Dominican Republic: Day 3 (Part 1)

July 17, 2011

There are moments in everybody’s life that are so extraordinary trying to put them into words would truly diminish the experience, thus I will say very little about my Dolphin Dive in Ocean World other than I enjoyed every single second.  Swimming with them was already incredible, but to be underneath the water with them, well, in a way I felt like I was a dolphin too!

I hope the following photos inspire you to one day dive with dolphins, whether it is in a place like Ocean World or in the wild.  It is a magical experience that you will be sure to treasure forever and ever. . .

Ocean World

Ocean World

Ocean World

Ocean World

Ocean World

Ocean World

Ocean World

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Andi Perullo de Ledesma

I am Andi Perullo de Ledesma, a Chinese Medicine Doctor and Travel Photojournalist in Charlotte, NC. I am also wife to Lucas and mother to Joaquín. Follow us as we explore life and the world one beautiful adventure at a time.

More Posts - Website - Twitter - Facebook

Related Posts

62 thoughts on “Dominican Republic: Day 3 (Part 1)”

  1. Emily

    Wow, what cool photos! After watching the moving documentary The Cove, I have a really hard time stomaching anything with dolphins in captivity, but it looks like they have a lot of room to swim around. That looks like such an amazing experience!

    Reply ↓
    1. Andi Perullo Post author

      Aren’t they cool? I have had a lot of people question the treatment of the animals at Ocean World. I can promise that the animals there are treated with so much love, compassion, and respect. Every single person I met was as passionate about their job as they were about the animals. On several occasions, I saw firsthand, that some of the dolphins didn’t want to participate, rather they preferred to swim. The trainers let them go off and even fed them. I thought maybe they wouldn’t reward them for swimming off, but the trainers said that they encourage the dolphins to do whatever they want to do at ALL times! Ocean World is a gigantic place and the dolphins had sooo much room to swim around! 🙂

      Reply ↓
    2. ambra

      Ocean World has the biggest manmade dolphin habitat in the world! Andi can tell you how big our lagoons are! Our dolphins are healthy, well fed, sexually active and this is proof of them being well under our human care. We also have an educational program to raise awareness about marine life, the environment and how to take care of it. Come visit us to see for yourself our high standards and quality. At Ocean World we offer a once in a lifetime experience to all our visitors. We love what we do! 🙂

      Reply ↓
  2. Adventurous Kate

    Andi, I cannot believe those photos…AMAZING!! What an amazing experience! (And also, get ready for the animal rights nazis to flip out.) But really incredible stuff here!

    Reply ↓
    1. Andi Perullo Post author

      It’s already begun sadly!!! What’s ironic is that I’m about as big of an animals rights lover as they come. I’ve been a vegetarian for over a decade, used to volunteer at PETA, I’ve adopted countless dogs, volunteered at shelters…and although I’ve explained in several posts how incredible Ocean World is with their animals, I’m still getting the hate mail! They took me behind the scenes and I met with so many of the trainers. I can with 110% certainty say that the animals could not be treated any better and that the majority of them have been rescued!

      I’m kinda in love with the photos too, glad you love them! 🙂

      Reply ↓
    1. Andi Perullo Post author

      I actually freaked out a bit in that pic, because I had to take the regulator out of my mouth! That was the 1st time I had ever done that diving before!!! But it was totally worth it to get a dolphin kiss.

      Reply ↓
  11. Bluegreen Kirk

    Andi you have some of the best adventures I have ever seen. Its just amazing how you are interacting with the dolphins. This is something I would truly love to do with my family.

    Reply ↓
    1. Andi Perullo Post author

      Awww thank you so much for such an incredible comment, I’m so touched! I hope hope hope that you can do this with your family. I saw so many families there having the time of their lives together!!!

      Reply ↓
  12. Jeff Titelius

    Amazing photos….especially of you kissing the dolphin and riding along upside down. What an incredible experience it must be to get up close and personal with the denizens of the sea!! Thx for sharing the magic!!!

    Reply ↓
  18. Heather

    Been catching up with your series — you were right a few posts back…this is the kissing series :-)!!!

    My mom LOVES dolphins but is terrified of water, so forget diving. I wonder if she’d conquer that fear for this…

    Reply ↓
    1. Andi Perullo Post author

      Totally the kissing series, you’re so right! OMG you so need to do a blog post about your mom conquering her fear of water for the dolphins!!!

      Reply ↓
  19. Nomadic Samuel

    I’ve been following your adventures and you’ve just about done everything possible with dolphins at this point. It must have been a wonderful experience – they seem like such magical creatures.

    Reply ↓
    1. Andi Perullo Post author

      Hahaha yes, minus swim with them in the wild, which I will do one day! They are magical creatures to say the least!!! Can’t wait to be near them again in the future.

      Reply ↓
  23. Bob Crunch

    Dolphins are such amazing animals! Everyone keeps telling me that swimming with dolphins is one of the funnest things you can do in your life. I hope someday I will be able to swim with them as well. Great photos!

    Reply ↓

  25. Pingback: Dominican Republic: Day 3 (Part 2) | My Beautiful Adventures

  26. Stefanie

    I love your pics, especially the second from the bottom! It looks like the dolphins are having just as much fun as you are! I’m going to have to check this place out…I’ve always wanted to swim with dolphins and this looks like a better experience than just being in a pool and petting them for 5 minutes like most dolphin experiences seem to be.

    Reply ↓
    1. Andi Perullo Post author

      Thanks so much for your awesome comment! I highly recommended this experience whether it’s at Ocean World or not. Diving with the dolphins is a much more intimate experience than swimming with them, unless of course it’s in the wild.

      Reply ↓
  28. Erin

    What an incredible experience! I was going to say this is worth getting diving certification for, but I saw in the comments that you don’t need a certificate to do this in Ocean World. Awesome!
    It’s really wonderful that you have these photos, too 🙂

    Reply ↓
    1. Andi Perullo Post author

      It was so so so incredible! I didn’t realize that you didn’t need a diving certificate either, that’s so awesome. And yes I will forever treasure these photos! I hope you can do this some day sweetie!!!

      Reply ↓
  29. Cat

    Wow! That looks so awesome! I’ve kayaked with dolphins in the wild and did the swim with dolphins thing but to SCUBA dive with them?!?! New bucket list item!!!

    Reply ↓
  30. Tiffany

    Andi, really amazing pictures, and you did things that I din’t get a chance to do when I lived there for two years! I didn’t get to do the bat caves, but Cabarete was a favorite hangout.

    And as a former Ocean World Animal Training Supervisor, I can guarantee all those animals were and are given the best care.

    Reply ↓
    1. Andi Perullo Post author

      I’m so so so happy you made a comment about the care of the animals! Way too many people were upset and I told them that there was NOTHING to be upset about, but I love that a Supervisor is now backing up my claims. I had an incredible time both in Ocean World and in the DR!!! You are SO lucky that you got to live there for 2 years — what an unforgettable experience!

      Reply ↓

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *