August 19th, 2009
Dolphin Encounter - Sea Life Park, Oahu, Hawaii
One of the most amazing experiences that I was fortunate to have this summer was my Dolphin Encounter at Sea Life Park in Oahu, Hawaii. I have always been fascinated with dolphins’ intelligence and grace. This was my first opportunity to get up close and personal with one of these incredible creatures.
Upon arriving in Oahu, my goal was to swim with the dolphins. I started googling exactly that: swimming with dolphins. Several opportunities popped up, and I chose the Sea Life Park program for economic reasons. For $99.00 (this was the cheapest) I got to participate in a small group experience with a dolphin. Our adventure began with a mandatory instructional video about sea life. I’m not sure it was totally relevant to the dolphin encounter, but more a way to stall us while we were waiting for our turns and giving us the illusion we were actually doing something to get prepared.
Before entering the water everyone was instructed to put on life jackets. We were also asked not to wear sunscreen since it was harmful to the animals. That was the only uncomfortable part, we couldn’t wear sunglasses either. So essentially our faces baked given the heat and the reflection coming off the water.
There were approximately 10 of us in our group. We were led out onto a ledge in the water to await our individual turn to pet the dolphin. Our instructor or guide was very knowledgeable about marine life. She spent our encounter time talking to us about dolphins and answering any questions we had about them.
Finally came the interaction! For $99.00 we got to pet the dolphin, kiss the dolphin and dance with the dolphin. I, of course, being the dolphin lover that I am, smooched him right on his mouth. My group got a big kick out of that! And the dance consisted of us holding out our hands and resting them gently on his fins while he came up out of the water for a few seconds. The whole encounter was captured on photo and video by employees of Sea Life Park. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take our own cameras into the water either. Not so surprisingly, Sea Life Park was happy to sell us our photos and video of the encounter. I think I picked up the picture and video package for the bargain price of $40.00
I’m sure I sound a little jaded about the cost of this experience. It was expensive to spend such a short amount of time with the dolphin. However, getting to interact with the dolphin was amazing. Actually, if I had realized how little I got to do with the dolphin, I would have spent more money to have more interaction. There were other facilities that offered you the opportunity to spend time actually swimming with them in the water. All in all, for a first time experience it was worth it. I would definitely recommend it for anyone who has any hesitation about interacting with dolphins. But I have to tell you, I can’t wait for my next trip to Hawaii and my next dolphin experience. If you would like to check out Sea Life Park, you can find all their services at their website at: http://www.sealifeparkhawaii.com.
