Swimming with Dolphins: An exhilarating adventure
From our archives, Spring 2018
After two hours on the water, we’ve all but given up on seeing dolphins, when suddenly our guide, Lorenzo Bini of Deep Blue Dive signals from the front of the boat. In a few minutes, we see them too.
Hundreds of spinner dolphins are on the move, swimming, rolling, gliding and jumping off the coast of Puerto Escondido. Their pointed fins are breaking the surface, spray is shooting up from their blowholes and they are playfully flicking their tails. It is a magical sight.
Excitedly, everybody stands up as the boat follows the pod of dolphins. We see spinner dolphins of all sizes, including small babies, half the size of the adults they are swimming beside. At first, the dolphins seem uninterested in our presence, continuing on their way like we aren’t even there.
It takes a few minutes to catch up with the pod, but soon the majestic mammals are swarming around the boat, gliding beside it, or zigzagging back and forth in front of it. Some begin showing off, hurling themselves out of the water and spinning like torpedoes before splashing back down on the surface. It is like they are playing with us and saying 'Look at me!''
I cannot contain my excitement when Lorenzo asks if I want to jump in and swim with these beautiful creatures. Within seconds I’ve got my snorkel mask on and I’m hanging off the side of the boat by a thin rope.
The dolphins are everywhere and they are dancing in front of my eyes. Their graceful grey bodies glide around me and in front of me, weaving back and forth as I stare in awe and wonder.
The water is crystal clear and the dolphins are swimming, spinning, jumping and playing. They are so close I could reach out and touch them — but I don’t. I’m clutching desperately to the rope with both hands as the boat drags me along and I’m trying to remember to breathe, avoid getting water in my snorkel and contain my excited squeals all at the same time.
No matter what happens, I can’t take my eyes of the dolphins. I’m mesmerized by their beauty. I can even hear them talking to each other, a highpitched squealing noise that makes my skin tingle with excitement. I’m in their world now.
When I hoist myself back onto the boat I can’t stop smiling. There is an indescribable feeling of joy; the exhilaration of getting so close to these astounding creatures, gliding along beside them in their natural environment.
On the tour, we get to see plenty of ridley turtles and a few seabirds, including pelicans diving for fish in the shallows as we return to shore. But the highlight, of course, is witnessing so many dolphins up close and being able to jump in the water to swim right beside them. For a few minutes, I became part of the pod and this is something I will never, ever forget.
