The Best Wild Dolphin Swim Areas in the World
While I was sifting through scores of dolphin swim trip reports to set up the top adventure tours ranking list, it quickly became clear where the best destinations in the world are to go swimming with wild dolphins.
Each one of these top five destinations has received glowing reports from people who have been there to meet and interact with these wonderful marine creatures. They all share the characteristic that boats achieve high success rates (above 80%) over an extended period of time of actually finding the dolphins for visitors to swim with. But finding them is only the first step because after that the dolphins need be curious and playful enough to come closer to the boat and not disappear like grey torpedoes over the horizon as soon as the swimmers enter the water. In these top five areas a high percentage of the time they do "stay to play" which provides a wonderful experience for the human swimmers.All these destinations have a very high density of dolphin pods in a reasonably small area due to the fact that there is a rich and consistent food supply available to them. This explains why some areas are better for dolphin swimming than others. The dolphins have become habituated to the continuous presence of humans and the jury is still out whether responsible tours to view and swim with them are influencing them negatively. Irresponsible behaviour like herding the dolphins or chasing them is an obvious bad influence but has largely been stamped out in these areas as only responsible tour operators retain their licence. So here are the best five areas worldwide to enjoy a magnificent and successful swimming with wild dolphins experience... Top Five Swimming with Wild Dolphins Destinations Worldwide- Kaikoura and Akaroa, New Zealand
(trip reports and reviews for these destinations)
- Oahu and Kona, Hawaii
- On a swim with dolphins in Hawaii tour you are most likely to come across spinner and spotted dolphin and some of the Oahu swim with dolphins tour operators boast a 99% success rate of finding these amazing marine creatures on day excursions. It's possible to go on kayaking tours here too where you might meet up with and get an opportunity to swim with the aquatic mammals.
- Azores Archipelago
- The Azores has the biggest variety of dolphin of any area worldwide (sometimes referred to as the Cetacean cross-roads of the world) and it's possible to find eight different species here if you are lucky. Super pods of up to 1000 individuals can be seen too as they come close to the shores of the island to take advantage of the plentiful food supply. Very good wild dolphin swim destination.
- Bimini, Bahamas
- Bimini is blessed with very warm, shallow and clear waters which allows you to enjoy the interaction with the Atlantic spotted dolphins that abound here to the full. They have the final say in whether they want to tolerate the company of humans and about 20% of the time on a swim with dolphins Bahamas experience they decide not to approach the boat.
- Red Sea, Egypt
(trip reports and reviews for this destination)
- The Red Sea is a very good place to swim with spinner and bottlenose dolphins. Some tour operators report an 80% dolphin swim success rate over the past three years and you get the added advantage of being able to enjoy all the amazing coral formations.
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