LOL, I know what you thought when you clicked on this topic

But some folks just came back from Negril and for the day they went to Treasure Beach, hooked up with Captain Dennis, and took his boat to Pelican Bar. I'd told them beforehand that they would probably see dolphins, it was this they went for (they didn't even go up Black River)

Well they saw them. Lots of them. And they put on snorkels and jumped in.

The dolphins let them get about 7 feet away, they said.

Best of all, they took pictures of their trip:

http://community.webshots.com/user/strikesystems

...and described the sound of dolphins underwater for me: "Not only could you hear them, it was really quite loud and clear. You just heard these noises coming from everywhere.
It's like a very high pitch sound with a very fast clicking in between; similar to taking the end of a table knife and dragging it quickly down the side of a big metal zipper. Where each little zipper notch makes an individual noise."

I thought that was so cool. I've done this trip a couple of times but we've always stayed in the boat and that was incredibly cool, jsut to have wild, free dolphins come play with us like that. These photos and his story just made me smile today so I thought I'd share.

(other pics in the album are Sunset at the Palms in Negril, 3 Dives, the Office of Nature and sights to and around Treasure Beach).

Very cool pictures! We've been wanting to do Western Caribbean, and I'll make a note to go to Treasure Beach.

Ah, home///
photos #62-66 in this series of shots
taken with Dennis Abrahams from Calabash Bay to Pelican Bar
show wild dolphins off Black Spring Point and Billy's Bay Beach with villas
La Casa Duna and Rainbow Tree in
background.

...and on 21 Feb this will be
Marion's view,too.

How cool!! Thanks for sharing the dolphin picutes with us Liza.

Christie

Thanks for sharing those, Liza. Though we didn't try getting into the water with the dolphins, seeing them cavort around our boat on the way to the Black River was a highlight of our stay. When are you heading back to TB?

thanks for sharing those pictures.
very cool!
these people had the right idea.
look for dolphins in the wild!
there is nothing so thrilling!
I wish more people would realize that instead of frequenting those horrible faciltiies that use captive dolphins for show!

Yay! Oh my gosh, the photos gave me chills. How exciting! We have seen wild dolphins before several times, but they really had a super encounter. Amazing.

(I think that guy has the only Bob Marley t-shirt my husband doesn't own.)

Those pics make me want to pack up and head back to Jamaica.

It looks like they had a really good time, and totally got into the irie island vibe. I love pics like that.

Liza, ME think I was going to be providing the Humane Society links advocating against the swtd programs again?

I love your description of the sound!

Once we saw a pod near our boat (Gulf of Mexico), turned off the motor and just sat absorbing them. The air was filled with the zipper and clicking sounds, and also the whooosh sound of their snorting out water. Unforgettable.

Tivertonhouse, LOL,

I did wonder, as I looked at the pictures, if Marion was staying in any of the villas in the background

Liza - wonderful pictures thanks for sharing.

One other place is Anthony's Key Resort on Roatan, Honduras, a 1 and 45 minute non-stop flight from Miami. They have a research center and the 16-20 dolphins are not treated like a tourist attraction. The day we went with the dolphins there were 4 guests swimming with 10 dolphins but there could be up to 10. It was an experience of a lifetime for my wife. For scuba divers they take a dolphin out 1/4 mile into open ocean and the divers really have a ball with the dolphin. The only regret is they take 1 dolphin with 7-8 divers.
The resort (ask for island cabins 48-52) are quite nice, very clean and A/C. The food is good considering its location and you buy a package which must include the 3 meals. A discount is applied for a 1 week stay.The snorkeling has spots that rival St. John and some of the better reef spots of Belize. It's an option and less commercial and less expensive by maybe 20% than the Caribbean but it is not roughing-it.By the way, we have gone twice 2002-2004 and will return probably in 2007.

Amen to the post regarding finding dolphins in the WILD! I did a search to find sites to do just that and unfortunately found mostly places that use them in captivity to make $$. Since they use sonar, being in captivity freaks them out. One article I read said that Jacques Cousteau was so firmly against it after seeing a dolphin kill itself by constantly banging it's head on the inside of a "tank". Sad. The best we can do is never patronize these "businesses" and better yet, spread the word, put it out there. Some people just don't realize how much they are hurting the dolphins by funding these cruel "sideshows". Kind of like the circus, but underwater. Cruelty apparently knows no bounds.
Sorry for the rant..

O2BCarib,

Don't worry you're in good company here, we're trying to educate the people we know who think this is a good idea.

My sister and her family were due to do their 2nd 'swimming with the dolphins' in Florida until I sent her a link that showed that while this might be fun for the guests it was no fun for the dolphins.

She canceled, I've sent her this link hopefully she will visit Jamaica soon

Stan ...? I thought the dolphins at Anthony's Key are indeed captive dolphins ? Unless they recently changed ? Curious .

Glad you all enjoyed them, i know I did!

ej, we will be in Treasure Beach in April. We have 15 nights in Jamaica, the first 10 in Negril (music festival, work, kind of) then 5 nights to do as we please. I'd like to spend a little time in TB but I also want to get to Alligator Pond and the Blue Mountains and drive "the Alps" in between. So we may be on the move more than parked in TB.

15 nights in Jamaica? Lucky you! Music fest in Negril sounds fun. What kind? I've mentioned the Calabash literary fest to my husband and we think it would be nice if we could time our next visit around that.

Music fest is US bands, one of whom I do some work for (ekoostik hookah). "Jambands", primarily at this fest, should be plenty of hippies in Negril that week

Calabash would be great fun! Rebel Salute is a reggae fest in the same area I've wanted to go to, it's near Alligator Pond and always seems to have a really good lineup.

Awesome pictures! Thanks for sharing!!

The dolphins at Anthony's Key on Roatan, Honduras are captive but in an area that gives them almost "real" living conditions. Plus, they take them daily out into open waters near the research center.

Diana, I have a follow-up question for you about the article in your last post. Do you know the reasons that the Humane Society wanted the dolphins sent to the establishment in the FL Keys? Are the facilities there really any better than elsewhere, or is it just that it is federally licensed and/or part of the US, so "therefore it must be okay if it's government-run" kind of thing?

I've heard a little bit about that place in the Keys--that it's both a rehab and research place--but I don't know enough to have an informed opinion.