Discovery Cove

[Guest]

I'm sure this has been asked many many times in the past, so sorry in advance.

How does it work at Discovery Cove ? You book a particular day, you just turn up and join some sort of queuing system which means the later you get there the later in the day you get to swim with the dolphins ?

Also if you get to do you swim early, how much else is there to do for the day or how long do people tend to stay ?

Thanks in advance and sorry again for asking something that has been asked 100's of times in the past.

Max

[mandco]

yes you book a specific day you queue when you get there they'll check your id take a photo for your pass and give you your swim time. As a rule the earlier you get there the earlier the swim which is what most people want but you can request a later one if you prefer or if you have booked a extra package you may get a later swim allocated.
Once you've done the swim the rest of the day is yours sun bathe, swim check out the animals/reef its suprising how quickly the day goes. food & drink is available at several locations the main resturant for breakfast /lunch then there are huts for snacks & drinks alcohol I think is available after 11am?
when we've been its closed around 5pm and we usually stay till around 4sih allowing time to queue for photo pick up though you can do that anytime throughout the day

[Pinmac1]

A couple of things to add to mandco's good advice. As he/she says, it is surprising how fast the time goes. We got there at 7.30a.m. and booked our swim time and Sea Venture time, then got sun-loungers in the shade. We then got our wetsuits and had breakfast. By then, it was time for Sea Venture (around 9 am). We then went to see the birds as they are more awake in the morning. Then our dolphin swim and a snack stop. Then the reef until lunchtime. In the afternoon there was more of the reef, the lazy river and the aviary. We were pretty much the last to leave the park after we had got changed and picked up our photos. As we went past the dolphin pool there were 2 or 3 dolphins leaping around playing in the water.

The Sea Venture was great, walking along the bottom of a deep part of the reef with an oxygen-supplied helmet while all the fish swim around you and the sharks swim behind a glass panel.

Last couple of things - the sun-loungers we so carefully reserved at the start of the day we barely used as we didn't have time! Don't forget your passport or driving licence as they note it on your pass and you can't get alcohol without it. We last went in 2012 and when we booked for 2016 this was the first thing the whole family wanted to do again, although we won't be doing the swim again wonderful though it was but we will be doing Sea Venture.

Sorry, this has turned in to an essay but can you guess we really enjoyed the whole day? HTH.

[Guest]

Thank you both, so basically get there early because there is to do once you're there !

Just out of interest where did you get your tickets ?im trawling lots of different sites at the moment and it is soo confusing !

[mandco]

we brought ours from attraction tickets direct as you can pay a deposit to secure your date rather than having to pay in full at the time of booking.
check out the ticket forum as you'll find lots of useful info

[Puffin Owl]

I would also say the day day passes very quickly even though it is at a slow relaxed pace. we planned our day for the middle of our holiday, it was definitely a 'rest' day, we were also one of the last lot out, it was great just watching the dolphins play in the water, we were the only ones watching them... even better!

[Pinmac1]

I bought our tickets directly from Discovery Cove when they had a special offer at Christmas.

[DIBBadmin]

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