Swimming with dolphins is worth the money

My last post from the Turkish seaside resort of Marmaris is going to be on another single activity - our family visit to the dolphin park. Although it lasted for less than an hour, I believe all of us will remember it for a lifetime and it is worth sharing.

When I first read the comments on Tripadvisor, I had some mixed feelings about the visit. A lot of them were negative, but today was my last chance to make a dream come true, so I chose to ignore them. Swimming in filthy water or seeing animals in suffering would definitely be a bad experience for me, and that was what the comments suggested. However, I took the risk, and I am thankful for it.

There are four options the dolphin park offers: show, visit, meet or swim. My husband and daughter went for "visit" as she is too young to swim, and I did the "swim". We were not particularly interested in the show, which runs in the late afternoon, as we have this option in our homecountry.
As I was swimming with the 5-year-old dolphin Eva, the rest of the family played with the old Daisy from the platform nearby.
The water was definitely not filthy. Yes, it could be cleaner, but that goes for any place habitated by animals. Yes, Eva had some scratches on the back, maybe from tourists who were not careful enough, but she was definitely not suffering. So I enjoyed my ride on her tummy a lot.
I have to say, I have never touched or been that close to a dolphin before, and I was surprised they are not really slicky. Eva immediately earned my trust. I have deep respect for these animals and I felt so good in their company. I will let pictures speak for themselves. They were taken by the company's photographer, as we were not allowed to bring in cameras, but as I have paid for them, they are technically mine. Enjoy!