend. We hope the management reconsiders their approach, ensuring both visitor satisfaction and...

Brought in the vouchers given to us by noon palace as part of a package we purchased at a discounted price. Day prior to visit, called dolphinaris to find availability as indicated on the voucher, spoke to a lady from dolphinaris and was told multiple time slots available throughout the day and no reservation necessary just come in. Went this morning at 11am Monday 07/30/2018 and person at the front desk said the only available he can give us is at 4pm (the last schedule for the day) we were there at 11 am and took a cab to get there from our hotel. He then spoke to his supervisor a person named Raul, he said the same thing and said that they have nothing available for the program we have until 4pm however if we pay an additional $20 per person he will be able to accommodate us at 1pm. He insist that the voucher we brought was free and they will only give us the 4pm slot, I explained that the voucher was part of a paid package we purchased at the airport trough an agent and was handled by noon palace hotel. Got there early with my wife and 3 children all exited and looking forward to this supposed to be the highlight of our vacation and deliberately left it for last to be the most exciting experience for my kids and this situation happened. Did my due diligence - called prior to visit to avoid unnecessary problems and this happened - literally forced to pay up an additional $ 122 dollars for the same program we were suppose to have with the voucher and rent a locker and towels as they don’t allow any belongings in, near the area even outside the primary activity. And not to mention that they capitalize in making you bleed financially as they don’t allow pictures nor any kind of camera which means you have to purchase the photos or videos for an exceptionally high price (ex. $ 45 for 1 picture) for a group of 5 with no group picture whatsoever would run us close to $ 250 for only 1 picture each. You can’t even see the picture clearly as most of the picture is watermarked right across the face, can’t tell if your eyes close or if the picture is clear.

The only saving grace is the amazing personality and wealth of knowledge of the trainer - Caesar, he was great but the rest of the front personnel was short of a disaster. Make sure not to get ripped off and taken for a ride as you would have little to no choice once you are there. They will steal your hard earned money and ruin your well planned...

If I could, I would give it a negative five star. The dolphins are so cute but the trainers are so rude. We stayed in moon palace and they gave us resort credit to go to this park and we went. When we arrived there, we were told that we have to pay $300 for three adults and 2 kids for the photos and we paid. We were grouped with two other families, a total of 13 people and our family was the last. Our trainer is Fernando, and I would by all means avoid this person if I can. Fernando only gave instructions to the first family and we can barely hear and see what to do and what not to do. When it came to our turn to "shake", my three year old boy held dolphins' "hands" while he is only supposed to touch but not hold. The trainer yelled at me, the mom, and my three year old, literally yelled at us and said "why would all other people listen to me and you can't. Where are you from?" (we replied US) and he continues "are you US-born US citizens?" In fact my husband is but I don't understand why does it even matter for a tourist whether they are US-born? We do speak English very well. And in the end, he purposely cut our program. The other two families got the chance to hold and hug and kiss dolphins twice and we only got one chance. But that is enough. When I get out of water, I immediately filed a complaint against him. He did not get his trainer certificate by standing by the pool and watching his teacher teaching other students, did he? If not, then why would he expect us can learn to work with dolphin by watching other families doing it while closely standing by the pool when it is not our turn. If he found that he can't understand our English, would it be natural to repeat the instructions to us or yell at the tourists who paid him and yell at 3 year old baby and yell at a 65 year old grandma and yell at two mid-aged parents in front of their kids? Last but not least, the dolphins are so cute but they all have multiple scars on their bodies. As animal lovers, I would not pay for those people a penny any more to train animals to entertain tourist. We made a mistake and you should not. For anyone who is so rude to their customers including babies and elderly women, you can imagine how they...