A Day at Discovery Cove

One of the most special days out we have ever experienced in Orlando was the day we went to Discovery Cove.

Don’t let the price put you off – it may sound expensive but it is worth absolutely every penny.

There are only 1,000 guests allowed in each day and there is plenty of room for you all. You have to make sure that you book your places in plenty of time, we booked twelve months in advance, and there are limited numbers allowed for the Dolphin swim experience. Don’t worry if you can’t swim - you can still participate in all the activities as there are plenty of life jackets available for you to borrow.

When you first arrive you have to book in and you are given your time for your dolphin swim. We arrived early so that we could get one of the morning swims but that was just our personal choice. Once you have your time and your passes you are taken by a guide through to the Resort. You have a complimentary photograph taken which you can pick up later in the day, and then you are taken along to your changing area where you are kitted out with towels, mask and snorkel, wet suits etc… One tip I would give is to have a knee length suit instead of just the wet jacket as it is rather chilly when you are in the dolphin pool and you can always swap to the jacket after.

The park is absolutely beautiful. There is an abundance of palm trees, tropical plants, the sand is white and soft with hammocks and sunbeds for you to use, and the peace and serenity you feel is so refreshing after the excitement and business of the other Parks.

Before your dolphin swim you attend a short meeting in your designated thatched beach cabana where you are met by two of the dolphin trainers who show you a short film and tell you what is going to happen.

The dolphin swim itself is amazing. You are put in groups of about eight people and your trainer take you perhaps waist deep into the dolphin lagoon where you meet “your” dolphin. Our dolphin was a young male called Diego (he came originally from San Diego) and you are introduced one by one to him. We all stroked him and fed him with little fish and the trainer told us all about him and his habits and what he liked to do which was to play mostly! He was so beautiful and velvety you just fell totally in love with him. The trainers are really good with children, and made such a fuss of our son, letting him have extra cuddles with Diego and helping with other little tricks. We all had a kiss off Diego as well which was an experience in itself.

For the main event we all swam out to a deep part of the dolphin lagoon, held onto Diego (one by one) and had a short but thrilling ride being pulled into shallow water by him. The look on our son’s face was one that I will never, ever forget, it was so blissfully happy.

Once the dolphin swim was over we had the rest of the day to ourselves.

Our other favourite part of the park was the Coral Reef where you get to snorkel in lovely warm water with teeming tropical fish – the colours are fantastic! There are huge sting rays who sit at the bottom of the pool and you can snorkel down to them through all of the other brightly coloured fish. You can also swim up to sharks and barracudas but don’t worry, they are partitioned off with a plexiglass wall so you are quite safe.

There is also a Ray Lagoon where you can paddle amongst southern rays and cownose rays.

There is a Tropical River where you can also snorkel through caves and tunnels. There is a part with sunken ruins and also an underwater viewing section where you can see into the Coral Reef.

There is a big aviary to visit where there are what seems like hundreds of tropical birds. You can find guides throughout to answer any questions you may have and you can also feed the birds (unless you are squeamish about holding maggots which I am). The guides give you a handful of “food” and the birds are so tame that they will come and sit on your hand and eat. Our son stood still feeding some birds and ended up playing host to birds sitting on his head and shoulders waiting for their turn to feed!

Dinner is provided for all guests at the Laguna Grill. There is a hot and cold buffet and the food is delicious. You can buy drinks and snacks throughout the day at the little shops situated here and there but they are quite expensive.

Before you leave don’t forget to collect any photographs you have ordered of your day and your dolphin swim. Again these are very expensive but worth the cost as it really is an experience of a life time.

I hope you have as wonderful a time as we did.