This was the day that S had been looking forward to for as long as we had our Disney cruise booked! A dolphin encounter at Dolphin Discovery and to hold baby sea turtles at the Cayman Turtle Farm. S loves animals so a day filled with dolphins and turtles was just perfect!
Tendering
There is no cruise ship dock on Grand Cayman, therefore all cruise ships must tender. Tendering is where you have to transfer to a smaller boat to get onto the island. We found the process of tendering to be quite easy and quick. We had very calm water, but I would recommend holding onto young children getting on and off the tender boats and wearing close-toed shoes due to the potential shifting of the ramp.
Cayman Turtle Farm
Our first stop was the Cayman Turtle Farm. There is so much to see, however due to time we only got to see a fraction of this amazing marine adventure park. One of the highlights of the Cayman Turtle Farm is being able to touch and hold yearling sea turtles.
We could have easily spent all day with these small turtles. Other activities available at the Cayman Turtle Farm are the Turtle Lagoon where you can swim with sea turtles, Breakers Lagoon which is a large swimming pool with water slide, Predator Reef where you can come face to face with nurse sharks and more.
I would love to be able to spend a whole day at the Cayman Turtle Farm.
Dolphin Discovery
The second part of our excursion was a Dolphin Encounter at Dolphin Discovery which is right across the street from the Cayman Turtle Farm. After donning a life vest, which is a requirement, and listening to instructions we were taken to meet our dolphin and trainer. With the dolphin encounter each person gets to kiss the dolphin/receive a kiss, dance with the dolphin and hand point. Along the way the trainer told us about our dolphin, how they train the dolphins and we had lots of opportunities to touch the dolphin. We also got to get a family photo with the dolphin. It was a wonderful experience!
Please note you can not take anything in the water with you besides sunglasses and hats. There are lockers available for free to store your personal belongings.
You cannot take cameras with you, however they do have a photographer taking photos of each person and groups throughout your encounter. After you retrieve your personal belongings, you can view your photos inside the gift shop. The photos are very expensive to purchase, so be prepared. If you are booking a dolphin swim instead of the encounter I did notice on their website a photo bundle that would be a good deal.
Both my husband and I agreed that we would love to come back to Grand Cayman and spend a week on the island. We loved that it was so clean (you can get fined and jailed if you are caught littering), there is very little crime since there are video cameras everywhere and virtually no unemployment. The island is beautiful!
Have you visited Grand Cayman? What was your favorite thing to do?
I loved the dolphin encounter also. Our dolphin had it’s baby with her. The baby was fun to watch. It kept trying to mimic it’s mother. I agree the island is beutiful.
Awww how sweet!