Wild Dolphin Encounter in Puerto Vallarta

Thalia was incredible!! She knows the pods so well and dozens of the dolphins have names. They recognize her boat motor and her whistle. She was beyond respectful of them. No chasing. No feeding. Just truly “asking” if they wanted to play and come meet us. She passed some dolphins because it was clear they didn’t want to see us. Then others she said “jump in! They want to play!” And sure enough they would come close to check us out and circle us and swim trying to get us to copy them. It was magical. Thalia clearly cares about the animals and respects them tremendously. I would never ever do a dolphin encounter with dolphins in captivity. It’s torture for them (truly). In this setting WE were THEIR entertainment and not the other way around. 6 stars if I could!!

If you want to experience swimming in the open ocean with wild dolphins, this is the tour to book! Thalia and Ángel are both delightful guides, fun to talk to, very knowledgeable, and respectful towards the dolphins. At one point there was a mother dolphin with her calves surfacing in the distance. Thalia could tell by the sounds the mother was making that she didn’t want to be disturbed, so we kept our distance and found another pod that was willing to come to us. A little while later a boat from another tour company chased down the mother and calves and everyone jumped in the water (of course the mother immediately left with her calves). It’s sad that most tour guides don’t know any better. Several times we noticed that the other tour boats were following us; they know that the best way to find dolphins is to follow Thalia. :) Thalia is a marine biologist and knows the various dolphin pods in the bay, and where they are likely to be. The dolphins recognize Thalia’s and Ángel’s calls and come to them - sometimes… they ARE wild dolphins after all! We were fortunate enough to swim near a few different pods, and one of the dolphins surfaced only a few feet in front of us! It was an amazing experience to be that close and even more wonderful to know they chose to swim with us. This was something my wife and I have been wanting to do for years, and we’re so glad we chose Vallarta Natours! Thank you, Thalia and Ángel, for helping fulfil a dream!

This isn't one of those sprawling companies where you don't know if you'll get the A or the B team- you are guaranteed to go out with Thalia and her excellent crew. You will be in good hands.

Of my favorite experiences in my entire life. I feel very grateful to have found Talia and that with her knowledge as a biologist she teaches us a little more about dolphins and allows us to have these types of encounters with dolphins in their natural habitat. It is wonderful and very exciting to see them in their habitat living and playing with their families ❤️

The experience is awesome, we had fun. We joined the wild dolphins encounter tour in August 2022. We saw more than 15 dolphins at the same time. We tried twice to swim with dolphins but they swam away. It was totally fine as they end up swam with the boat and we had a blast. we went to the nearby unknown beach for snorkeling and the beach is beautiful. They even offer a sandwich and drink after the tour The boat is clean and comfortable as well. Only a few steps from the shop to the pier Highly recommend the tour and the tour guide and captain are amazing.

Our wild dolphin encounter with Thalia and her captain Angel was excellent. She is very knowledgeable about the dolphins in the bay and was a great communicator. Unfortunately the dolphins did not allow us to get too close but we were able to jump in several times with them and hear them underwater. We saw many different pods playing and it was neat to see the family groups and babies. It was so neat to see many in the wild. I was aware that our dolphin encounter was entirely up to how the dolphins were feeling so I was not disappointed that we did not get super close. That is just how it goes sometimes and we saw so many dophins anyway. The lunch was yummy and you really need it after all the swimming. Thalia was also kind enough to give us a great recommendation for a local fish restaurant we were able to try a few days later. The restaurant was one of my husbands highlights especially so don't forget to ask her about it!!

This was our favorite thing about our vacation. What a dream come true! Thalia is so knowledgeable and communicates so well with the dolphins. They know each other. Her respect for them is so evident and we all felt extremely at ease in the water with the beautiful animals. Hearing them under the water and swimming with them was amazing! Book with Thalia. You won’t be disappointed, plus she made a delicious lunch with homemade cookies. 😀

Y'all. Book this excursion. Cristy, Thalia, and Jose were SUCH wonderful hosts and guides. They are all so knowledgable and fun and there was never a dull moment. We learned so much about dolphins and whales and got to see and hear amazing things! The cruise around the Bay was gorgeous, we were fully taken care of the whole time, and we made friends with LOTS of dolphins and whales - what more could you ask for?!

I had the opportunity again to go swimming with wild dolphins along with Thalia and Natours I can't get enough of this. These are experiences that mark me If you have the opportunity to do this tour do it!! Thank you Thalía!!

We had an amazing intimate experience! I highly recommend this once in a lifetime activity. Our tour guide was so nice and welcoming. We were dolphin chasing all day it was a blast. The boat is pretty luxurious too.