A Dolphin At the Dolphin Cay Area Posing For a Photo After His or Her Work Day Was Done - August 4, 2010
The Dolphin Cay experience at Atlantis Resort On Paradise Island In Nassau Bahamas is one of the big highlights on the Atlantis website. It looks really cool, it sounds really cool, you get to swim and interact with dolphins in the water right? All in all you are in the water where the dolphins are for about 30-45 minutes. The whole Dolphin Cay experience lasts for about an hour and a half but at least 50% of that time is preparing for the experience – learning a little bit about dolphins, getting your wetsuit, putting your gear in the lockers, posing for very expensive photos not included in the roughly $200 it will cost to experience Dolphin Cay and enjoying your “complimentary” beverage after the event in the Dolphin Cay locker room area.
The Entrance To Dolphin Cay At Atlantis Bahamas Resort - August 4, 2010
The Dolphin Cay area is just a quick walk from The Cove Atlantis and a little farther from the other hotels in Atlantis. When you first walk over you are greeted by a friendly staff eager to get you setup and ready to enjoy your experience in Dolphin Cay. Once you get through the greeting and gathering area you move onto the locker room area where you’ll get your wetsuit, snorkel and mask. There are no fins used in the Dolphin Cay experience. You’ll get this little battery powered scooter thing to propel yourself around in the “swim with the dolphins” part of the experience.
The Dolphin Cay Registration Area At The Dolphin Cay Experience At Atlantis Bahamas Resort - August 4, 2010
Once you are outfitted with all your gear there is a short presentation about the dolphins and Dolphin Cay where you learn a number of them (about 
were swept away by Hurricane Katrina, rescued and brought to the Dolphin Cay area. It is a short video and you can ask whatever questions you have about Dolphin Cay and what you are about to experience. From there you move on to head out to the water for either the “push” experience or the “swimming with the dolphins” experience. This particular group started out with the “swimming with the dolphins” experience.
Adam Jewell In the Dolphin Cay Wetsuit Ready To Go Swim With the Dolphins - August 4, 2010
To get started you get a little water scooter. It’s about the size of a medium sized fan you’ve have around your house or office. It is a little buoyant as is the wetsuit you are wearing so you don’t really need to be able to swim to experience Dolphin Cay but you will be more comfortable if you can swim. Once you get the scooter you follow the trainer out into deeper water (10-15 feet at most) and start swimming with the dolphins. On this particular day it was one dolphin the group was swimming with. The trainer instructs you not to touch the dolphin but if it decides to make contact with you then just go with it.
Part of the Atlantis Dolhin Cay Pool Area Where The Dolphins Play and Perform - August 4, 2010
With the buoyant wetsuit, the limited power of the scooter and no fins it is a little difficult to dive down very far in the water. Chances are the dolphin will be within your view 50% or less of the time you are going through this part of the event. You’ll have about 15-20 minutes to watch the trainer swim and play with the dolphin, swim around with your scooter and cool of in the deeper water where the dolphins swim and play in Dolphin Cay at Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas.
The Atlantis Dolphin Cay Viewing Area Where Friends At Family Can Watch The Action - August 4, 2010
The next part of the Dolphin Cay experience is the “Dolphin Push” where the dolphin come up behind you and pushes you across the Dolphin Cay pool. In order to go through this part of the experience you take a boogie board, hold onto the end of it and swim out into the deeper water. The trainers then slap the water and get the dolphin to come out into the middle of the deeper water and give you a push across the Dolphin Cay pool area.
The Beach And Lagoon Where The Dolphins At Dolphin Cay Swim and Play - August 4, 2010
The push you get depends on both you and the dolphin. The dolphin is of course a dolphin, a living temperamental creature so it may give you a good hard push all the way across the deep water area, a series of small pushes and make take a while to get in gear. In order to get the maximum push you need to keep your legs straight and feet tight so the dolphin has a good surface on which to push. The dolphin provided a series of light pushes followed by one big rush at the end that might be equivalent to what you would feel from a pull on a knee ski rope.
The Pool To the Left Is Where The Dolphin Cay Advenure Took Place At Atlantis Bahamas Resort - August 4, 2010
Once everyone in the group gets their “push” the final phase of the Atlantis Dolphin Cay experience is the photo op that involves the “dolphin kiss” and the “dolphin hug”. this is as much an opportunity for Atlantis to get photos of you to sell you after the experience is over as it is something for you to experience. Cameras are not permitted past the locker room when you are going out to the Dolphin Cay experience, possibly so the dolphins don’t eat them and definitely so Atlantis can up sell you a photo package after your experience.
An Atlantis Dolphin Cay Dolphin Practicing the "Kiss" or "Hug" Pose With No Trainer In Sight - August 4, 2010
For the kiss you cup your hands in front of you as you kneel in shallow water. The dolphin comes up, puts its snout in your hands, you lift it up a little bit and give it a kiss as the Dolphin Cay photographer captures the moment on film. It’s a cool experience and a great photo shot! After everyone gets in their kiss, the next photo op is the dolphin hug. The dolphin comes up next to you and you get to give it a hug. If you are there as a couple, the photographer will arrange for you and your sweetheart to both give it a hug at the same time and capture that on film. A larger group can all get in together and pose in the same shot.
A Look Inside the Dolphin Cay Gift Shop With the Dolphins Hanging From the Ceiling - August 4, 2010
Once you are done with the photo op, your in water experience has come to an end. It’ll be one you remember for a looooooong looooooong time and may be paying for for a loooooooooong loooooooooooong time, particularly if you opt for the all inclusive photo package that tops out at $249.00 (and remember ou already spent about $200 for the Dolphin Cay experience that includes no photos!) The best option when buying photos if you have a bunch of people in a group is to get 100 photos on a CD for $149.00. No matter how many photos go on the CD, it will cost $149.00 and you’ll get a few prints with it as well.
A Dolphin & Dolphin Skeleton Hanging In the Atlantis Dolphin Cay Area - August 4, 2010
When you’re done with the photo shoot, you’ll go get out of your wetsuit, go dry off, get a “complimentary” coke or bottle of water and be done. You get to keep the mask and snorkel you used along with a little beach bag they come in as a souvenir from your Dolphin Cay experience.
A HUGE Slow Moving Line Of People Waiting To See Thier Dolphin Cay Photos For Sale - August 4, 2010
Overall, the Atlantis Dolphin Cay experience is a cool opportunity to do something you might never do elsewhere and would probably never experience in the wild. For city dwellers who live in a cubicle, it is about as far from daily life as you can get. Live everything else at Atlantis the price particularly with a nice photo package is outrageous, coming in at around $450 for the top photo package and the experience. If you have a whole family or get a package deal, the price per person for the experience may be a little lower and you could batch your photos onto one CD, not to get any prints and spread the $150 per CD cost across a number of people.
Customers Leaving the Atlantis Dolphin Cay Experience On August 4, 2010
If you had a family of 4 you might be able to get away with $800 for the experience and $150 for a CD full of photos to bring the cost of the experience and photos down to a more manageable $238.00 per person plus whatever you decide to spend on prints from your digital photos. One you are finished with your experience you can grab your camera and take some photos of the area and the dolphins swimming if they happen to get close enough or your zoom lens is powerful enough to capture them off in the distance.
