Discovery Cove, some questions please ?

[Lipz]

So we're booked to swim with dolphins and I wondered for those that have done it if I could ask you some questions please ? What do they give you to wear there ? is is a wet suit ? or a wet suit top ? I'm looking at pics on their site and everyone looks to be in wet suits. If so are they really tight ? Do they supply life jackets for smaller children ? I'm not a swimmer, I'm reading reviews and I'm reading that there are two types of swims a deep water swim and a shallow swim. I'm not afraid of water but I'm now thinking are you brought out to the middle of the water and left there for a bit ? I'm not very good at floating

[mickeyspal]

The wetsuits come in all sizes from small child to xlarge. There's full suits and just jackets and short suits , you choose what you want. The water in the dolphin swim area is cold or colder depends when you go. You do go into the middle but they will ask you how strong a swimmer you are and they act accordingly. It's a fabulous day, you'll really enjoy it

[Lipz]

Originally Posted by mickeyspal

The wetsuits come in all sizes from small child to xlarge. There's full suits and just jackets and short suits , you choose what you want. The water in the dolphin swim area is cold or colder depends when you go. You do go into the middle but they will ask you how strong a swimmer you are and they act accordingly. It's a fabulous day, you'll really enjoy it

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Thank you for that. I'm not huge but I'd be a bit in a tight wet suit good to hear there are options and even better to know they ask about been able to swim, for some reason I kept imagining it was all shallow waters as most of the photos are of people standing in it. I'm grand with water just can't seem to float

[mickeyspal]

You start off in the shallow bit for the first part , stroking and playing with the dolphin and photos , then you go to the middle and ride back holding a fin , they go fast if you are confident or gentle if you arent.

[ally1966]

We were asked if we could tread water before we did the final bit, where you swim holding the dolphin’s fin. DD11 and another little girl in our group said that they couldn’t and the only difference between their experience and everyone else’s was that they weren’t taken out to the deep water in the centre of the pool. They stayed where they could stand comfortably but still got the same length swim as the rest of the group.

We opted for sleeveless jackets rather than wetsuits, you are given the choice.

[sasperella]

I am not a confident swimmer and arthritis in knees so I chose shallow swim. One of the trainers let me hold their arm and walked me to the spot where dolphin comes to you. It was fabulous!
I also wore life jacket vest and they have float jackets and noodles for the other parts when you swim. Not with dolphins I might add.

[Andybear]

Everyone in my group did the shallow swim last year. I wore a wetsuit for the dolphin swim and SeaVenture – legs to just above my knees and arms to my elbows. The sizes go about to about 20 XL. My SeaVenture time was 9.15 and my dolphin swim time was 11.20. After I’d done them I switched to a vest for the rest of the day as they’re more comfortable. It was a really hot day and those wetsuits are like ovens!

[Lulu Belle]

As others have said, you pick your preferred wetsuit, we opted for the vests and the children had full suits. I'm not sure if they provide life jackets for children. My DH held our DD during the talk as she was on her tip toes in the water.
You can choose to do a shallow swim which is still fantastic. Most people in our group did this.