Dolphin Island Park

A bus collects you from the hotel and drops you on a small private beach in Bávaro, and from there a boat runs out to a floating platform about half a mile offshore. That platform is the park. The dolphins live in the sea pens around it, along with sharks and stingrays.

There are three programmes, from a 30-minute meeting on the platform that works for children and people who cannot swim, up to a 50-minute swim where two dolphins push you across the surface by the soles of your feet. Each has a minimum height (90 cm for the gentlest, 120 cm for the full swim), pregnant women cannot take part, and everyone wears a life jacket. A ten-minute snorkel with the sharks and rays is thrown in free.

Cameras are not allowed in the water, so photos are whatever the park's photographers sell you afterwards. Lockers are free. Everything has to be booked in advance.