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Dolphins
My daughter is desperate to see dolphins in the wild and would like to swim with them. We realise that swimming with them would mean they are not in the wild, but we are open to either option. We can't really afford to go to US or Mexico, is there anywhere else anyone knows about where we could make her dream come true, but also make a nice family holiday. We have heard about a dolphin in Dingle in Ireland, can anyone verify that he is really seen every day as my husband is understandably loathe to book a summer holiday on the off chance a dolphin might come into the bay
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My brother swam with Fungi (the Dingle dolphin) a few years ago. You have to go out in a boat to see it up close - about 8 euros, but you don't have to pay for a no show. I'll get more details off him when he comes back from holidays about the frequency of Fungi's visits; but you'll hardly go to Kerry for just one night. Easyjet fly into Cork or Shannon, so you'll want to hire a car. Ireland is fantastic for family holidays, you'll be back again and again!
I typed - fungi dolphin - into google and got
www.net-rainbow.com/fungi.html
I don't know if the link will work, but if I found it anybody can!
I believe that you can see Dolphins up on the Moray Coast in Scotland. Wouln't fancy swimming with them in the cold North Sea but for a less expensive trip in Britain it might be worth a visit. Try www.highlanderweb.co.uk/dolphins
Authorities in Tenerife are tightening up on regulations about swimming with wild dolphins (or the resident Short Finned Pilot Whales). This is also happening at other sites where dolphins are known to be present - the general consensus is that the animals can become stressed, as unfortunately, pods are often chased by groups of boats determined to force them to interact.
There used to be a place in the Red Sea - Nuweiba I think, where a local boy had "tamed" some dolphins, and snorkelling in the bay almost guarenteed an encounter, but I don't know if this is still going on - again, I think the practice was becoming frowned upon.
There are a couple of sites in the Red Sea that have resident pods of dolphins, but I have only visited them on liveaboard dive boats - I think they may be too far off shore for normal day trips.
The problem is, with wild animals, nothing is definate - they don't turn up on command. You can only be certain of an encounter with captive dolphins and unfortunately, these are usually at a premium price.
HTH
We were in Gambia two years ago - a brilliant place to go for a holiday and very cheap. You can take a river trip to see dolphins and you can also swim in the river. We weren't lucky enough to swim with the dolphins on our trip as we took the 'Roots' tour which only allowed a 20 minute swim although they did accompany the boat on the way up the river. I'm sure you'd be able to book a private trip to the river to enable your daughter to see the dolphins and get in the water with them.
I went to the moray firth a couple of years ago in early summer and we saw loads of dolphins and there was also lots of other good things to do on the days you didnt want to go dolphin wathcing. I Know there is an adopt a dolphin scheme (WDCS- is the name) and most of their dolphins populate the moray firth.
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