Fantastic experience and well worth the price! To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect with Dolphin Discovery when we booked our excursion with MSC cruises, but it DEFINITELY exceeded my most positive expectations even. The excursion got off to a bit of a rocky start as all of the excursion-goers (about 50+ people) lined up at the excursion hut on time, but the folks taking us to the excursion didn't begin the walk until almost 20 minutes after the excursion meet up time. The walk to Dolphin Discovery was relatively short, but you do have to walk through the duty free area and shops before arriving, which is about a 5 minute walk. When we all arrived, we were given a set of instructions on what to do and what not to do around the dolphins, provided lockers to place our personal belongings, fitted for life jackets (which felt uncomfortably small) and then broken up into 4 groups. The accents on the instructors did hinder my full comprehension of the instructions, but I pretty much got the gist of it (e.g., be gentle with the dolphins, don't get overly excited, etc.) After we broke up into our groups, we were all guided by our group instructors to our side of the dolphin pools and walked into the pools where there was a ledge for us to stand on. Basically, there were 2 giant pools and 2 dolphins in each pool .... and THIS is where the fun began. To sum up the pool experience, the instructors first demonstrated the hand signals they gave to the dolphins to perform certain tricks (e.g. let you give a belly rub, jump up high, kiss you, give you hand fives) and then each tourist would follow suit and give the same hand signals. Since phones were not allowed into the water, there was a professional photographer hovering over each group to take photos of each individual as they played with the dolphins (SO MAKE SURE TO LOOK THEIR WAY as you interact with the dolphin). After each individual got their turn, the instructor had the dolphin perform some other tricks as well before the fun ended. In total, we were probably in the water for almost an hour, which felt like an eternity actually, but it was hard to gauge with no watch on. At the end, after you get all of your belongings and changed clothes, you can view the photos the photographer took at a kiosk. As you can imagine, the photos were also pricey, but it's the only photos you have with the dolphins, so you sort of know the deal prior to the excursion when they tell you no phones allowed. We ended up buying ALLLLLL of the digital photos (60+ in total) as part of a package, in which they give you directions on how to download on the spot, and, to my surprise, the photos came out GREAT!!! This was definitely a VERY, VERY, VERY fun and unique experience. It was on the pricier side, but well worth the expense and I would absolutely do it again. It was well-organized, safe (considering we had 2 toddlers with us) and, honestly, I feel like I got my money's worth in the experience. read more

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I was sort of hesitant to use this company due to reviews with carnival and other areas but so glad we did. Everything was perfect, very well organized and efficient from start to finish. The only thing I disliked is the cost of the photos but I had to get them because how many times do you do this. I really love our experience and the staff at costa maya port. I'll share my son's photos to this message. read more

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The arrival was a little disorganized. Lots of waiting. The experience was fine. They then try to rob you for pictures for hundreds of dollars. Wanted almost $250 for a few pictures for our family. What a rip off For some other reason the cheaper pricing they show online you can't book. You need to book with the cruise line for double the price. read more

Itzi was an amazing trainer who worked with two dolphins Frida and Elena. Frida was so strong she was able to push me on a boggeyboard and I felt like a dolphin trainer that I would see as a kid. Frida always got lots of fish and was well taken care of. Elena had an injury that prevented her from pushing but was strong and let me hold on to her pectorals while using her flipper to pull me 30 feet. Everything was really fun and I was glad to see both dolphins well cared for. There were probably 6 or 8 other dolphins. In an ocean location. Very fun experience !!! read more

Honestly it says a lot about you as a person if you make a willing choice to look at three dolphins each and horrific Pain, each with a severely deformed spine from living in such captivity performing tricks for food, confined to a life of misery and continuing to suffer because of tourists desire to get a picture with a dolphin. I have been all over the world and I have never seen dolphins suffering as much as these. I am disgusted that cruise lines, in tourists have not made any effort to try to free these poor dolphins or at least Make an effort to improve their conditions. You are your immoral if you go here, and disgusting if you support it. I truly understand the need for locals to make money but there are many ways they could turn a profit on dolphins while providing them with at least half decent living conditions. Shame on you Norwegian cruise lines, shame on you royal Caribbean and shame on you to every single person who has gone here read more

Not really worth it, was interesting to be up close with a dolphin but do not expect to take photos home without getting RIPPED OFF. $35 PER PHOTO, PER PERSON. The staff and trainers all need to SPEAK UP, you can barely hear them, so you miss a lot of instructions and info. Also, be prepared to stand around waiting for over and hour, they are not well organized at all and just leave crowds waiting. The dolphin experience itself is not in the gorgeous ocean waters just meters away, but in tiny dirty pools, which dectracted from the overall experience. We were stuck with a trainer who BARELY spoke english (he asked our group beforehand "hablo espanol? ", and seemed disappointed when we all said no, omg he had to do his job in english, yes its Mexico but the vast majority of your customers are being brought in by cruise ships full of english speaking people, you would think that fluent english would be a job requirement...) The trainer talked quietly and was drowned out by the crashing waves and bar music nearby... Spoke very little about the dolphins then launched into the activities. Being up close with such an amazing and beautiful creature was an incredible experience, feeling its smooth sleek body and being pulled along by it... And even kissing it, all worthwhile enjoyable experiences, but then the time spent in the photo preview booths afterward was HORRIBLE. They are all trying to pad their pockets with insane profits off of cruise ship patrons... assuming we are all loaded with money since we are on a cruise ship. Some of us are not. To be fair, the professional photos taken were very high quality, but not worth $35 per pic. They will try to sell you a package "deal" involving a CD, over $150... Heres my advice... although you are not allowed to take photos, a family member can easily stand nearby on one of the crosswalks.... zoom in and snap pics, a huge crowd had gathered all around watching us, so taking some pics from afar is totally possible. I thought it took place in a private building, it does NOT... select a person from your party to blend in with the crowd above, snap your pics and save a LOT of money. Theres one walkway that participants take to access the tiny dirty dolphin pools, THAT you cannot take pics from, however theres another walkway just a little higher up that huge crowds gather at which a non participant could easily snap pics from, sparing a group from riduculous photo prices. My wife and i were having a great time with the dolphins, the photo booth ruined it. I wanted to stay on the ship, I expected as much from Mexico... our cruise was mainly for the ship, not the destination.... Side note, in general, Costa Maya overall is nothing special, Florida is so much better. My advice... stay out of the shops if you disembark... skip the activities... instead relax on the beach, get a drink or three... enjoy one of the beach front restaurants... Enjoy the beach. read more

Disclaimer: I didn't actually get to do the dolphin encounter but I'm writing this review on their customer service. In a word: Terrible. Some reviews on some sites say to wait until you get there as you might get it cheaper. This couldn't be further from the truth! On the contrary, it's actually MORE expensive and they will NOT honor their price on their website at that point! You also don't have the ability to book online at that point so you either pay the ridiculous price or don't do it. Also, some reviews say the tanks are really small for the dolphins. Unfortunately, that is true. We were able to see them behind the facility (and take pictures so we at least got that...) but it was sad to see them so confined. The lady at the counter was extremely rude. I'm amazed this place is still in business with this type of customer service... especially in Mexico. So, we decided to walk away. It was a blessing-in-disguise though because we ended up renting a go cart for MUCH cheaper and explored the island on our own. We were able to visit the beach, a few other local places, and experience some of the culture. read more