If you are ever visiting the Florida Aquarium in Tampa, go ahead and spring for the Wild Dolphin Encounter Boat Ride! There is a $2 discount if you have purchased a ticket to the aquarium. It's a great thing to do for a family outing or on a romantic date. ;)
Weather permitting, you will have a chance to see some of Tampa's 500 bottlenose dolphin, manatees (an endangered specie) and many types of birds. I even spotted a sting ray swimming at the surface. It's a great opportunity to get some awesome pictures or videos!
The tours last about an hour and a half will take you through the port of Tampa (one of the busiest ports in the southern states) and By Harbour Island and Davis Islands. You will also have a nice view of downtown. The tour guides are very knowledge about at the animals and landmarks that you will see and they are happy to answer any questions you may have. The main goal of the encounter tour is to educate the public about Tampa Bay. It's very educational and relaxing! There is indoor seating that is used while the boat is traveling to and from the bay. They also have snacks and drinks (including beer) for sale.
The dolphin are accustomed to boaters being in the area so they will swim right up to the side of the boat. The day I went, we must have seen at least 15 dolphin and there was even a mother with her baby! I've never seen that many dolphin together in the wild before. VERY AWESOME!!
When you've seen all the Tampa Aquarium has to offer, check out Channelside. There is plenty to do there. You can shop, go bowling at Splitsville, see a movie at the Channelside Imax or hang out at Wet Willy's for a drink. (I recommend "Call a Cab", just so happens it's the strongest one.) There is a really good Thai place called Thai Thani. Very tasty! If you catch it in time, you can take the trolly down to historic Ybor City and see a comedy show at the Improv. Channelside and Ybor city are some of the most popular places in Tampa for restaurants and night life. You'll never run out of things to do!
**They do not feed the dolphin, manatee or any animal you may see on the the encounter tour. If the animals are fed to often they could be in danger of being injured or killed so boaters are encouraged never to feed the wildlife or litter. **
Interesting dolphin fact: Dolphins have life long partners of the same sex. They will only leave their partner to mate but will always return to the same dolphin.
www.flaquarium.com
www.channelsidetampa.com
www.thaithani.net
www.splitsvillelanes.com
www.channelsideimax.com
www.tecolinestreetcar.org
www.ybor.org
www.tampaimprov.com
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Keep posting, FloridaGirl. I love reading your entries!
ReplyDeleteThe Dolphin tour was the best part of my trip to the aquarium for sure. The port of Tampa is not only one of the top ten busiest ports in America, it is also the closest deep water port in US to the Panama Canal. Still remember that from the trip. Had a few of the beers flgirl said were on the boat, made the trip that much better....
ReplyDeleteThe Florida Aquarium is a great place to visit. It had a really nice and relaxed feeling. I felt like a tourist in the Bahamas. Yet at the same time it was very educational and hands on. A definite must if you visit florida. The amount of wildlife they have is just incredible. I didn't get to check out the dolphins, so that will be my next stop. Thank you so much for posting this. I will definitely be bookmarking this site to help me plan my trips.
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