We will be visiting Oahu with our 11 yr old son and saw the Dolphin Quest site. Sounds super but is it worth the $$$?? It looks like the basic 20 min. encounter is @$150/person = $450. All feedback welcome!

We did this a few years ago at the (then ) Mandarin Oriental in Oahu. Well, my son did it. He was 11 at the time and did a 2 hour session that included the dolphins and other sea life. He had fun, but he was the oldest kid in the group and got a little frustrated with the much younger kids.

He learned some things and had fun touching the various fish/sea life.....but he didn't have that much interaction with the dolphins. He did, however, learn to call the dolphins and make them flip - which impressed his older brother!!!

Not in my opinion. My 8 yr old did it on the Big Island and even she thought it was just so-so. Main reason, she only spent a very short time w/ the dolphins. However, we went on a snorkel cruise the next day and she still talks about that.

There simply aren't any "good" swtd programs. They are incredibly cruel. No matter how clean or nice it looks, more than half of the dolphins die within 60 to 90 days of their capture.

In order to make an informed decision, please visit:

http://dolphinproject.org/

http://www.hsus.org/ace/11727

(The second site is the Humane Society of the United States' position on SWTD programs.)

In terms of valuable lessons for an 11yr old, a better use of the $450 and the time would be to make a donation and volunteer at a local wildlife rescue operation.

Thanks to all for your honest feedback. We will definitely won't be going.