hi

can people help me, i have been advised that there is a hotel in bali which have dolphins that you can swim with and their own zoo? has any one been there, and does any one know the name of the hotel, i beleive it is in the lovina area? i have always wanted to swim with dolphins and want to know if any one on here has been to this place and what their veiws of the experience is, also does any one know the aproximate cost and how far it is to travel there from seminyak (as we are staying at contiki bali)

i also understand there are several elephant sancturys, which you can pay to ride elephants, has any one been to one of these, and which one would be considered the better one to go to (ie that the animals are well looked after, etc)

any assistance would be appreicated

I have never heard of that type of dolphin zoo in Bali. However (and not to sound blunt) if you really cared about dolphins, you would not want to support this kind of operation, the majority of which are known for keeping dolphins in unnatural, unhealthy environments.

I should add that if you want to see dolphins in their natural environment, many places in Lovina on the north coast of Bali can take you out in the morning on a small boat to see them.

I agree with cruisin about dolphin zoos - I do not know of any in Bali - the dolphin tours in Lovina that cruisin referred to leave in the early morning - no guarantees though - I did it and did not see any. The cost from Lovina is next to nothing (US $15 if you reserve through your Lovina hotel and much less if you book directly). It would be difficult to do this from Seminyak as it is a long ride from there.

I would not do elephants on Bali - they are imported from elsewhere and the price is steep relative to other activities.

The hotel in Bali that has the dolphins is Melka Hotel Lovina. It is a sad place, with the dolphins in small pools. They also have other animals in small cages. Recently there was talk of them giving up their permit to keep animals because they were being hassled so much by activist tourists...mostly with good reason. The only thing is, the alternative living arrangements for wild animals in Indonesia is equally bad or worse. At any rate, I wouldn't recommend it at all.

Taro Elephant Park outside of Ubud might be your best bet for elephants. There are no elephant sanctuaries in Bali...they are all businesses run for profit. Of the few there are, Taro seems the most organized and with healthiest elephants. Elephants are not native to Bali; most come from Sumatra.

If you want to swim with dolphins, that isn't the place to do it. If you do, you will have that feeling in the pit of your stomach that tells you its not exactly the right thing to be doing. The only place that" I" feel its an ok thing to do is in the bahamas. My wife and I go there for work often(don't feel too sorry for us!), and there is a place that has a huge pen for the dolphins to stay in, but here's the thing, they don't have to if they don't want. Its an open pen to the ocean and they can come and go as they please. They usually always stay in the pen at night and then follow the boat out to sea in the morning then follow it back. They are never forced to do anything like give rides, but they do swim around you as you snorkel. If you can find the same type of thing in bali go for it! Also when you see the elephants you will probably decide that's not a good idea either. I could be totally wrong, these are just my thoughts.

thankyou everyone for the assistance, i appreciate it