Discovery Cove

As promised I wanted to share a bit about our unbelievable day swimming with the dolphins at Discovery Cove during our recent trip to Florida. DC is affiliated with Sea World but is its own exclusive day resort, offering an all inclusive dolphin and sea life excursion.

This was truly a day for our big girl and I know some of you wondered why we did not spend more time at Disney proper; for years Lauren has been dreaming of a swim with dolphins and while many kiddos yearn for Disney, our budding pint sized marine biologist had her heart set on this experience from the time she was very little. Tyler was too little for the swim(you must be aged 6 or older) so he spent a glorious day basking in the attentions of Mimi & Papa at our resort. And oh yes, we will be anxious to return to Disney again someday to see much more!!

AND what an experience it IS. Located near Sea World, its tucked away and extremely private, offering a white sand beach, cabanas, water falls and caves to swim in and explore, an exotic bird aviary lagoon accessible by water, a large salt water pool for snorkeling with sting rays and schools of tropical fish and a smaller sting ray pool where you can touch and experience them close up. Part of our fees included our snorkeling gear, wet suits and our meals, snacks and beverages for the day. It felt like an extravagant and first class day from the moment we arrived till the moment we reluctantly left. But more importantly it felt like we were part of something special ~ a conservation effort to preserve these incredible creatures and mammals and to (where possible) return them to their natural habitat ~ the oceans ~ when feasible.

For years, but mostly before kids ( BK for short! LOL ) Scott and I have been avid snorkelers and we wondered privately how Lauren would do in wetsuit, swimming with a mask and snorkel. Many of the adults around us were experiencing some initial anxiety in the waters and we watched with nervous caution to see how our girl would do. She did incredibly well!! She took to it with no qualms and within a few minutes was spitting into her mask ( it reduces fog ya know!) like a pro and gliding through the water eager to explore.

Our dolphin swim was scheduled for later in the afternoon, so we had many hours to snorkel in the fresh and salt water pools. I'm not certain if our snorkel etiquette was at its best, but swimming beside Lauren, witnessing her awe, amazement and glee at glimpsing gigantic string rays and schools of tropical fish below and around us, was something I will always treasure. She spent more time bobbing up and down excitedly to make certain that Mommy had seen the 6 foot wingspan of a Southern Ray or Lemon shark ( viewed underwater BUT through a protective glass!!) than actually gliding, but for me that was part of the wonderful experience of sharing the day and there was always another spectacular site to see up ahead IF one or two of the creatures swam away(quickly )in the wake of her abundant enthusiasm! *smile*

Our day just zoomed by and soon it was time for to meet our dolphin trainer and small group for our swim. They go to great pains to ensure that folks are properly educated and prepared and the dolphins treated with care and respect ~ even down the special (non harmful ) sunscreen provided to us for the day. As our time neared to head to the actual dolphin cove we were told that there was a delay ~ it would seem that our dolphins were taking an unexpected break and since they are never forced to work ( nor should they be!) we all waited anxiously for our turn.

As luck would have it and as a result of this unscheduled break, our group of 7 were fortunate to meet 2 different dolphins ~ one a young mother ( we could glimpse her calf too off in the distance) and one an incredibly rare breed of dolphin ~ the "tween" C.J.! No cameras are allowed and the water was chilly which is best for the dolphins. Little Lauren was standing in shoulder deep water, shivering and shaking but honestly I don't think she even noticed her discomfort! One at a time we were allowed to touch, kiss (unbelievable!!) and feed these amazing and highly intelligent creatures. Our visit culminated with each of us swimming out, holding on to a fin and being swam back in beside these strong, breathtaking dolphins! Some of us worried it might be too taxing for the dolphins to carry our weight, but our instructors laughed and assured us they could, if desired, probably carry us all en mass ~ and for those who get twinges ( like I sometimes do at zoos, etc.) about animals in captivity I can assure you that each dolphin in residence was either rescued and unable to be returned safely or was born in captivity and again would not survive alone in the wild. Dolphins are very loyal to their families/pods and this was evident to us all during our visit. We were also told that the average life span of a dolphin in the wild is 25 years ~ the oldest living dolphin ( and the largest!) at DC was 45 and absolutely the alpha male! :)

Its honestly hard to even describe our experience and its something I think we will all keep with us forever. Something very unexpected was C.J.'s extra attention on Lauren, which surprised even the trainers. At one point he was swimming by each of us giving each guest a high five(fin) when he abruptly stopped in front of Lauren and began clicking and spraying a light water mist through his blowhole. For just a moment Laure froze, a bit uncertain ( these are powerful creatures after all) and then it was like 2 kids finding each in a crowd ( the way kids always seem to be able to do) and she smiled and clapped and C.J. waved his fin and raised himself up and did a little jig. Even the trainers were watching silently and later one mentioned a dolphin's incredible ability through echolocation to be able to tell size, mass, possibly even age and other specific traits of folks and other sea life in the water and speculated that he knew perfectly well she was the only other child in that lagoon with him and he wanted to play! I also personally wondered if he intuited her deep love and passion for dolphins ( and really all animals) and recognized her awe, joy & respect. Who knows, but it was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was a moment we will never forget.

Yikes ~ this is turning out long ( again ) and I don't really feel my description has done our day justice. I will share that our package included our admission into both Sea World and Aquatica Water Park ( both of which Tyler COULD attend )making it a triple delight for our budding scientist! How blessed we felt that we could tailor this trip a bit for Lauren this time around and we would not have traded away a single moment.

Most of our pics from that day were taken with our water camera and did not scan well. But I can share the ones taken with the dolphins that we purchased on site and a few others taken with our regular camera.

Look at that joy............Lauren has this photo hanging in her room and treasures it above all others. This is the Mama dolphin and she was sweet as sugar & very patient with us all! She kept sneaking glances at her baby who was nearby and she melted my heart with her nurturing tendencies.

Our family photo with young C.J. ~ can you see how spirited and exuberant he was?!? He is so rare there are only 2 of his kind known to exist in the world!

Our sweetheart taking a break from the wetsuit and snorkel to enjoy the natural pools.

And cuz I just can't leave him out ~ and yes we missed him that day!! ~ here is Ty sunning himself at Cocoa Beach a few days after our dolphin excursion.

P.S. YES, this IS the very same excursion as seen on Kate Plus 8. *LOL* So many folks have asked us and then sheepishly add that they don't really watch, but wanted to see how the kids had grown! :) I don't watch either (and we were in Florida when the episode aired) but they confirmed at Dolphin Cove that it was one and same! Thought it might be fun to share that bit of info.!!