Is any of the dolphin excursions worth the money?  Are they in a tank or fenced in on the ocean shore?  Can a non-participant come along?

Help appreciated;

SKS

SKS;

  If I read right, you're on the Splendor so you'll be seeing the Western coast of Mexico, yes? Sorry, but I can only tell you about my Western Caribbean experience. Last year we sailed on the Legend and in Roatan I booked the Dolphin Encounter - Tabyana Beach excursion. It was the kewlest thing I've ever done on a vacation! We were taken to a beautiful lagoon (which was enclosed by fencing/gate system from the sea, to keep the dolphins within this large lagoon) and spent about 45 minutes with the dolphins, as we were broken into small groups of 8 people per dolphin. Then it was on to Tabyana Beach, the most beautiful beach I've ever seen. I know it's not where YOU will be sailing but I can tell you that excursion, booked with Carnival, was the best one I've been on yet. Hope you have the same good time on whatever  you choose.

We did the Dolphi Swim and Ride in Cozumel in 2007 at Chankanaab Park.  It was called something else then but after reading the new description it's bascially the same except now you are not allowed to bring underwater cameras.  We paid $165 per person for that one and yes, it was worth every penny.  The trainers were excellent along with the facilities there.  We had a small gorup of 8 with 1 dolphin and had a lot of one on one encounters with our dolphin doing all kinds of tricks.  It was really cool to kiss the dolphin and the ride was, well, just awesome!!  There was also some snorkeling afterwards too.  It is in an enclosed area at Dolphin Discovery but it's an "expereince of a lifetime" and we are so glad to have it all captured on a DVD to share with family and friends.  I love watching it myself too.  I am just glad we had the chance to have that experience.  We chose ours over the  Encounter as it did not include the ride and to us it was worth the extra money for the excursion we did.  They probably have something similar at the Port of Call you are stopping at.  

 Did you end up doing the dolphin encounter in Puerta Vallarta?  We are cruising there in two weeks and I was wanting to get other's opinions.  Thanks.