Swim with the dolphins
 

Are there any swim with the dolphin programs on Oahu?

Not promoting nor have I been but have these sites on "favorites" for future research:

www.HawaiiActive.com
www.sailhawaii.com

There are two: one at the Kahala Mandarin Oriental hotel and at Sea Life Park near Makapu'u Point.

And since it will undoubtedly happen eventually, based on past posts about this activity, I'll be the one this time to ask you to pause before doing this:

Dolphins that are held captive and forced to swim with humans die younger and face unnecessary stress throughout their lives. There has been efforts to ban this activity in Hawaii and other places, although they haven't been successful yet.

There are many studies about the effects of captivity on dolphins' health and lives. Please read a few before indulging.

OK, I'm off my soapbox. I don't mean to offend, just to inform.

Either way - have a great time in Hawaii!

Thanks,
Karen

Just one more thought. Some people don;t seem to realize that these are actually wild animals - not domesticated pets. They are extremely large and powerful - and could easily kill you (by drowning) if they so chose.
(There was a recent incident at - I believe one of the Sea Words - in which a keeper was severly mauled by a performer having a bad day.)

If you;re willing to take that risk- be my guest.

NYT,
That incident involved an Orca.
However, this activity is ill-advised.
M

Just a wee bit of fearmongering here.

There was a trainer who suffered a broken arm after an ORCA attack at Seaworld.

While we can certainly disagree on the ethics of animal captivity, giving the idea that dolphin programs are unsafe to humans is dishonest. Thousands of people participate in dolphin programs safely every year.

BTW, many programs don't allow people to ``swim'' with the dolphins, i.e. grabbing and being pulled. For example, Dolphin Quest on the Big Island puts guests in the lagoon with the animals, bringing them close for education and some carefully limited contact.

Yeah I know what you mean nytraveler. Sea Words can be tough. hehe. Why, I never heard of Flipper attacking a human?! I've been scared of going in the water ever since Jaws came out. My dog loves swimming with the dolphins. Now I got to worry about Flipper? No, I aint taking that risk. Hey, wheres my dog? Pippet!, Pippet! here Pippet!

yeah repete. I just got off the phone with Luke & Tommy and they assured me dolphins prefer captivity over the wild. They get food all the time and aint no sharks to contend with! They hate to sea all their hundreds of friends and family who die each year to discarded nets, illegal fishing, disease, humans, and boats. "Give me Sea World or give me death!"

Let's all welcome Fodor's newest troll.

My post neither endorses nor bashes these operations, it only points out that NYTraveler is either ill-informed or has another agenda disgusted by hype.

make that ``disguised by hype.''