Ocean World, Puerto Plata

I had the good fortune to visit Ocean World, located in Puerto Plata on the lovely island of Domincan Republic last year.

It was my birthday while we were away, so my fiance and I decided to book the day trip with our travel rep, the idea being that on my birthday I would be swimming with dolphins! I was so excited as this is something that I had always wanted to do, but never got the opportunity until now...

Ocean World

Having driven through the man-made waterfall we had entered Ocean World Adventure Park. First impressions... were very impressive.

Ocean World is home to one of the largest dolphin t man made dolphin habitats and its amazing......

Dolphins
I had always wanted to swim with dolphins for as long as I can remember and now was my chance.

After 'showering down' to make sure any perfumes, suncreams etc were removed before entering the dolphin pools we were led to the very interesting lecture. here we were told the do's and don'ts and what to expect. It was very interesting.

After the briefing its time to put on the lifejacket and head out to the water....

The trainers focus on allowing everyone to enjoy a high degree of interaction with the dolphins, and at the same time, teach you about these amazing animals in their natural habitat.

The best part for me was the dorsal fin tow!

You swim into the middle of the pool and wait for the two dolphins to swin up beside you went that they are level, you grab the dorsal fin and away you go.....its breathtaking and fun!!

We bought the DVD so we have the experience caputered!

Stingrays & Sharsk!
Well I didn't take part but I did watch and I must admit it looked fun.

You have to wear a snorkle for this one and people were swimming across the top of the sandy pool as the stingrays glided underneath them.

People could actually reach out and touch the backs of the stingray.

I must point out that the stingers have been removed and was assured that this was perfectly safe!

You can even get in the water with the sharks if you want to (I didn't!!).

The sharks that live here are Nurse Sharks and you can touch, feed and swim with them.

White Tiger
Ocean World is home to the White Tiger.

If you get the timings right you can actually watch the tigers being fed and are given the chance to feed them yourself. I did and it was a great experience!

I must point out that this was done behind the safety of a very strong glass window. The window had a hole in it jusr large enough for the 'feeding fork' and meat to go through.

You can also swim in the grott, again very strong glass seperates you from the tigers, its a great expereince.

Exotic Birds
The 'Rainforest' which houses these maginificent birds is lovely.

There is a guide a various points through the walk who tells oyu about each bird.

My favourite had to be the love birds they were sooooo cute and they landed on your head and hands while you fed them.

Oh I mustn't forget the magnificant Tucans, they are so colourful and you could get close enough to touch them.

Sealions
You get up close and personal with the sealions as well if you wish, but we just decided to pop along to the show which was very entertaining!

Lots of dancing and 'singing' and that was just the sealions.

You do get very wet at the end though as the star of the show 'belly flops' into the pool before the unsuspecting audiance - great fun!

Food & Drink

Very reasonably priced.

We ate at the Bella Vista Café. It served quick snacks and I must report my burger went down a treat. The views from Bella Vista were lovely you could see the ocean and had great views of the private dolphin beach.

There are also.....

(I must point out I didn't eat here so cannot comment on the food quality)
Octopus Bar & Grill, which serves exectely what you would expect... grilled foods, pizza and salads again with lovely ocean and marina views.

And the Principal Restaurant wheer you can either use the buffet, go , ala carte or simply pick up a fresh snack.

Gift Shop

As you would expect, everything form cuddly dolphin toys to Deep Ocean videos. Lots of choice and not too badly priced although somethings were alittle steep, but I guess that makes up for the reasonably priced food!

Opinion

If you are ever in the Dominican and get the chance to book and excursion to Ocean Wolrd I woud definitely go. It's well worth it and swimming with dolphins is fab. They also do a dolphin encounter in a shallow pool if you don't fancy swimming inthe deep, which I was told is good (my sister did this in Mexico).