Dolphins Plus Bayside

"My kids did the dockside experience and loved it. However, as a business owner myself, I see so many things that could have been done differently to improve the experience overall. First, even if you’re only doing the dockside experience, you get looped into a 30 minute orientation with the groups that are swimming in the water with the dolphins. We sat there waiting for those people to be fitted with wetsuits, get instructions specific to their program, etc. Also, there was a lot of intentional time wasting…asking each group where we’re from, and “in a couple minutes, the trainers will come out and tell you more about what you’re doing.” If they skipped this whole part and just brought the dockside people to a separate area to be briefed by the specific trainer on what to do, we could have saved 20 minutes at least. The dolphin interaction itself felt extremely short for the price we paid. It was less than 10 minutes. Then, once both groups in the dockside program went, we basically just stood there and watched the trainer play with the dolphins solo for a solid 20 minutes. Either lower the price, or increase the active dolphin time. Last, luckily we did not purchase the photo package ahead of time. The day after our experience, I received an email with a link to the gallery to purchase if we want. Every. Single. Photo…..was of my kids backs and you couldn’t even see dolphins. I was surprised. My photos were a million times better than the photos we could have paid for. You can see the dolphins and our kids happy faces. That’s an easy fix. The photographer needs to strategically stand to get a better angle on the experiences. Overall, I’m not sure I’d drop almost $300 for two kids and two spectators to interact with dolphins for less than 10 minutes. Felt very overpriced. With that said, my kids did seem very happy and grateful."

"We did the dockside encounter, it was so much fun. You are on a floating dock, and will get splashed. Our trainer, Marylou, was amazing. The Dolphins are not exploited and seem very healthy and happy. Highly recommend for anyone who loves Dolphins."

"First-time close encounter with dolphins and it was a good experience that left me wanting more. We were only two people, perhaps they could have spent a little more time with other moves. The person assigned to us is a newbie and needed help several times which took time away from us experiencing contact with the dolphins. Time went very fast. Truly a once in a lifetime experience Along with meeting the dolphins, the trainers were knowledgeable and helped me learn about dolphin anatomy and behavior, learned that is more about behavior training than about zoology or marine biology, and as a psychotherapist specializing in CBT, I appreciate it. I had the signature swim and pictures which I would recommend since the viewing area is farther away - if you have a good camera with a nice lens then skip it."

"Hello everyone. It was my first time visiting dolphins. I was really impressed. Nice place. Nice location. Big parking lot. Good prices. Friendly patient stuff. They explained me everything many times till i get everything. Always trying to help me. Nice trainer team. 7 nice dolphins. It was one of the best times i ever spent and the best emotions i ever have. Dolphins are so cute and smart. Great thank you for all your team. I wish to come back! And I recommend everyone to visit this place!!? Good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!"