A First-Timer’s Guide to Dolphin Cove, Ocho Rios

Swim with the ocean’s most majestic marine mammals at Dolphin Cove Ocho Rios. Winner of the Jamaica Hotel & Tourist Award for Attraction of the Year, this activity is a must for everyone visiting Ocho Rios.

Dolphin Cove is located just 10 minutes away from our Villa Paradiso vacation home. We provide our guests with a private driver with space for up to 21 passengers to take you to the facility and pick you up after your experience.

Here’s why many of our guests choose this activity during their stay.

Getting to Know Dolphin Cove

• Belmont Road, Ocho Rios, Jamaica
• dolphincoveja.com/Parks/dolphin-cove-ocho-rios
• A Top Ranking Dolphin Interactive Program Worldwide

Dolphin Cove Ocho Rios opened in 2001 as the inaugural location across the street from Dunn’s River Falls before expanding to two other locations (Montego Bay and Moon Palace). Measuring 23 acres, it’s the largest park in the system and features the most activities visitors can participate in.

This marine park has dolphin interactive activities for all ages. It promotes the ethical treatment of dolphins in their natural environment and combines education in the dolphin programs.

Best Time to Visit Dolphin Cove

Dolphin Cove Ocho Rios is open all year round. Plan to arrive in the morning if you want to participate in one of the dolphin encounter activities. It has designated times at 10:15 am and 11:45 am daily. Participants are given a time slot for the reservations.

The time of year affects how crowded it gets at Dolphin Cove, one of the top things to do in Ocho Rios. Peak travel season in Jamaica is from December to April. Make online reservations to avoid long lines when purchasing tickets. This attraction is also located near the Ocho Rios Cruise Terminal, so Wednesdays are especially busy with additional traffic from cruise ship travelers.

Take advantage of the slower period during the fall season for fewer people in your encounter activities and more time interacting with the dolphins!

Things to Do at Dolphin Cove, Ocho Rios

It’s not every day you get to swim with dolphins. It’s the highlight of the marine park and why so many people want to visit during their stay in Ocho Rios. Dolphin Cove offers several types of interactive dolphin experiences that range in levels of engagement.

Meeting the dolphins is popular, but more intrepid travelers can even swim with these aquatic creatures. Photography isn’t allowed in the water for security reasons, but photo packages are available for each activity.

It’s time to strap on your life jacket and hop in the water!

1. Dolphin Encounter

Have you ever high-fived a dolphin? Share an intimate moment with these friendly sea dwellers in a one-on-one meet and greet. Wrap your arms around their slick skin, share a nose kiss, and give a hand-to-flipper handshake.

Visitors stand in a waist-high pool with a few dolphins swimming around. Instructors teach you about the dolphins and invite them to come up to you for a dolphin-style hello. No swimming is required, so it’s great for people of all ages.

2. Swim Adventure

Those swim lessons you took as a kid will finally come in handy as you cross off the ultimate swimmer’s bucket list item: swimming with dolphins! Get your Michael Phelps on and enjoy a playful swim session with your favorite dolphin.

Participants registered for this activity get the same meet-and-greet experience as the Dolphin Encounter. In addition to saying hello, you’ll get to take your human-dolphin relationship to the next level. Share a few playful splashes before accelerating through the water on a wild belly ride. Hope you’re not ticklish because the dolphins aim at your feet to give you the perfect push.

3. Royal Swim

Do you know what’s better than swimming with one dolphin? Swimming with two! The Royal Swim is a regal dolphin swim experience that gives you not one but two swimming partners. And these dolphins have a few tricks up their fins that will give you the swimming experience of a lifetime!

Grab onto the fins of both dolphins and ride as they swim in sync around the pond. They know they have a passenger, so you’ll stay on the water surface. For the finale, you’ll perform an amazing acrobatic trick requiring no skill except trusting the dolphins. “Walk on water” for the first time as the dolphins push your feet while standing—a pose of royalty arriving.

4. Stingray or Shark Encounter

The dolphins are the famous residents at Dolphin Cove Ocho Rios, but they’re not the marine species swimming in these waters. The facility also has pools with sharks and stingrays lurking beneath the surface. If you’re brave enough, you can have the opportunity to swim with them!

Caribbean Reef Sharks are harmless to humans, so you’ll be safe during the Shark Encounter experience. These large fish—up to 14 feet—swim up to you, and you can hug them. They swim slowly, so they’re easy to catch. The stingrays are also harmless since they have their barb removed. You can look at these gentle creatures face to face while snorkeling in the pond during the encounter.

If you prefer to simply look at the sharks, the daily shark show will reveal their charismatic ways.

5. Get a thrill kayaking, sliding, and swimming

We recommend changing into your bathing suit long before your time slot for the dolphin encounter. Visitors have several other activities to check out within the facility. Feel the rush of the water while sliding down the Cawabunga Water Slide, traverse the water surface while kayaking, or practice your swimming skills in the pool.

6. Walk the Jungle Trail

Dolphin Cove Ocho Rios has a unique activity you won’t find at the other locations: the Jungle Trail. Explore the lush tropical jungle on the island’s north coast to discover the region’s natural beauty, which is full of native plants and wildlife.

From sea to land, the Jungle Trail lets you dry off from the water experiences on an inland trek. There are opportunities to interact with iguanas and snakes. The Jungle Trail is part of the ‘Admission Plus Package.

7. Feed birds in the aviary

Delight yourself in the sweet sound of bird songs resonating around you inside the Aviary at Dolphin Cove Ocho Rios. This activity puts you right in the bird cage with colorful tropical birds fluttering overhead. Instructors teach you about the various kinds of birds inside the aviary and their diet.

It’s always feeding time, and you’ll get some food to feed the birds. They’ll be eating right out of your hand. If they like you, they’ll land on your shoulders and hands and hang out for a while.

Don’t worry—they say it’s good luck if a bird poops on you, but this doesn’t happen often.

8. Eat a traditional Jamaican lunch

You’ll spend at least three hours at Dolphin Cove Ocho Rios, so a lunch break is needed to stay energized for the next activity. The onsite restaurant is the next best thing to having your very own private chef at Villa Paradiso when it comes to delicious Jamaican food.

Load your plate with popular Jamaican dishes in the buffet-style setting. What’s on the menu? Jerk chicken with a kick, steamy mixed vegetables, and a spoonful of rice and peas.

Stay and Play in Ocho Rios

Swimming with dolphins at Dolphin Cove Ocho Rios is one of the most unique things you’ll do during your Ocho Rios vacation. Our Villa Paradiso is located just minutes away from this natural habitat for dolphins that transformed a lagoon into one of Jamaica’s biggest attractions.

Book your stay today!