We really enjoyed our time with Dolphins and You. We highly recommend them. Here is my detailed explanation.
1. They will pick you up from Waikiki hotels. There are about 6 stops, so you might have to walk a few blocks to get to the nearest one. That's no problem. You ride a bus from Waikiki to the west side of the island, then you ride a boat from the dock to the location they like to go to for dolphins.
2. On the bus, they will try to sell you their photo package. We thought it was worth it. They'll also try to get you to rent wetsuits or rash guards. The rental is only $10, which isn't bad at all. They aren't pushy about it, which we really appreciated. We went in October of 2019, and the water was warm enough that only my thin daughter who is always cold needed the wetsuit.
3. They give you fins and a snorkel mask to put on. Make sure you get those fins on tightly so they don't fall off when you jump in the water. They also put a solution in the mask to keep it from fogging up. Baby shampoo and water. Who knew? The only disadvantage is there's no way to know if you are getting your mask back for sure if you don't put it down where you were sitting when you first rode out on the boat. So pay attention. They also give you a small life jacket, which is sufficient. If you are 12 and under, you get a bigger life jacket.
4. On the way, you sing a chant in Hawaiian to ask for safe travel and luck with seeing dolphins. You get to each throw a plumeria blossom overboard. They have the words to the chant on laminated papers. It's a nice touch.
5. Here's the part I wish I knew more about ahead of time.
When you get to where the dolphins are, everyone forms three lines to jump quickly off the back of the boat. After you jump off, you have to swim together to stay in a pod like the dolphins stay in a pod. That's less threatening to them. **If you are not a good swimmer**, you probably won't be able to keep up with the pack. If that happens, the dolphins might be scared off.
Jumping off can be high stress for people who aren't used to jumping off a boat into the ocean. This part isn't a casual, get in the ocean at your own pace thing. My children all have autism, and my oldest can’t handle pressure and doing things quickly. He had a meltdown, and the crew tried to accommodate us but didn’t know what they were dealing with. I eventually jumped off without him, but I was lagging behind the rest. The first set of dolphins swam away. We went to a second location where there were other dolphins. This time I stayed on the boat with my oldest.
6. If you don’t get off the boat to see the dolphins underwater, you will have a great view from the boat! While nearly everyone had their heads in the water, we got to see dolphins jumping out of the water and twisting and flipping. It was awesome! So if you don’t swim at all but you don’t mind being on a boat, you can still have an amazing experience.
7. They feed you a bag of chips and a Hawaiian-beef cheeseburger with condiments on a taro bun. (I wish I could say it was delicious, but I ended up losing mine in an aloha bucket. I feel very sorry for the crew member who had to clean up my lost lunch. The rest of my family said the lunch was mediocre but filling.) They also have alcoholic drinks available for purchase if you want. We stuck with the free water and lemonade.
8. Then you stop for snorkeling. When that happens, they put out a two-story inflatable water slide. You can also get off the boat at your own pace and snorkel for about half an hour.
9. On the way back to the dock, the crew hula dances and other passengers participate as desired. They also take group pictures with the crew.
10. On our trip, there was a Japanese translator. After all instructions were given in English, everything was repeated in Japanese. Their bilingual crew member was fun to watch—very lively!
11. If you buy the photo package, you put on a wristband. The photographer takes boat and water photos of everyone wearing a wristband. You'll get photos of others on the boat as well. But there were tons of pictures, and the photographer did a great job. So you don't have to bring a camera and worry about it getting wet. They take great pics.
PROS
You can see dolphins in their natural habitat and snorkel in a beautifully blue ocean.
CONS
It’s high pressure, so if you have autistic family members, stay on the boat and watch from there. It’s still a great view.