Swimming with dolphins, Glenelg: Adelaide dolphin cruise review

It’s possible to swim with dolphins in Adelaide on a Glenelg dolphin cruise. Temptation Sailing runs an early morning cruise from Glenelg Marina.

To book a swimming with dolphins cruise from Glenelg, Adelaide, step this way.

For a review of the Adelaide dolphin swim experience, read on.

Adelaide dolphin cruise: An early start

Glenelg is Adelaide’s best-loved beachside suburb. An 11km tram ride to the south-east of Adelaide’s museum-packed CBD, it brims with fish and chip shops, cafés, ice cream parlours and bars like the Moseley Beach Club.

But arrive at Glenelg’s marina early in the morning, and you can take on a far more exciting adventure.

Temptation Sailing operates a 58 foot catamaran that goes cruising up Adelaide’s stretch of the St Vincent Gulf. Various jaunts are available, including an afternoon tea cruise and an evening cruise that allows visitors to watch the sunset over the water.

Dolphin swimming tours from Glenelg

But it’s the early morning cruises from Glenelg that are of most interest. These half-day cruises head out to observe Adelaide’s dolphin colony. And, if you want to, you can get in the water with the dolphins. This is how you swim with dolphins in Adelaide.

The crew on the Glenelg dolphin cruise are never worried about whether the dolphins will show up. There are always some hanging around just off the coast, and they simply sail around until some raise their fins and backs above the water.

By this stage, everyone is fully kitted up with wetsuits and snorkels, and the slightly farcical process of getting in the water begins.

Everyone has to slide off the end of the boat in turn, being careful not to make a large splash that scares the dolphins away. They then have to make their way along the ropes trailing from the back of the boat as it moves, holding on.

It’s all rather chaotic, and visibility is reduced by the fact everyone’s still moving. It’s not quite swimming as such, either – more just being in the water with the dolphins.

But such technicalities don’t matter a jot when the dolphins swim past. They’re often synchronised with each other, too. Get a calm moment on this Adelaide dolphin swim cruise, when you’re not frantically splashing to stay afloat and Flipper is in sight, and it’s a genuinely memorable experience.

Adelaide dolphin swimming prices

Prices for Adelaide’s half day swim with dolphins tour are $130 during peak holiday periods. For those content to stay on the boat and watch, it’s $78. Bookings, with mobile-friendly tickets and instant confirmation, should be be made online.

Other Adelaide activities to try out at the end of a Melbourne to Adelaide road trip include climbing the Adelaide Oval, mountain biking tours from Mt Lofty Summit, TreeClimb Adelaide and bushwalking to Morialta Falls in the Morialta Conservation Park.

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Humpback whales near Exmouth in Western Australia

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