Shared Dolphin Encounter in Mauritius

Posted By : Richmohammed
Pascal and Vic were great guides! They were very knowledgeable about the dolphins and respected them. It was very easy to find a pod of spinner dolphins. It was an experience of a lifetime! My wife was able to swim with her favorite animals in the wild. The visibility wasn’t the greatest but we were still able to see many dolphins both above and below the surface
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Posted On : 2023-10-26

Posted By : RicoChristensen
The company itself, Dolphin Encounter, was fine. We felt safe and were given size-appropriate life jackets, and a safety briefing at the start. The company was well-organised and the trip took off on time. While the skipper of Dolphin Encounter didn’t chase the dolphins, we cannot say the same for the 23 other boats operating at sea. It was a huge disappointment to see other skippers literally chasing dolphins to get close—sometimes dangerously close to the dolphins, other boats, and swimmers. It was also highly disappointing to see tourists jumping in the water at the very first sight of a dolphin, sometimes literally ON TOP of the dolphins. It wasn’t anything against the tour company. However, we deeply regretted going on this tour, and hope that someone within the Mauritian tour industry and/or ministry will do more to regulate these excursions. We’ve been on several wildlife trips over the years, and this was by and far the one we regret the most.
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Posted On : 2023-06-30

Posted By : 565merim
We thoroughly enjoyed our trip with Dolswim, as they were recommended as one of the few animal -friendly tour companies to offer this experience. We got briefed on safety and the habits of the dolphins, everyone got a life vest, and when we went out to see the dolphins they didn't chase them down or come to close them to them. We all got to swim with them 2-3 times, 2 people at a time, better than other boats who send out whole crowds (without life vests). I'm really glad they care about the animals and wish other tour companies did the same. We also loved the snorkeling at the reef as there were different fish there than closer to the shore. We didn't get any breakfast though.
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Posted On : 2023-06-02

Posted By : peterlB1568PK
Had a great trip with Patrice and Stewart to see the dolphins, on our day we saw a huge pod of spinner dolphins including some young ones. We were up early to meet them and headed out after a safety briefing and explanation of the dolphins habits etc and what we would be doing. We were lucky enough to find them off of La Mourne and could jump in with snorkels and swim with them. We spent an hour with them and then headed back with a stop for some more snorkeling on the edge of the reef to see some of the fish that hang out there. All in all a great trip.
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Posted On : 2023-03-25

Posted By : Pam_W
Seeing the mink whales and snorkelling was great. Really disappointed to see so many people on other boats chasing the dolphins who were not feeling social because they had a baby. No respect for nature and it's beauty.
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Posted On : 2023-03-24

Posted By : Jared_C
Great trip swimming with dolphins, a fast motor boat, good weather includes snorkeling! Thanks so much!
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Posted On : 2023-01-02

Posted By : debral934
An amazing trip and achieved a personal dream.The two guys with us (22 Nov) were excellent, one held my hand so I cold snorkel with the dolphins underneath me 3 times. I will never forget this experience and it is all down to these two guys and the company. I decided to write this as I rad some negative reviews, ignore them and just do it. These guys guys respected the dolphins,( we moved on to an area where there were only a few boats ) gave us life jackets, not all companies do this and a brief talk about our trip. We had time to see some fish afterwards. Thank you so much.
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Posted On : 2022-11-21

Posted By : J5991JZclaireh
Just returned from the 7am dolphin chase with 10 other boats. One other couple on our boat who for some reason got to go in the sea 4 times but we only had 2, only one of those times actually seeing any dolphins which i dont think was very fair at all. There were far too many boats all chasing the same pod so im not surprised they were all diving deeper to avoid us all. On the plus side, the staff were very good, especially pasqal who took our sons hand and helped ease his nerves. We were the only boat wearing life jackets and the only boat not to get too close to the dolphins which i saw as a good sign, just a shame we werent all given equal time in the sea. You meet on the beach so theres nowhere to get changed, luckily theres a toilet on board. The maritius government really need to start doing something about this dolphin chase before one gets hurt. We have been swimming with dolphins in several places all over the world and i have never seen such disregard for their wellbeing as i did this morning by the other boats (not dolswim).
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Posted On : 2022-08-01

Posted By : David_S
We left early in the morning to see and swim with the dolphins. The crew was very motivated and ambitious to find them. We were lucky and could swim with the dolphins. The boat was not too big with a capacity of 10 people max. Of course this is one of the main tourist attractions of Mauritius and therefore there are many boats around to see the dolphins.
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Posted On : 2022-05-22

Posted By : sandbanksboy
I chose Dolswim as Lonely Planet said they were unlike other operators and they were dolphin encounter sensitive and considerate etc. I could have chosen another tourist packed speedboat for a lot less money in fact. They had 3 boats out the day I went out and basically just joined the other dozen or so by a small pod. The intro talk did not indicate this at all .Its obviously easier than searching and wasting fuel by finding your own pod. Be aware it is not at all possible to swim with a dolphin, they are like a bullet and have twenty humans in snorkels jumping in close to them shouting and squealing! Dolswim say they are different from others as only 2 plus a "guide" enter the water at a time. 4 boats x 3 is still 12 and pointless as other boats allow the whole boatfull to go in together. the snorkelling on the reef later was ok though!
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Posted On : 2022-02-24