Caribbean Adventure: Swimming With Dolphins In Cozumel, Mexico

Though our cruise only lasted a week, going on this adventure has given us a lifetime of incredibly memorable experiences. One of those incredible experiences being able to swim with, touch and ride the Bottle Nosed Dolphins in Cozumel, Mexico.

Thanks to getting a refund for not being able to do the snorkeling excursion in the sea beside St. Thomas, we were able to use that money for something my wife has always dreamed of doing... And that is being able to see and play with dolphins, up close and personal.

And we owe some of that thanks to Hurricane Earl. Click link for an explanation.

We could have picked a dozen other excursions to take the place of the snorkeling one but I knew how much this once-in-a-lifetime (for us, anyway) experience would mean to my wife and I convinced her to do this one.

DOLPHINARUS DOLPHIN PARK in Mexico

In the beginning of our great experience, six other folks and my wife and I were told to get in our bathing suits and take off any jewelry we were wearing. The instructors said the dolphins are attracted to shiny things and will try to pull them off of you. In other words, if you were wearing earrings, a nose ring or a nipple ring, they could tear one of them off, along with your flesh. Ouch!

The instructors also told us to NOT TOUCH the dolphins ON THE FACE. The instructors said they don't like it. They're sensitive that way and the instructors compared it to humans, generally not liking the touching of their faces. I know I fucking hate it when someone touches my face... Unless it leads to me getting some nookie. After the 3 instructors got us into the fifteen foot deep natural ocean water (see pics below), we were given a variety of hand and arm signals to learn to gesture to the dolphins to perform a particular trick or movement. With these signals, they sung, danced, leaped and allowed you to ride them in the water.

It was amazing.

The instructors told us many facts about dolphins. Such as:

Dolphins live up to 35 years in captivity. Only 7 or 8 years in their natural habitat.

Dolphins have 2 or 3 lines or slits underneath them and above their tail flippers. Three slits indicate it is a female. Each one has a different function. One for babies and intercourse. One for pooping. One for pissing. So now you know. But this doesn't mean you can go around fingering dolphins, pervert!

A dolphin will attempt to save you if they see you drowning in the middle of the water and they have also been know to fend off sharks from attacking human beings.

Dolphins are incredibly smart and have as many emotions as humans.

Dolphins our given only one set of teeth in their lifetime... unlike the shark.

The natural enemies of a dolphin are sharks, whales and unfortunately, human beings.

For an interesting article on how smart dolphins are, click this link after you're done here. When I asked the instructor if dolphins were smarter than human beings, he said that he thought they were more intelligent. He pointed out that dolphins don't create wars, pollute their own world and cause needless pain and destruction.

So, without further ado... Here are just some of the pictures of our fantastic experience with the dolphins, along with a few captions:

A more wider view of the Dolphinarus park, sitting in the ocean

One dolphin was female named Bina. She was a three year old Bottle Nosed Dolphin.

The other dolphin was a fifteen year old male named Seymour.

Not only were we being given rides by the dolphins (yes this is me, holding on for dear life) but we were able to touch their tongues, teeth and hold them. It was obvious they loved people. They would swim up against us, wanting contact and to be played with.

Bina and Seymour

Dolphinarus

This was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us. We honestly never dreamed we would be able to get this close to dolphins and have that much time with them. I think we were there for over an hour and a half. The pictures taken by their photographers and the DVD of our time with the dolphins, that we bought, would be considered expensive by some folks. Not for us. The expense was well worth it and seeing the smile on my wife's face, while there, makes that sentiment set in concrete.

The dolphins are a very loving and intelligent species of marine creature. Very intuitive, as well. I won't forget them.

I'll be putting up more photos of our dolphin experience on Facebook later, if you want to check them out.