Trip report: Cozumel with Dive Paradise and Dolphin Discovery

[DiverJP]

Well, my girlfriend and I just got back from our vaction to Mexico. The diving portion of our trip was awesome! On Monday the 30th, we took the 6AM ferry from Playa del Carmen to Cozumel. On the recommendation of my girlfriend's scuba instructor, we dove with Dive Paradise. We did two boat dives in the morning and one night dive as well. The boat picked us up in the morning from the Hotel Barracuda dock and we dived Palancar Gardens and Punta Tunich. We were able to rent an U/W camera for the day and we each carried it on a dive. This was the first time either of us had ever used a camera underwater, so we'll have to see how the pictures turn out when we get the film developed. We're trying not to get our hopes up, but maybe we managed to record some memories of all the neat marine life that we saw. Saw a barracuda on the second dive! These dives were my first in about a year and were actually my girlfriend's first dives since becoming certified. Her introduction to drift diving went well! (I was somewhat apprhensive about her being a new diver and carrying the camera, but she wanted it, and she carried herself well...) I have no complaints about the boat or dive operator, the crew was attentive, knowledgeable, and helpful. The sliced pineapple (along with other refreshments) between dives was a nice touch. On the way back, the boat was kind enough to drop us at a dock nearby Chankanab Park, where we had plans for the afternoon.
At Chankanab Park, we had arranged to do a dive with the dolpins at Dolphin Discovery. We were shown a brief video, given some simple instructions on what was going to happen once underwater, and then we proceeded out onto the platform to suit up. They requested that we carry enough weight to be sufficiently negatively bouyant that we could kneel on the bottom without moving. We got in the water and descended to a depth of about 18 feet and arranged ourselves in a semi-circle on the bottom. A trainer called over a dolphin and we proceeded to pet the dolphin, do the dolphin kiss, the dolphin cradle, and other activities. Since it was only my girlfriend and I, we were able to do all the activities twice. Not exactly what we were expecting, but all in all, it was a neat and worthwhile experience. I will dutifully log it down as a dive, although it hardly required any of the skills usually employed by scuba divers! (The photo below is one that we purchased from Dolphin Discovery. In it, my girlfriend is "petting" the dolphin and I can be seen kneeling in the background on the far right...)
After the dolphin dive, we had some time to wander around Coz before our night dive. Once again, the boat picked us up at the Hotel Barracuda dock. Same boat (Renegade) with a different crew. We dove Paradise Reef with an entry just as it was getting dark. Saw lots of cool stuff, including crabs, lobster, an eel, and of course, lots o' fish. I just wished that we had saved more film! This was also my girlfriend's first night dive, but once again, she handled herself well and enjoyed the experience. Again, no complaints about the operation or crew. We had two groups in the water, unfortunately, the other group's DM seemed to be rapping his tank for attention for the divers to look at something more than ours, but still, it was really awesome. We finally ended our day in Cozumel and caught the last ferry back to the mainland at 10PM. We had a very busy, very tiring, but very fun day. In the future, we would certainly try to take it at a bit slower pace, but we were on a schedule and had to do it that way this time.
The next day, we dove the cenotes, but I'll post that report in the general Mexico forum...

 

[Martha]

Wow, you had a busy day. Sounds like a great time though! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Christi]

Not to start anything here, but I always like to provide some information for those who get seduced by idea of swimming with the dolphins living in captivity.

Flames are not welcome...I am not passing judgment, only providing information so that people can make informed choices if considering this activity. Many people are simply unaware of the realities.

Marine Mammals in Captivity
http://www.hsus.org/marine_mammals/what_are_the_issues/marine_mammals_in_captivity/

"Why You Shouldn't Swim with the Dolphins"
http://www.hsus.org/press_and_publi.../why_you_shouldnt_swim_with_the_dolphins.html

Arguments Against Captivity
http://www.wdcs.org/dan/publishing.nsf/allweb/975B92D775D79222802568DD0030A3B4

Arguments for Captivity and Against Captivity
http://library.thinkquest.org/17963/captivity.html

Specific to Mexico SWD Programs
http://csiwhalesalive.org/csimexico.html

Local Newspaper Article about DolphinTreatment
http://www.cozumelmycozumel.com/Pages/CozumelNewsArchivesSept14to3004.htm

 

[Christi]

For some reason I can't edit my own post above...wonder why?

Anyway, what I wanted to add was that on the local newspaper article link, you'll need to scroll down to the article entitled "DOLPHINS ONCE AGAIN SUBJUGATED TO PRESSURES OF MOVE"

This is a translated version of the original story posted in the local newspaper after Hurrican Ivan.

 

[DiverJP]

Christi,
Thank you for posting the information above... I was not aware of everything that the articles discussed. Having read all of the information available at the above links, I would simply comment that there are always two sides to every debate and that the information presented seemed for the most part to have an obvious bias. Not neccessarily questioning their validity, but the "realities" presented are obviously intended to evoke a response. I appreciate that you are not passing judgement... Here is what I can share based on my own very limited personal experience at Dolphin Discovery. I do not disagree with the suggestion that profit is a prime motive for such facilities. That much is obvious from the prices that we paid for the experience. We would probably not seek out the same type of experience again. As I said in my earlier post, it was not what we expected. Based on a friend's experience in Cancun, my girlfriend had decided that she really wanted to do the dive with dolphins, so we did it. Now we know. As far as the conditions that the animals live under, I can't really comment other than to say that the "containment" area did seem small (assuming I saw all of it). We did have opportunity to speak for a while with a one of the dolphin trainers, and all of them were either marine biology majors or learning to be marine mammal trainers. Almost nobody working with the dolphins was a local... Most were raised and educated outside of Mexico. We were told that three of the dolphins at the facility were pregnant at the time of our visit. We were also told that that if the dolphins did not feel like "performing," then they would refuse to and would not be forced to. We also questioned about the food supply, and were told that large quantities of fish are shipped in for that purpose. How closely this resembles their natural diet, I am not qualified to say. We were told that the dolphins would hunt some of the small fish swimming around but would rarely eat them. The trainer that we spoke with did seem quite knowledgeable about the dolphins' behaviors regarding breeding and the raising of young. For myself, I am not yet prepared to pass judgement on such facilities from my limited outside perspective. This was my first visit to an "interactive" facility. (I never went to Sea World as a kid...) This does cause me to wonder where aquariums fall out in the debate, because I happen to think that aquariums are really neat places. Anyway, thanks again for posting the above links... As you said, not to start anything...

JP