Wildlife Connection — Local services in Jalisco

We had a phenomenal whale watching excursion. The team are not only experts in the field, the viewing is handled in an eco-friendly, responsible way. You cannot go wrong choosing Wildlife Connection.

LOCATION: You depart from one of the main marinas, just 5-15 minutes from the hotel/resort district. There is no parking inside the marina, so leave your car on the street. (Arrive early enough to find a spot nearby.) The departure site is just inside the gates and to the left.

GUIDES: Marine biologists who care. We had the pleasure of riding with the owner of the company who was training the driver and the guide…after two years, they were still in training! That’s commitment to excellence.

VIEWS: These excursions are not guaranteed and it’s best to manage expectations and simply enjoy being out on the water in a beautiful setting. However, these folks go above and beyond to find what you’re looking for!

RIDE: Waters can be choppy, but the real killer is when you’re standing still watching the whales. Turning from side to side, with the heat, was when two of our passengers got sick. And there’s no sick bags. You feed the birds. Take Dramamine before you go and...

This is not a forced interaction tourist attraction.

This is a tour in the wild, visiting dolphin families that live not far offshore.

The tour is run by a marine biologist. It is part education, part experience.

It is absolutely amazing watching dolphins come visit and play with visitors.

There are no artificial incentives to entice the dolphins to choose to spend some time around people.

They are a bit like cats in that it's best to let them come to you when they feel like it.

The dolphins seem to genuinely enjoy the interactions. It may start as one or two, and suddenly there can be several dolphins.

They are swimming under and around the people who have chosen to go in the water. They leap up, occasionally a few in unison.

They value playtime, and time playing with people is clearly something they have decided is fun.

The guide is very sweet and knowledgeable. She knows the dolphins by name, and knows all the babies too.

This is the opposite of a zoo or captive experience.

This is natural behavior and interaction with wild animals that just happen to find people interesting.

It's quite the experience!...

Although this was an early start, we found our way to the beach and the taxi driver knew where he was going as soon as we said “Opequimar” as the part of the marina to go to.

Our tour guide, Pilar, was good, with a good depth of knowledge that she was more than happy to share, plus Captain Cesar was more than happy to direct us towards the dolphins when we were in the water.

Although this was an experience with entirely wild animals, the vessel was manoeuvred to herd the dolphins for our viewing pleasure. Not something we were entirely comfortable with, as that sort of behaviour can cause distress to the animals. Four of us jumping off the boat at the same time can cause distress to the pod, a boat with two motors switching rapidly from forward to reverse would surely cause more distress.

Not take away from the experience, as we did see both dolphins and sea turtles, and enjoyed a swim near the dolphins, plus got to see Puerto Vallarta from a very...