Journeys›Photograph

Swimming with Dolphins in Cabo

·Cabo San Lucas, Mexico·#swimming#water#animals#pool#dolphins
A person in a snorkel mask holds a dolphin in a large blue pool with other people and buildings in the background.

Dolphin swim day at the big pool by the marina in Cabo San Lucas. Trainers in blue lined everyone up along the shallow ledge, then took us out in small groups, one dolphin at a time.

The main event was the foot push and the dorsal tow — grab both pectoral fins, hang on, and get hauled across the pool faster than seems reasonable for an animal that close to your face. Underwater it was better than at the surface: the dolphin would circle down near the bottom and come back around, mouth open, letting you hold on while it climbed toward the light. The pool bottom was pale enough that you could watch it coming from a long way off.

Each of us got a turn, kids included, and the dolphin never seemed to be doing more than about a third of its actual effort. Land's End hill sat behind the fence the whole time, brown and dry, palm trees along the far rail.

A person in a blue shirt and flippers hugs a dolphin underwater with its mouth open.A person wearing a blue rashguard and goggles hugs a large dolphin underwater in clear blue water.A person swims underwater next to a dolphin, with sunlight patterns visible on the sandy bottom.An underwater view of a person snorkeling next to a dolphin in clear blue water with sunlight patterns.A person in a mask swims in a blue pool alongside a dolphin, with other people and buildings in the background.A person wearing a mask underwater holds onto a dolphin's dorsal fin in clear blue water.A person wearing goggles and a swimsuit hugs a dolphin underwater in clear blue water.A person in a snorkel mask swims with a dolphin in a large blue pool, with buildings and a hill in the background.

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