Atlantis Dolphin Cay for Young Kids

Atlantis Dolphin Cay for Young Kids

A couple of months ago, we took our boys (+ my parents, because DUH, we wanted a vacation, not a “trip,” LOL.) to Atlantis, Paradise Island in the Bahamas. It is an amazing place for travel with young kids. I can’t wait to book another trip back in the future. There is literally so much to do, see, and do that our five day trip wasn’t enough time to enjoy it all. Since our boys are young, we decided to focus our days around the activities that are fun and exciting for their age group.

The highlight of our trip was Dolphin Cay with our two older boys, A + C. They were both anxious and excited about the entire excursion. D and I did a swim with the dolphins activity during our honeymoon and it was so fun to take our kids to experience it all for themselves.

Booking the Excursion

We booked part of our travel (the resort) through Costco Travel. They offered great rates and our package came with a resort credit that covered nearly all of our Dolphin Cay excursion. We honestly could’ve covered the entire expense, but used some of our resort credit on food and drinks prior to the day of our Dolphin Cay experience. Atlantis has a special station in the lobby that makes it easy to book all excursions offered at the resort. We literally walked up and had our time slots for later in the day within ten minutes.

Before Dolphin Cay

From our previous days, we knew that Dolphin Cay is nestled on a private beach. We headed there early, so that Baby B could take a stroller nap and my parents could take an afternoon siesta. We took the older boys to play on the beach before we headed to one of the locker room areas to change into our wet suits. Before our excursion, we had a short lesson on what we would be doing with the dolphins. From petting them and feeding them fish and how to safely interact with them.

During Dolphin Cay

We chose to do the Shallow Water Interaction which is perfect for young kids. They broke us up into groups of 10-12 (mostly families of 4-6) and walked us to the beach. The entire excursion is conducted in waist-high water in the dolphins’ environment. The boys loved petting the dolphins and feeding them, too! It was definitely an up close and personal, once-in-a-lifetime experience for the boys. They loved when the dolphins made their sounds (vocalizations) and started to mimic the dolphins throughout the day. The dolphins’ jumps out of the water were absolutely incredible to witness again for us. Especially seeing the wonder and amazement on our boys’ faces!

The half hour Dolphin Cay Shallow Water experience was a combination of a lot of one on one interaction, as well as, watching them do tricks and play with one another. We all had pictures taken and the entire excursion was filled with different elements.

After Dolphin Cay

After the excursion, we headed back to change out of our wet suits and headed to the gift shop. We viewed a bunch of photos and picked out a photo package for digital download. We had a snack break for the boys in the picnic area and then headed back to the pool for some more water play!

All in all, I’d do the Dolphin Cay activity again. I highly recommend the Shallow Water experience at Atlantis Dolphin Cay for Young Kids. When we go back, the boys will be older and we will probably try one of the other Dolphin Cay activities. Here’s a quick video of the resort and our pictures that they included for us with our package:

This post is part 1 in a series of our family trip to Atlantis Paradise Island, Bahamas. Be sure to subscribe to the blog, so you don’t miss the next post!

Travel with Kids: Bahamas – Part 1 (Atlantis Dolphin Cay for Young Kids)

Travel with Kids: Bahamas – Part 2 (What to Pack for Family Travel to Atlantis)

Travel with Kids: Bahamas – Part 3 (Five Tips for Family Travel to Atlantis)