Swimming With Dolphins at UNEXSO, Grand Bahama

Hello,

Did you have any idea that you could swim with dolphins in Freeport, Bahamas? Neither did I, but was all over it once the opportunity was presented. The Underwater Explorers Society(UNEXSO) on Grand Bahama Island offers the “Dolphin Experience”. This entails getting up close and personal with one, swimming with one for a little while or even going scuba diving with the dolphins. Ended up doing the dolphin swim yesterday and can only say good things about it.

You’ll show up to UNEXSO and from there take a 20 minute ferry ride with a character such as Captain Carl in the photo above. The dolphin sanctuary is inside a canal from the ocean where it’s protected from the elements. What’s cool is that the dolphins are actually there voluntarily and have multiple opportunities daily should they wish to leave. In the end why would the dolphins leave when they get everything they need catered to them?

Have always liked animals and at one time wanted to be a marine biologist but swimming with a dolphin was never on my life list, if I had one. The minute you enter the water and are suddenly approached by such a large and gentle creature, you realize something special is going on. They feel really soft and incredibly powerful, with a gregarious demeanor. I was having relationship issues with my dolphin for the first while and jokes were made by several people.

So I’m cool without a dolphin when out of nowhere, not one but two dolphins show up. Once both those dolphins were in the picture, the activity transformed into an experience. You can dive down and they’ll come with you, hug them and they’ll love it, really smart and friendly creatures. When you’re not swimming with them, they are doing barrel rolls and stuff in exchange for large quantities of fresh fish. Considering the dolphins can come and go should they choose, believe they have hit the jackpot.

It was a solid time and one of those experiences that will have a long shelf life in your memory banks. If you do go, I recommend you go early in the morning. We went at 9am and had only one other group to go on the dolphin swim so we got more time with the dolphins. When we were leaving around mid-day the ferry with another group was coming and it was of a considerably larger. While waiting for the ferry back, say hello to the wide array of exotic birds living on the property.

Big thanks to The Islands of The Bahamas for arranging this on such short notice.

Tips hat,

P.S: I’m leaving tomorrow,  those 5 days quickly melted into a breakfast blurrito.