Swimming With Wild Dolphins In Western Australia

One of the most popular things to do when travelling, swimming with wild dolphins is a wonderful experience, not just because of their friendly and inquisitive nature, but because they choose to interact with you of their accord. You have a chance to swim with wild dolphins in Koombana Bay in Western Australia, 175km south of Perth, organised by the Dolphin Discovery Centre. If you’re interested to know what it involves, we spoke to Danielle Pons about her experience.

Why did you decide to go swimming with the dolphins in Koombana Bay?
It was a little cheaper than some alternatives and was on the way to Margaret River region (part of our plan to take a little road trip south of Perth). It also seemed to have more of an “Eco” focus.

As they’re wild dolphins, there’s no guarantee you’ll actually get to swim with them; did this put you off at all?
There was a little worry that we may miss seeing dolphins but the website mentioned great statistics for sightings (something like 90% of trips including sightings) and a guarantee of a free second trip should we not see any dolphins.

What’s the procedure once you’re out on the water? Do you go by boat and wait for a sighting?
There seemed to be three or four key spots the dolphins usually hung out in the beautiful bay there. Our guides are out on the bay every day (most of whom are marine biologist and marine biology students) and have gotten to know the dolphins’ favourite spots and daily movements.

So we visited a key spot close to shore first and then a second spot further out later on, with the option of a third spot to stop the boat and get out for a swim.

While we weren’t guaranteed the dolphins would come by us (the non-intrusive nature of the tours requires that we do not interrupt the dolphins’ regular behaviour but rather wait and see whether they’d like to interact with us) we had dolphins swim quite close to our swim group on the first stop, then right under us on the second stop and by the third stop I was so satisfied and in awe after the encounter I stayed on the boat to watch a group of dolphins swimming literally all around the boat and swimmers, just checking us all out.

What briefing are you given from your instructor?
We were given the standard type safety briefings but the most interesting was the information described by the head biologist telling us all about the animals’ behaviour and the history of the dolphins in the area over the last century or so.

There are dolphins that have been coming back to the bay for decades (most of them are known and named by Dolphin Discovery Centre staff) and there are dolphins that visit for mating and feeding, and sometimes there are visiting dolphins who aren’t welcome and are run off by the sometimes territorial local dolphins! It was fun to watch some of this in action as the guides and biologists described their funny behaviours to us.

What happened once in the water with the dolphins? How did they interact with you?

My favourite moment was when they swam under us. One of the dolphins came quite close and rolled on it’s side to pause and gaze at us for a little while – it was just as curious as we were!

Once we got off the boat we also managed to catch an encounter on the shores where the dolphins visit for some small fish. They stayed for a long time in the shallows swimming back and forth along our line of humans, almost inviting us to play with them. It was difficult to keep from reaching out to touch them or hold back from swimming in to play, however (as explained by the biologists) as they are indeed wild dolphins, the less impact we can have on their usual lives and communities, the better.

Was there anything that surprised you?
How much knowledge the guides had about these dolphins and how warm and easy they all were with us tourists. I left feeling like I had gotten to know some lovely people and the local and environmental information they shared really left an impression on me.

How long were you in the water with them?
A total of perhaps 45 minutes at different moments throughout the boat ride.

Would you say you have to be a good swimmer to do the swim encounter?
Not at all! The wetsuits kept me so buoyant I barely had to paddle! You’d want to be able to swim but you don’t have to be an athlete.

Did you do anything else at the centre?
We had a look at all the amazing species of marine life in their aquarium – the octopus was my favourite!

The Swim Encounter with the Dolphin Discovery Centre costs $149pp for swimmers and $85pp for observers. Book yours now at dolphindiscovery.com.au.

Things To Do At The Dolphin Discovery Centre