Blue Lagoon Island day trip and dolphin encounter

The day starts with a 25-minute ferry ride across Nassau Harbour to Salt Cay, a private island three miles out. Pirates once used its lagoon, then a salt marsh, to salt their food; in the early 1900s an owner dredged it, blasted a cut to the sea and planted 5,000 palms.

The main draw is the dolphins. On the basic encounter you stand waist-deep on a floating platform while a trainer brings a bottlenose dolphin to you for a hug and a rub, with no minimum age; there are also swims, a sea lion encounter and a snorkel with nurse sharks. Your time slot is given out at check-in on the morning, so the rest of the day is beach, lagoon and lounge chairs, with lifeguards on duty and a buffet lunch of burgers, barbecue chicken and peas and rice included. Photos, the inflatable aqua park and hotel transfers cost extra. You cannot bring food, drinks, coolers, fishing gear or metal detectors, and everyone signs a waiver.

At Dolphin Cay you meet the animals inside a resort. This trip is a boat ride out to an island with a beach day attached.