Swim With Dolphins:
An Ethical & Responsible Guide
Live the bucket list dream.
Encounter one of the most beautiful and charismatic creatures on Earth.
Why Is Swimming with Captive Dolphins Bad?
Sadly, while swimming with captive dolphins seems like a dream come true, underneath the surface, the practice has been shown time and time again to have more sinister implications for the dolphins involved. Psychologically tormented, drugged up with painkillers and antibiotics and forced to do tricks for food, captivity takes its toll on the physical and emotional health of highly-intelligent dolphins.
These beautiful and gentle animals have been known to die by suicide in captivity. Kathy, one of the dolphins that played the well-known and beloved dolphin Flipper, is alleged to have died after she drowned herself. Kathy’s trainer reports how she looked him in the eye, sank to the bottom of the tank, refused to come up to the surface for air and passed away.
Swimming with dolphins in captivity is an unfortunately cruel practice, despite sounding like a genuinely magical experience. That does not mean that you can’t swim with dolphins, however, you just have to do it a little differently.
Further reading on the negative impacts of captive dolphin swims:
How to Ethically Swim with Dolphins
If you want to swim with dolphins ethically, the answer must simply be that you swim with dolphins in the wild, right?
Not exactly.
There is only one way to swim with dolphins ethically and that is to give them complete control over the encounter and experience. The moment you start to dictate the experience is the moment you stray from an ethical encounter, even if you’re swimming with wild dolphins.
Here’s how.
Jumping into water near dolphins can cause them stress, which can:
Separate mothers and calves
Disrupt feeding patterns
Disturb resting dolphins
If you love dolphins, you don’t want to do any of these things. So how do you swim with dolphins without causing them distress or harm? You can follow our easy 5-step guide.
1: Pick the Perfect Place to Swim
Do your research (see below) of the best places to encounter dolphins and travel to a location with a good chance of a wild encounter.
2: Understand the Law
The best places to swim with dolphins enforce strict regulations to safeguard the animals. Learn how to stay on the right side of the law. This may mean you must swim with a regulated tour operator.
3: Find a Reputable Guide
If you aren’t going out by yourself (for example, hiring your own boat to go out and swim with dolphins in the wild) make sure you travel with a reputable swimming with dolphins operator. Look for awards, accreditations and affiliations with conservation groups.
4: Listen Out for Dolphin Sightings
Depending on where you go dolphin sightings are regularly reported by locals or tourism groups, keep an eye on activity and work out when the dolphins are nearby, and where they are. Your tour operator can help you do this.
5: Take a Dive/Snorkel Trip
If you really want to ethically swim with dolphins, the best way to do it is simply go a region where the dolphins have been sighted and swim. Snorkel across a reef, float on the surface, or dive to a wreck and wait for them to approach you.
Do’s of Swimming with Wild Dolphins
DO keep your distance
DO let dolphins come to you
DO stay calm in the water
DO enter the water gently
Don’ts Swimming with Wild Dolphins
Don’t swim with lots of other people
NEVER attempt to touch/ride dolphins
Don’t approach a mother and calf directly
Avoid making erratic movements
Our Golden Rule of Swimming with Dolphins in the Wild
If you want to have an ethical encounter with wild dolphins, follow this rule if nothing else:
NEVER chase a pod of dolphins down and jump in the water.
Locate dolphins at a distance. Enter the water and allow them to swim to you, or swim away from you.
Swimming with Dolphins: Does Species Make a Difference?
Studies have shown encounters with spinner dolphins in the Middle East could be causing their decline. Dolphins in the Red Sea are also seeing similar problems due to the high volume of unregulated tourism.
Other species, such as common and bottlenose dolphins, are known to be more inquisitive and fair better when it comes to human contact and activity.
The species of dolphin you swim with does matter.
Try to avoid swimming with endangered or threatened populations and stick to the confident and coastal bottlenose and common dolphin species, as well as Pacific-white sided dolphin, Indo-Pacific dolphin and dusky dolphin.
Where Can You Swim with Dolphins?
You can swim with dolphins all over the world.
Dolphins are one of the most widespread mammals on Earth. You’ll find them in all oceans and seas, across almost every coastline on our planet. That doesn’t mean you should swim with dolphins anywhere, though.
There are plenty of reasons to avoid certain locations when you want to swim with dolphins.
They are difficult to find or there aren’t many to see
Government regulations makes it illegal to swim with dolphins
Dolphin populations in these areas are threatened and need protecting
Bad practice from poor quality tour operators makes ethical swimming tough
Best Place to Swim with Dolphins
Your dream ethical locations.
The Bahamas
Warm, beautiful and teeming with life. The dolphins of the Bahamas have lived in close contact with people for generations and are confident in their environment.
The Great Barrier Reef
The Australian legend, the Great Barrier Reef is an amazing place to spontaneously encounter dolphins as they explore the reef and hunt for food.
The Azores
The vibrant island of the Azores are accessible but cut off. Home to many whale and dolphin species, there are ample chances for encounter here.
Kangaroo Island
Another Australian legend, Kangaroo Island is famed for its biological diversity including high numbers of dolphins around its lush coastal waters.
Reunion Island
Stunning, isolated and packed with biological diversity, Reunion Island is a fantastic place to swim with dolphins in a way that minimises distrubtion.
Ningaloo Reef
Our final Australian legend, Ningaloo Reef is the up-and-coming rival to the Great Barrier Reef. Found on Australia’s west coast, it’s another great place to swim with blog dolphins and whales.
Finding Dolphin Swim Tours
Finding an ethical and responsible tour operator to help you swim with wild dolphins is always going to be a challenge. At Xplore Our Planet, we recommend Responsible Travel (no affiliation) who pledge to screen all tours and holidays sold on their website prior to listing them.
Where Not to Swim with Dolphins
We recommend that you do not swim with dolphins anywhere that you might have concern for their treatment and ethics. There are lots of locations around the world, such as Panama City or the Red Sea, where tour operators will offer to take you out for guaranteed sightings of dolphins to the mass tourism market. Some may even offer feeding opportunities.
If you are swimming with dolphins in locations outside our recommendations, we can only advise caution and that you use your judgement and follow the guide highlighted in this article to help you make the right choice.
There are plenty of good and responsible operators out there who are looking to offer amazing, beautiful and passive wildlife encounter experiences that allow you to swim with dolphins without hurting them. But, you must be aware there are also many more operators, particularly in unregulated nations, where the ultimate goal is customer satisfaction, and this goes above and beyond any concern for animal welfare.
Swimming with Dolphins: FAQs
Has Anyone Died Swimming With Dolphins? -- Are Dolphins Dangerous to Swim With?
Dolphins are strong and confident animals. They are certainly capable of doing damage or even killing humans but to this date, there has only ever been one recorded fatality at the hands of a dolphin.
The dolphin’s name was Tiao. Tiao became known as a local icon in a Brazilian town after he started interacting with people regularly. Eventually, things got tough for Tiao, however, and people would harass the animal, retraining him for photos and going so far as to forcefeed him beer and stick an ice cream cone in his blowhole. Eventually, Tiao snapped and killed a drunk man who was harassing him at the time.
This is the only recorded death involving a dolphin killing a human. Dolphins are friendly, inquisitive and gentle animals who do not view people as food. Their food chain consists of smaller prey, including squid and fish. Swimming with dolphins is considered very safe. However, this is open water swimming and you’re much more likely to come into problems with rough weather or currents, so be sure that you’re a strong swimmer before you consider swimming with dolphins.
How Much Does It Cost to Swim with Dolphins?
For single day trips you should expect to pay around $100 per person for an excursion out into the wilds with the hope of being encountered by a dolphin. If you’re going for a swim with dolphin holiday experience, which will include multiple trips to increase your chances of a life-changing and ethically-managed encounter, then you’re looking at around $1000 or more.
Do not pay for any excursion or swim with dolphins holiday package that claims that you will definitely encounter a dolphin in the water.
How Do I Go on a Swim with Dolphins Holiday?
As mentioned earlier in the article, when looking for swimming with dolphin holidays, at Xplore Our Planet we recommend you consider travelling with Responsible Travel. This is not an affiliate advertising link and we have no commercial ties to this travel brand. However, with their core emphasis on responsible and sustainable travel opportunities, and their strong list of available trips that include recommended locations such as The Bahamas, The Azores and Australia, they’re a great option if you want to swim with dolphins in the wild and ensure you’re doing so in as ethical and responsible a way as possible.