Swimming With Dolphins In Florida: 11 Of The Best Places

Interested in swimming with dolphins in Florida? This is the right place for you.

It should be an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience for your family to travel to Florida.

Swimming with dolphins, the kindest and most magnificent creatures in the ocean, is the ideal way to accomplish this.

It shouldn’t be a surprise given that Florida is well-known for its wildlife, pleasant climate, and prime locations.

It is one of the greatest states for experiencing the wonder of marine life. And getting up close and personal with dolphins.

One of these 11 Sunshine State locations is among the top places to splash about and swim with dolphins.

Swimming with dolphins in Florida: 11 of the best places

A Dolphin’s Eye View at Epcot Sea Adventures

A Dolphin's Eye View
Swimming with dolphins in Florida 11 of the best places

 Its visitors are renowned for the fantastic experiences they have at Walt Disney World. Aand for their commitment to preserving the Disney spirit in what they experience there.

Getting that enchanted Pavilion of experience and friends involves meeting and swimming with dolphins at Seychelles.

During your visit to Epcot, you will get to hear first hand from members. Of the highly trained team about their approach to studying, interacting with, and training dolphins.

 During your visit, you may be able to interact with dolphins and see behind-the-scenes training locations.

This class will introduce you to the process of caring for bottlenose dolphins. On a regular basis by observing a training session.

Dolphin trainers urge everyone to participate in activities. And ask questions to get the most out of their time with the dolphins.

Over the course of three hours, you’ll discover knowledge, watch entertainment, and be enchanted by Disney.

In addition to swimming with dolphins at Epcot, there are endless other things to see and do.

More marine life entertainment can be found during the 2.5-hour Epcot Sea Adventures – Aqua Tour. Which features 6,000 marine animals from more than 60 aquatic species.

You are sure to enjoy the breathtaking views. And the time of your life at the Caribbean Coral Reef, a 5.7 million gallon saltwater aquarium!

Gulf World Marine Park

If you’re looking for a place to swim with dolphins, Panama City has a park bursting at the seams with interactive learning opportunities.

Showcasing the numerous species that call Gulf World Marine Park home, and a bevy of other possibilities.

You can find helpful staff at Gulf World Marine Park that not only cares for marine life but also enjoys educating park visitors about sea creatures.

You can also swim with a bottlenose dolphin as part of Dolphin Swimming Packages.

 Swim Adventures with Bottlenose Dolphins, Bottlenose Dolphin Encounters, and Rough-Toothed Dolphin Encounters.

All of these packages feature around 30 minutes of dolphin interaction and enjoyment.

If you want a longer experience, the Trainer for a Day package may be the right choice.

The dolphin show also allows the children to assist with preparation of meals and to perform on stage.

A free t-shirt is also given to Gulf World Marine Park trainers as a token of appreciation for their extraordinary work.

In order to get the most out of your visit to Gulf World Marine Park, your family can enjoy a variety of different sights and marine life.

Enjoy the interactive stingray show, the harbor seal encounter, the meet-and-greet with sea lions, Russell the crow, and so many other attractions!

At Gulf World Marine Park, there is fun to be had by everybody.

Theater of The Sea

From 1946 to the present, The Theater of The Sea is family owned and operated in Islamorada, Florida. 

In addition to dolphins, sea lions, sea turtles, sharks, fish, alligators, parrots, feathered friends, and reptiles, visitors can also see dolphins, sea lions, sea turtles, sharks, and fishes.

If you are snorkeling, you have the opportunity to observe the animals on the bottomless boat ride or at the private lagoon-side beach.

In addition, visitors can book an animal interaction program or see shows as part of general admission.

 One of the action-packed packages includes swimming with dolphins so you can observe dolphin behavior and learn more about the species.

Theater of The Sea offers a variety of programs, including Swim with the Dolphin, Express Dolphin Swim, and Ultimate Swim – Wade with the Dolphin.

Meet the Dolphin and Paint with the Dolphin are applications that provide a new environment.

Theater of the Sea offers much more than dolphin swimming programs; it offers shark, sea lion, and stingray encounters as well.

Visiting the Theater of the Sea will be a memorable experience for you and your family.

Miami Seaquarium

The Miami Seaquarium, which is located in Miami, has so much to offer its guests!

The fact that the park is among the oldest maritime parks in the country demonstrates its expertise in providing family entertainment and maintaining a stellar reputation.

The park is home to a wide diversity of marine life species, and with that variety comes a wide array of attractions and vacation packages to pick from!

The most well-liked activity at the Miami Seaquarium is swimming with the dolphins.

The Royal Swim, Dolphin Odyssey, and Dolphin Encounter are a few of the other dolphin-swimming package options.

Each of these interactions lasts for roughly 30 minutes.

If swimming with the dolphins is not your thing, you can choose to book the Meet a Dolphin package. 

Which includes a trainer-led education on all things dolphin and a chance to interact with and feed the local dolphins for about 10-15 minutes.

This park’s main draw is the opportunity for visitors to swim with dolphins, but they also have a tonne of other family-friendly attractions available!

You can choose from a variety of shows during your visit to the Miami Seaquarium, including the Seal Swim, and Penguin Encounter.

Sea Trek Reef Encounter, Shark and Cownose Ray Interaction, touch pools, sightings of Caribbean Flamingos at the park’s entrance, sea turtle exhibits, and more!

Your visit to the Miami Seaquarium is sure to be exciting and instructive with so many opportunities to interact closely with marine life!

Dolphin Research Center

The Dolphin Research Center at Grassy Key, Florida, provides a wealth of information to the numerous visitors who come to learn about the dolphins that are cared for there.

The Dolphin Research Center accommodates more than 70,000 people annually and has staff members.

Who devote their lives to the subject of marine mammal care, education, and research, educate and give dolphin enthusiasts the chance to take part in everything the research center has to offer.  

One of the many incredible benefits of visiting the Dolphin Research Center is swimming with the dolphins.

You will learn more about the dolphins’ behavior as you swim with them and observe them in action.

While the VIP Experience and Researcher Experience continue for roughly 4 hours, the Dolphin Encounter Package and Family Dolphin Splash are usually only 20 to 25 minutes long.

But the Ultimate Trainer of the Day package allows visitors to work with trainers and take part in genuine training sessions with the dolphins.

As well as swim with them, paint them, and assist with feeding if they want to spend the entire day getting to know them at the research facility.

Experience dolphins without getting wet with the Meet the Dolphin, Paint with a Dolphin and Play with the Dolphin programs.

All three give you the opportunity to be close to the dolphins in an interactive way without needing to dive into the water.

You may learn about preservation, how the facility looks after and trains the dolphins, and more while visiting the Dolphin Research Center by attending one of the many educational sessions there.

Fury Water Adventures Dolphin Watch and Snorkel ECO Tour

There are numerous family-friendly activities in Key West, but swimming with dolphins at Fury Water Adventures would truly make your trip one to remember!

The Dolphin Watch and Snorkel Tour gives visitors the chance to see Bottlenose Dolphins in their natural environment and enjoy some of Key West’s most breathtaking vistas.

The party will board a catamaran to travel to the Key West wildlife refuge and the Gulf of Mexico, where they will see, interact with, and learn about bottlenose dolphins.

As part of your experience, you will receive the snorkeling gear you need as well as free cold beer and chilled wine for the return trip.

Use your beverages to toast a wonderful day spent on the lake!

Being the only “Dolphin SMART” destination in the Florida Keys is just one of Fury’s many wonderful features.

Dolphin SMART is a program that focuses on the preservation and ethical observation of dolphins.

By displaying the Bottlenose Dolphin’s natural habitat, Fury not only provides a beautiful experience but also protects the species’ safety and protection.

Water Planet

One of the top offshore dolphin encounter businesses in Florida is Water Planet, which is situated in Panama City Beach, Florida

There is practically no limit to the variety of Florida marine life that visitors can witness because of the freedom of the open ocean.

From lovely birds, fish, turtles, dolphins, starfish, sea urchins, sand dollars, crabs, and a wide variety of other creatures.

The 3-Day Dolphin Swim Program and 1-Week Dolphin Swim Program are just a couple of the outstanding options available to visitors.

Visitors to these two shows gain a broader understanding of dolphins, how they interact with humans, and

Although it is thrilling to swim with wild dolphins, it’s crucial to keep in mind that they are wild animals.

The guides make sure visitors appreciate the dolphins they want to view and swim with, as well as enforce safety procedures and wildlife conservation.

Water Planet promotes getting to know dolphins in their natural environment and realizing that, despite being social animals by nature.

Dolphins are not meant to amuse people and typically dislike being touched.

Unless the animal makes it apparent that is what it wants, visitors are not permitted to pet or interact with the animals.

Even though a dolphin tour at Water Planet is less interactive than one at a facility housing captive dolphins.

There is still plenty of enjoyment to be had and knowledge to be gained from the magnificent dolphins!

Undoubtedly one of the best locations in Florida for dolphin swimming.

Dolphins Plus Marine Mammal Responder (DPMMR)

 DPMMR, located in Key Largo, Florida, has made it its aim to educate visitors and provide fantastic encounters with the animals they care for at the facility while also conserving and protecting marine mammals.

The nonprofit organization provides educational programs, a wide range of them including the opportunity to swim with dolphins.

Before entering the dolphin habitat, participants in the programs intended for people to get in the water and interact with the dolphins receive a full instructional briefing on the anatomy, behavior, and conservation of bottlenose dolphins.

The trainers and staff at DPMMR are available to assist and instruct each visitor so they may spend time with the dolphins in the lagoon safely and to their satisfaction.

The dolphins and trainers will undoubtedly give visitors a remarkable experience whether they choose a private swim or one of the signature programs, Connect to Protect, Splash and Wade, or Splash and Swim.

The “Wheel of Enrichment,” which is used to choose which activity is done with the dolphins, is a list of activities that people can participate in as part of the Enrichment in Action program.

The list of activities on the wheel includes things like giving the dolphins their preferred toys, sprinkling water into the pool so they can engage with it, blowing bubbles for the dolphins, and many more.

This activity offers visitors the ability to get up close and personal with the dolphins even if they aren’t interested in getting wet.

Discovery Cove

Make sure to pack your swimwear if you plan on visiting Discovery Cove in Orlando, Florida.

Discovery Cove is passionate not only about animals but also about providing an unforgettable visit for visitors.

Discovery Cove has fantastic ratings and reviews, so you know the whole family will enjoy their visit.

In Discovery Cove, you can swim with dolphins as part of an all-inclusive resort package, and resort staff and dolphin trainers are on hand to make your experience the best it can be.

Dolphins can be met and all you need to know about them is discovered in a group activity called the Signature dolphin swim.

As soon as the class is over, each group member will have the opportunity to speak privately with the dolphin.

Discovery Cove is never short of excitement! In the Explorer’s Aviary, you can hand-feed exotic birds while wearing a dive helmet while wearing wetsuits, and swimming with sharks.

Additionally, every visitor to the park is free to use a long list of other facilities.

There are many things to see and do in the tropics. Such as swimming in the chilly rivers, floating down a meandering river in the tropics. And cooling down on a sandy beach in Florida.

Dolphin Connection

You won’t forget your visit to the Sunshine State when you experience Dolphin Connection. Just like many other attractions in the Florida Keys!

There are four interactive programs available at Dolphin Connection for everyone to learn about Bottlenose Dolphins.

There are several different dolphin-playing experiences available at the park, but the Royal Swim is the most popular. The Royal Swim allows visitors to spend 15 minutes learning about. And training the dolphins they’ll be swimming with for 30 minutes.

In The Royal Swim, families and friends make lifelong memories through hugs, handshakes, melon rubs, rides, and other games.

The Dolphin Discovery program includes handshakes and other activities. In deeper waters in addition to the activities of The Royal Swim.

Even though you can’t ride dolphins with the Dolphin Encounter package, it’s still a memorable experience.

Guests can take a 3-hour program at Dolphin Connection to learn. What it’s like to work every day with dolphins and how they are taught.

Bottlenose Dolphins are fed, trained, and interacted with by a Marine Mammal Specialist at Dolphin Discovery.

Dolphins Plus

By doing top-notch research and offering some of the greatest educational programs centered on Bottlenose dolphins. Dolphins Plus in Key Largo, Florida has established a solid reputation.

They provide a safe, exciting, and enriching experience swimming with dolphins in addition to providing internships in animal care. And independent research, and hosting educators from all over the world!

The available packages for swimming with dolphins comprise the Signature Swim. Shallow Water Dolphin Encounter, Shadow A Trainer for a Day, and Dolphin Exploration Lab.

Besides the opportunity to frolic with the dolphins, guests can learn about their social practices, reproductive biology, echolocation, and conservation.

Additionally, there is the Meet a Dolphin and Dolphin Dockside package which lets visitors join a trainer on a floating. Dock to explore the anatomy of the dolphins and observe specific behaviors such as poses, handshakes, and belly rubs.

One of Dolphins Plus’s best features is the staff’s obvious love and devotion to the dolphin species.

The staff truly invests time in getting to know each dolphin individually and its characteristics. 

You will be exposed to the various dolphins they care for throughout your visit, including Leo. An 18-year-old Bottlenose dolphin who enjoys mimicking other animals’ sounds and laughing infants.

The youngest female bottlenose at Dolphins Plus, Luna, is considered to be exceptionally kind and courageous. At Dolphins Plus, there are a tonne of more fascinating dolphins to meet and learn about.

Irshad Ali
Irshad Ali
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