Family Trip to Florida part 6 – Our day at Discovery Cove
It had finally arrived – our day at Discovery Cove.
I “encouraged” the kids to get up early so we could arrive just after 7.30am – we were able to walk straight in to Reception and be registered – (TIP – photo id needed for adults but we had read that the night before so were all set), photos taken for the id cards and dolphin swim times allocated.
We decided to split in to two groups for our swims, so we could attempt to take our own photos, and we were fourtunate in the location of our swims that this worked out well. If we had been in a different location it might not have been so easy. I know this meant we wouldn’t get a group photo of us all together, but as we had decided not to take any of the photo packages it was worth the risk. In the end the trainer actually invited the girls and I into the water at the end of my husband and son’s swim, and they did take a “professional” pic of us all – but we didn’t take it either!
It was still quite cool as we ate breakfast – the ham and the french toast were lovely and I had yoghurt and fresh fruit too. All food and drinks and snacks are included in your day, and we found the quality good (although not outstanding)
Next it was into the vests or wet suits – the kids and I all went for the short wetsuits, and they worked well. My husband had a full body wetsuit. Later in the day my husband changed to a shorter wetsuit and the girls changed to just the vests when it had warmed up.
I wore disposable contact lenses for the day (used to wear them years ago) and it worked great with the snorkelling and the dolphin swim – although prescription masks were available.
We had our dolphin swims early in the day – good as the rest of our day more relaxed as we didn’t have to clock-watch, but it was still quite chilly.
PLEASE NOTE – we DO have 2 daughters who swam with the dolphins too – they are just a bit more blog/camera shy!
Definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience – so glad we “splurged” to do it!
After the dolphin swim we got hot chocolate and snacks to warm us up, then headed off to explore the rest of the park.
There were 3 main sections
The Grand Reef – chillier salt-water with an incredible amount of fish, rays, coral and more. The snorkelling was great – two of the 3 kids loved it, the other wasn’t so keen on being surrounded by fish etc!
Then there was the Wind-Away River – beautiful, warm with caves, waterfalls and went through the Aviary. Some parts were very deep, and as I’m not a strong swimmer I was glad of a “noodle”! My son used a life-vest but it was quite a long way round.
Finally, my favourite, the Fresh Water Oasis – warm, shallower, with a section with a glass panel through to the otters. This one I found the most relaxing.
Throughout the day we availed of the drinks, snacks, and lunch.
The termperatures warmed up in the afternoon, and we were really reluctant to leave by the end/ It was such a memorable day we reallly didn’t want it to be over!
I’m gradually catching up on my blogging about our the trip – coming next Animal Kingdom.
