This is my friend Coby. He’s a dancer in the Veendam cast, incredibly talented and an all-around stellar fella to hang out with. I asked him to accompany me this morning to swim with the dolphins. The resort itself is gorgeous! It’s set up not too far from the pier – we could actually see our ship from the lagoons. As soon as we arrived we were welcomed like royalty and escorted down to the dolphin lagoon. We were assigned to a dolphin named Nina, and guided by Romaine. Once we splashed into the cold saltwater, we met Nina, who passed by us several times close enough that we could touch her skin and feel her slippery fins. Then she did some jumps for us, and tricks! When we put our hands up and twirled around, she danced with us! When we shook our open hands in the air, she sang a Bob Marley song for us! Then Coby was asked to throw a brightly-colored ring out into the middle of the pool, which Nina then went and scooped up with her nose, leaping way up in the air before splashing down and returning the ring to the pier! Then each of us got to share loving kisses with Nina and have our pictures taken. It was spectacular!
As if that wasn’t enough, then we were escorted on a jungle tour, where we met and pet all sorts of God’s creatures! A donkey and a goat, a huge iguana, a boa constrictor, so many flowers and sea creatures, and all kinds of beautiful birds, including African grey parrots, macaws, and lovebirds. After we chowed down on some fries with a strange concoction of ketchup and sweet’n’sour sauce at the restaurant, we headed over to see the Shark Encounter!
“When in Rome….” Coby and I decided, if this is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, let’s do it all the way! So we volunteered to be pioneers on the shark experience. This part of the tour won’t be open to the public until Fall of 2007, so we felt very privileged to get this chance. After five guys dressed as pirates gave a very high-spirited, energetic, entertaining and informative talk, Coby and I were “brought on as victims!” All five guides got into the lagoon and each corralled a shark into his grasp. Then Coby and I were escorted down to a concrete platform in the center of the lagoon, and once we were situated, the guide set an 8-foot-long, 220-lb nurse shark in our laps! The feeling was so intense! The skin is made up of millions of little tiny shark teeth, so it feels like sandpaper. And when the guide dropped a piece of fish down in front of the shark’s snout, it made this huge popping sound and writhed in our hands as it sucked it in! I really think my heart stopped for about 2 seconds!
Then the shark was lifted off of us, and set loose. We were handed our snorkeling masks and fins, and off we went! The feeling of swimming openly in a tank with five very large, very LIVE sharks is simply indescribable! The guides were always near us, and several more were standing all around the lagoon, keeping an eye and a finger pointed at each of the five sharks at all times, so it was all as safe as possible. There are only two places in the entire world where you can swim with sharks like this - one is in the Dominican Republic, and the other is right here at Dolphin Cove. It was so awesome to look down through the snorkel mask and see these massive creatures swimming just inches from your face. They swim so gracefully, you feel strangely threatened and calm all at the same time.
Our time at Dolphin Cove was really one of THE BEST tours I have ever been on! The property was clean, well-managed and meticulously kept. The staff were all very educated about the animals, passionate about their conservation efforts, and above all FRIENDLY to the utmost standard. And the management was superb. My hat’s off to the people and animals in Ocho Rios, Jamaica at Dolphin Cove!
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