On Thursday we went to Discovery Cove. This was the place I was most excited to go to. I found a great deal on Black Friday (during COVID) that gave us 1 day at Discovery Cove with the dolphin swim package, 1 day at SeaWorld, and 1 day at Aquatica for $150 per person! Score.
Discovery Cove is an all-inclusive day resort where you can snorkel and swim with fish and dolphins. I kept promising the kids that this place would be great because we wouldn't have to wait in any lines. We got there around 7:30am and had to wait in line to get in. All the kids were telling me I lied to them, but once we got checked in, the lines went away and they forgave me.
We first had breakfast from a huge selection at the buffet. We kept telling the kids they could eat as much as they wanted because we didn't have to pay for it. The food was pretty good too.
Then we went to a place where we got wetsuits (you could choose a full, half, or vest wetsuit) and life jackets for the kids. We put all our stuff in the lockers and headed to the "Grand Reef". This snorkeling was amazing for kids. We have only used our snorkels in swimming pools, but I've always wanted to try them in the ocean. But this was perfect because everything looked like the ocean, but there were no waves and the fish were locked into the "aquarium" so you were guaranteed to see them. The place had really nice sand with cabanas and beach chairs. And the reef had fake cracks and coral that the fish could swim in so it looked realistic. At first the Robert's were being super careful of the coral like you have to in real oceans (because they've been to real places before), but then they realized it was fake. Ha ha.
The kids all did great snorkeling. Isaac and I kept taking turns passing Hazel off. But the water was so clear she could kind of see the fish swimming from above, so she was entertained well. There was a section of the aquarium with a glass wall blocking off sharks from the main pool, but you could snorkel right up to the glass and watch the sharks swim. But in the main reef there were tons of colorful fish and lots of bat rays. It was really cool.
Throughout the park there were 4 or 5 different snack cabanas where you could get unlimited snacks, drinks, or slushies. The kids each had about 5 slushies. They also had chips and crackers, soda machines, warm cookies and pretzels. And there were never any lines. It was amazing for kids because they could have anything they wanted without us paying anything extra for it.
There was also a regular swimming pool (no fish or salt water) that you could swim in. We didn't spend much time there because there was so much other stuff to do. But that pool was also really pretty and had a waterfall, so it didn't look like a regular swimming pool.
Then we swam to a section that had a tiny island with little tiny monkeys on it. It was hard to find the monkeys at first, but we saw a few. We also went to the section that had a glass wall where you could watch the otters swim. It was fun to use the snorkels to see them swimming underwater.
We then found the lazy river. This was the coolest lazy river I have ever seen! It was about 1 mile long and there were places where adults could reach the bottom, but other times it would get about 8 feet deep so you would have to swim (they gave everyone a pool-noodle type floaty before entering). Isaac and I took turns holding Hazel down the river. She liked it until we reached the waterfall. The lazy river floated right through the bird aviary, so in order to get people in and keep the birds from flying out, there were big waterfalls you had to swim through. Hazel was not a fan of that. But Isaac thought that was really cool.
We also spent quite a bit of time in the aviary. This was pretty much the only place we had to wear masks. Once we entered the aviary we each got a little cup of fruit and nuts to feed the birds. We were all able to "hold" quite a few birds (those must be the best fed birds in the world). Some of the little kids had a hard time attracting them at first because they kept shoving the food at the birds and scaring them away. But eventually they figured it out.
At one point a bird pooped on Sophie's head. :) She was crying hysterically, but calmed down after we washed it off. There were a lot of cool tropical birds in the aviary too.
Then we had some lunch. The food was really quite good. Once again the kids could pick anything they wanted. I told them they could go get more if they didn't like anything, but they were really good about eating what they picked (which was amazing they could even eat anything after all the slushies and warm cookies they were eating). I got a steak with a yummy green sauce on it. Sophie got a Caesar salad (what a healthy, veggie loving girl). They also had pulled pork sandwiches, pastas, hamburgers, etc. All the kids picked chicken nuggets/fingers/strips everywhere we went for food. By this point we were begging them all to eat something besides that and fries. Argh. But I think they enjoyed it.
Then it was time for the dolphin swim. Isaac stayed off with Hazel and Luke (because he wasn't 6 years old yet). He was able to get Hazel to take a nap, so he and Luke were able to watch us with the dolphins. We were in a group with just the girls, me, and the Roberts. We first had an older dolphin come swim past us as we were able to pet him a few times. The trainers told us interesting stuff about dolphins and training them. Theron was really nervous about being by the dolphins, but eventually was willing to pet the dolphin.
Then they brought out a younger dolphin that we were able to ride on. We each went about 100 feet away and they showed us how to hold onto the dorsal fin and the dolphin would pull us back to the group. It was a lot of fun, and we got some really fun photos.
Then the dolphins did a little show where they would jump and do some tricks that we watched from up close in the water with the. It was a lot of fun.
Afterwards, the Roberts told us that was the best dolphin encounter they have done (I guess they have done a few in Mexico). They said we spent more time with the dolphins, petting and a longer ride, than they had done anywhere else. It was really cool.
Then we swam some more and finally cleaned up in the showers. At first we didn't know if we would be able to last the entire day there, but we stayed until it closed at 5pm. I would highly recommend Discovery Cove, and would like to go back again sometime.
We then went to dinner at a fast food Mexican restaurant that was nearby. At first I was annoyed that all the parks were closing early due to covid. But it was actually nice to be able to leave and go get dinner at more affordable (and possibly healthier) places. And it was very nice to get back to the condo at decent times to get the kids to bed. They definitely wouldn't have lasted nearly as well if they were staying at parks until 8 or 9pm and not getting to bed early each night.
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