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I managed to get my daughter certified a couple of years ago but she has since discovered boys and decided that they are far more interesting than fish. Yesterday, out of the blue, she announced to me that she would like to go on a diving trip with me and she expressed a particular interest in seeing dolphins. I have to admit that I have never seen a dolphin underwater so I wouldn't mind seeing a few myself but I have no idea where to go to have the best chance of runing into a pod or two. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Diving out of Kawaihae on the Big Island of Hawaii, dolphins swam with the dive boat a couple of times as it was heading from the harbor to the dive sites. And on one of those dives, I was lucky enough to see a pod swim right in from of me as I was descending. Too far away for a good picture, but it was cool nonetheless.
On a different trip, to Kauai, bottlenose dolphins swam with the boat as we were doing the Na'Pali coast tour. So I'd say Hawaii is a pretty good bet.
My buddy also dove with about 50 spinner dolphins at a site off the Big Island last summer. They circled close enough for some good pictures as the dolphins moved in fairly close, a couple of the shots I've seen they're about 8-10' away. They stayed for most of the dive. I can get the site name if you're interested.
There's also the Dolphin Encounter at Anthony's Key Resort in Roatan or the Dolphin dives with Ocean Encounters in Curacao. Or the UNEXSO Dolphin dives from Freeport, Grand Bahama. None are "wild" though. Although interacting with several Bottlenose dolphins was memorable. I've done the first two, the AKR dive was slightly better - and considerably cheaper.
On both of our trips to the Red Sea, we have encountered pretty large groups of dolphins. We've snorkeled and dived with them. Because it happened two years apart, in different parts of the region, I think it would be fair to say that that's a reasonable place to hope to encounter them.
I've seen 2-3 to up to 40+ at a time on several occasions in Bonaire--between Sand Dollar and Klein Bonaire. Also, have seen them multiple times off Key Largo, Cozumel and Roatan. Invariably, they are a delight when found, but if they were expected, I doubt they would appear.
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Now let's see more CO readings in your trip reports, ok...??
My buddy also dove with about 50 spinner dolphins at a site off the Big Island last summer. They circled close enough for some good pictures as the dolphins moved in fairly close, a couple of the shots I've seen they're about 8-10' away. They stayed for most of the dive. I can get the site name if you're interested.
There's also the Dolphin Encounter at Anthony's Key Resort in Roatan or the Dolphin dives with Ocean Encounters in Curacao. Or the UNEXSO Dolphin dives from Freeport, Grand Bahama. None are "wild" though. Although interacting with several Bottlenose dolphins was memorable. I've done the first two, the AKR dive was slightly better - and considerably cheaper.
How much was the AKR? I know Oceans Encounters charges $242. I forget the name but there is/was a dive shop on the island of Bocas del Toro, Panama do dives in a bay that often has dolphins (wild) in it that will check you out. It wasn't a special dive cost, just a normal dive that we happen to see dolphins. Apparently wild dolphins aren't always that social either. We seen them but from a distance of 50'-75' and not for that long. They did run with our boat for quite a distance though.
On a large pile of smokin' A'a, the most isolated population center on the face of the earth. 2,175 miles to Alaska, 2,390 miles to California; 3,850 miles to Japan; 4,900 miles to China; 5,280 miles to the Philippines.
I often snorkel at Ho'okena (Highway 11, MM 102) on the Big Island of Hawaii. I often have pods of Spinners come up to me and play with leaves that I bring out, in season ... Humpbacks too.
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I saw dolphins while diving only one occasion in the Red Sea. And I saw them near the boat on every trip in Egypt.
By the way my most special dolphin dive was in Israel. We stayed in the northern Red Sea in Egypt and organized a daytrip to Eilat's Dolphin Reef in Israel. Border crossing was interesting, but we had an awesome 45 minutes long dives with some dolphins there. They are not really wild dolphins, but it's a special place. It was a really memorable dive.
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Originally Posted by diversteve
