18 Best places to swim with dolphins

Dolphins are ever-present at this incredible reef just off the coast of Durban year round, but May to July is the time to go to witness the ‘Sardine Run’.

Made famous by ‘Blue Planet’, this extraordinary natural spectacle sees billions of sardines migrate up South Africa’s Eastern Coast from – attracting every denizen of the deep, including 18,000 common and bottlenose dolphins. Divers can be dropped into the feeding frenzy to see dolphins hunting in packs.

This beautiful wildlife-filled bay is home to common dolphins, orcas, humpback whales, penguins and fur seals.

Sensitively-run snorkel tours depart daily from November to April on purpose-built dolphin viewing vessels equipped swim bars to hold on in the water; dolphins swim alongside you as you’re pulled along.

Arguably the best place in the Americas to swim with dolphins is Bimini, a tiny Bahamian archipelago 80km east of Miami. Waters are always warm, visibility is excellent and you’re guaranteed a swim with spotted, spinner, striped and bottlenose dolphins. Tours run all year round, but December to April is best.

Two hours south of Perth, the Dolphin Discovery Centre at Bunbury runs 3-hour tours to swim with bottlenose dolphins in Koombana Bay.

They’re expertly and sensitively run, and encounters rely on dolphins approaching swimmers of their own accord.

Tours run daily (except Tuesday) from November to April.

This archipelago and surrounding marine park, 200 miles off the Brazilian coast, is Brazil’s top dive destination and home to one of the world’s largest populations of spinner dolphins. Visibility is excellent, as is the diving and snorkelling generally. It’s well worth the effort to get there. September to December is best.

The islands are home to permanent populations of bottlenose and common dolphins; others like Risso’s and spinner, migrate here in huge number from June to October.

The best place to specifically swim with them is the Darwin and Wolf islands, accessed by week-long, live-aboard dive trips.

Otherwise, you’ll usually spot (and maybe swim with) them while cruising around the Isabela and Fernandina Islands.

Kaikoura is one of the best places in the world to encounter these charismatic mammals as pods of hundreds – sometimes thousands – of wild dusky dolphins cluster every day just off this dramatic coastline. When the boats find dolphins, (or vice versa), conscripts, equipped with snorkels, smartly ease into the water to marvel at the grace of these magnificent creatures, swimming barely an arm’s length away.

If you’d rather stay out of the water, local operators offer an alternative dolphin-watching tour on a bigger, more comfortable, catamaran-style boat.

One of the best, most reliable places to swim with dolphins is in the Red Sea at so-called ‘Dolphin Houses’.

The best, most pristine and original ‘Dolphin House’ is the Sataya Reefm 100 kms south of Marsa Alam. This horseshoe-shaped reef shelters a calm lagoon, home to a large pod of around 100 spinner dolphins. With few currents, and crystal-clear water, viewing conditions are typically excellent; better still, the dolphins are naturally curious animals and often come close to swimmers (though physical interaction is not permitted). The reefs are pristine and packed with colourful fish – there are few better places in the world to snorkel.

A second, but still superb reef that also shelters pods of spinner dolphins and has superb snorkelling is Shaab Samadai (translated as Marsa Alam Dolphin House) only 30 minutes boat ride from Marsa Alam.

A third option is the so-called ‘Dolphin House’ of Hurghada. Being a larger more heavily touristed town, the dolphin tours from Hurghada are more of a fun day out than a serious ecotour. There are far more boats, and as a result, it’s unlikely you’ll get to swim with the dolphins due to government restrictions. You’ll almost certainly see dolphins though, and tours will include some great snorkelling.

A 2.5-hour drive north of Sydney, Australia’s ‘dolphin capital’ offers a unique experience – being pulled along in the water by harness, as a resident population of bottlenose dolphins swim alongside. Half-day tours depart all year round (but not daily, see website for dates) from Port Stephens at sunrise, with 12-15 guests.

This pristine, 300km reef on Australia’s west coast is a marine biodiversity hotspot, home to over 500 species of fish, 300 species of coral and a year-round population of bottlenose dolphins.

Full-day snorkelling and diving tours leave daily from Coral Bay and Exmouth; from March to August you may also see whale sharks.

Melbourne’s Port Phillip Bay, 1.5 hours south of the city, is home to a resident population of around 80 bottlenose dolphins.

Half-day snorkelling tours operate from September to May, when the water is warmer around 20°C; you can also just go along to watch from the boat.

Australian fur seals also often show up, and you may see a weedy sea dragon.

These popular tours from touristy Puerto Vallarta take you out to snorkel with dolphins in Banderas Bay.

Bottlenose dolphins are present year-round, and in December to March you can sometimes also see humpback whales, spinner dolphins and manta rays.

Half-day, morning tours are well-run; dolphins remain wild and approach only at their discretion. You can also pay less and go on the boat just to watch.

This unspoilt Indonesian archipelago of hundreds of jungle-covered islands is home to extensive and pristine coral reefs that attracts a diverse and rich marine fauna; whales, sharks, rays and, of course, dolphins.

Spinner, spotted, common bottlenose, Indo-Pacific bottlenose and Risso’s dolphins are here, frequently encountered on live-a-board dive cruises – or even more mainstream cruises. October to April is best.

Forty-five minutes’ drive south of Perth, Perth Wildlife Encounters operate award-winning tours that take you out into Rockingham Bay to snorkel with a pod of 200 wild, but friendly and inquisitive, bottlenose dolphins.

The 3- to 6-hour tours run daily from early September to early June. Sightings are guaranteed – or a free cruise.

The wildlife-packed Sea of Cortez is a reliable place to find the big cetaceans of all stripes – including dolphins. October and November are best, when the water is warmer and visibility is better. March and April are also good. The best way to reach them is on multi-day live-a-board diving trips, or on specialist (luxury) expedition cruises.

This tiny volcanic archipelago of 2 islands – San Benedicto and Socorro – is a little-known marine paradise, 24-hours from Cabo in Baja California. January to March is the time to go to see bottlenose dolphins, plus there’s whale sharks, manta rays, humpback whales. It’s remote, pristine and magically wild but for advanced divers only on live-a-boards.

The wild, enigmatic bottlenose and spinner dolphins found in Tamarin Bay have become a popular attraction in Mauritius – and let’s be honest, who doesn’t like dolphins? Excursions allow people of all ages to watch them frolicking in the bay, and some excursions offer the opportunity to swim with them here. Visibility is excellent, often up to 40m, so you can see them cleary underwater.

Other goodies can be thrown in, like a BBQ lunch on a deserted island, snorkelling on reefs, and even whale watching – sperm and (depending on the time of year) humpback whales are present.

If you don’t want to swim, you can always take a sailboat excursion to Ile aux Benitiers, which takes you to see dolphins in the wild, then moors up for a BBQ lunch and diving/snorkelling on a coral reef.

This isolated Atlantic Ocean archipelago of 9 individual volcanic Islands is dolphin central and arguably the place to swim with dolphins, for three reasons.

First, it’s sparkling waters are home to five different species: Bottlenose, Atlantic Spotted, Common, Risso’s and Striped. Second, you can swim with them all year round – climate and water temperatures are fairly stable. Third, visibility is excellent, up to 60m.

Trips are led by experienced crews, who are not only experts at finding the dolphins, but who offer up lots of information about these intelligent creatures and how to interact with them.