Spinner Dolphins with Wild Side Specialty Tours
Morning Sunrise
Wild Side Specialty Tours gave me the experience of a lifetime. With their Best of the West tour I was taken on a three and a half hour journey beyond what I could have ever imagined. The semi-private custom tour leaving the Waianae Small Boat Harbor just after sunrise on the 34 foot powerful Alaka’i provided me an opportunity to see wild dolphins in their natural habitat. Not only to see wild dolphins, but to have an opportunity to swim with the dolphins. The beauty of seeing baby spinner dolphins swim hyperactively along side their mothers while showing off for the boat is beyond words. I can’t even count how many dolphins I saw. From every direction, I was amazed by the beautiful creatures racing along side the boat. The dolphins were dancing in the water and doing acrobatics in front of the bow. I can’t truly express the experience I had with Wild Side Specialty Tours because it literally left me speechless.
View from the Boat
Alaka’i Boat
The view of the Western coast of Oahu from a distance was incredible. With no hotel in sight, all that can be seen are the sacred Hawaiian mountains meeting the ocean’s waters. With the sun glistening on the calm water and the dolphins swimming along side us, there was no place I would rather be. I was so excited to get in the water to experience what swimming with dolphins should be like–natural, humane, and sustainable. An opportunity to swim with wild dolphins in their natural environment is once in a lifetime. I didn’t know if I would see any dolphins when I left the harbor, yet Wild Side has a 99.9% marine mammal sighting rate. Tori, owner of Wild Side, and facilitator of my tour, easily located where the dolphins were on the calm morning. As a researcher, she is extremely knowledgeable about the ocean, marine life, and especially dolphins. She has an amazing intuition to know where the dolphins are. I am amazed by all that I saw.
Baby Spinner Showing Off
Wild Side raises awareness about sustainable marine tours and provides their passengers with an enlightening interactive tour. All tours are in small groups which enhances the experience with the marine life. Wild Side goes above and beyond to accommodate their guests experience in the water. The guides are extremely knowledgeable and provide all the 
information you need to have a successful swim with the dolphins, including pre-encounter briefings on the boat. Wild Side’s near-shore swim with dolphins provides the longest dolphin time of any dolphin tour in the water… and it’s in their environment. Prior to the tour, Wild Side provided me with multiple electronic information packets to prepare me for my swim (spinner dolphins, what to expect (FAQ’s), how to swim with dolphins, sane and safe for both you and the dolphin). When it was finally time to get into the water I knew what to expect and was ready to become a part of the pod.
Wild Spinner Dolphins Swimming in the Water
Swimming with five wild spinner dolphins off the coast of Waianae in Hawaii was both magical and heavenly. I love being in the sea and I especially love observing the ocean’s marine life. It’s as if I connect with the ocean and its creatures better than I do with people on earth. There is nothing better than being a part of the aquatic world by being welcomed into a pod of wild dolphins–my new best friends. I swam quickly and as “dolphin-like” as possible to keep up with them. I didn’t want the experience to ever end. This is an experience I will have forever.
The spinner dolphins accepted me as if I were a part of their family. They allowed me to swim with them for 45 minutes in the warm clear turquoise waters. The elegant creatures watched me intently as I quietly swam along side them. Swimming eye to eye with a wild dolphin was beyond my wildest dreams. It was as if I was able to communicate with them by looking into their eyes, the windows to their soul. Their swift bodies moved gracefully through the water. With a flick of their tail, they could change directions at any moment. If they didn’t want me to swim with them they would have been gone in an instant, yet they welcomed my presence. To this day, I believe that angels come in many forms, but I know for sure that I was swimming with five angelic dolphins.
How to get involved?
Check out their informative website for information on Wai’anae Oahu, the crew, tours, charters, Hawaii wildlife, volunteer programs, and how you can help support various research programs including the Cascadia Research Collective. Being involved in this tour gave me the assurance that I was doing something to help the marine’s wildlife, rather than exploiting it.
*Media coverage for Wild Side Specialty Tours
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Awesome post and this is coming from a man that can’t float.
Thanks so much! I bet you could float with a life jacket! There are always options! 🙂
That’s is the only way I can float.
🙂 If there is a will, there is a way!
Great shots! What an incredible experience! Dolphins are such amazing creatures. We wathced them heard some fish one morning on the beach. They would jump out of the water and make huge splashes, as if they were in a dolphin show. Or a show just for us that morning. ~ Thanks for sharing….
Thanks so much! It was an incredible experience and the dolphins were amazing. Dolphins are the most human-like creatures I know of! I could watch them all day! What a great opportunity to watch them hunt in the morning! Where did you see that?
-Jessica
My college has a nice beach house close by on an island called the Isle of Palms. My parents were in town so we decided to have a nice brunch at the beach house one morning. I was wiast deep in the ocean when all these small fish kept jumping out of the water, suggesting a larger predator clsoe by. So I backed up and it was sort of like a parade as the dolpin pod kept herding the fish down the beach, one leap at a time. And the dolphins were really soaring out of the water. It was a treat that morning. ..much like yours was too I imagine
That sounds incredible, once in a lifetime, like my experience. You should write a blog post about it. It sounded beautiful.
you would have to lend me some dolphin pictures! I didn’t get any that morning
Ah shoot! Sometimes the writing alone is worth the post! I think the beach house with picturesque alone!
I could do that. I think the name of the beach town is nice too..
Amazing blog post . The way you express is just so beautiful , and stunning pictures 🙂
Thank you so much! That is so kind of you to say! I really wanted to capture in my blog post what my experience was like. Does it make you want to try it?
-Jessica
I really want to Jessica . It has become one of the things I really really want to do . Thank you so much for sharing your adventure with us 🙂 Loads of Love 🙂
Well if ever you get the chance I am sure you will take advantage of the opportunity. I’m glad you enjoyed my experience.
Beautiful pictures and beautiful words! What an experience 🙂
Thanks so much! It was quite the experience…that I “tried” to put into words (which was so difficult), because it truly left me speechless. Have you ever had that problem? Writing about something that left you speechless?
Yes I know exactly what you mean… when however you write it, it never seems to quite be strong enough to actually express everything! You did a great job 🙂 I hope we get to see dolphins that close when we’re there! x
I know that speechless feeling you are talking about. We went on the Morning Wildlife Cruise with Wildside Speciatly Tours in March. Swimming with the dolphins was magical! Best experience of my life!
Exactly! You know what I am talking about then. A morning Wildlife Cruise with Wildside Specialty Tours would have been amazing! It was awesome!
I just found your blog through the Wildside FB page and am reading all your Hawaii posts! Reading them is like reliving my trip there. We spent 9 days on Oahu this past March. Thank you! PS I’m from Canada too!
Melissa,
So glad to hear you are reminded of your experiences through my two week journey on Oahu. I still have more Hawaii posts coming up! Stay tuned.
-Jessica
Hi Jessica! Thanks for sharing your experience:) Swimming with dolphins just jumped to the top of my list!
Hey Donna,
So glad I persuaded you to put swimming with wild dolphins to the top of your bucket list. It’s amazing!
Wonderful post and stunning photos! It’s cold and foggy here where I live right now.. feel like trading destinations? =P
Haha, thanks so much! Well, I am trying to trade the typical Canadian weather for more sunny destinations this year! Maybe next year haha!
Wow this is definitely an experience of a lifetime!! Such an amazing experience and such lovely photos!
You’ve said it bang on. It was amazing!
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