Dolphin Swin out of St. Maartin

[tchilder]

1st time cruiser on RCI's AoS 9/17/06. Would like to do a dolphin SWIM when in St. Maartin and I see there is one out of Anguilla. I've read somewhere that wearing of jewelry is a no no due to possible injuries to the dolphins. If I need to remove jewelry, I may be too "fat" to remove my rings so I'd need to remove them before I go on vacation...if I have to.

My question(s): Is the removal of jewelry necessary? If so, are they more concerned about rings with pronged settings and I won't need to remove my eternity/wedding ring? Also, I wear a jade bangle bracelet AND a gold bangle bracelet and both are too small to remove, unless I break them...my jade bangle does have three gold pieces on it which are not smooth but well worn. I'm concerned about the dolphin folks denying me the swim due to my jewelry situation. If anyone has had an experience(s) with this issue, please advise.

[penny3333]

We did a swim with the dolphins in Cozumel. They will make you remove your jewelry, no shoes (water or fins), and no suntan lotion. The dolphins will not respond to you if they feel the least bit threatened. There was a lady in our group that had on water sandals and the dolphin would not go with her. Once she removed them, she was fine. If you are planning to snorkel, it is always advisable to remove any jewelry to not make yourself look like bait. Don't break your jewelry, talk to a jeweler. They will be able to safely remove and re-attach for you (add in some extensions). The dolphins are awesome creatures and seem to enjoy interacting with humans, but the will not go near a perceived threat. Hope this helps and have a wonderful cruise!!

[tchilder]

Thank you for the information, Penny. I appreciate your taking the time to respond.

The information you gave was most beneficial, however the option of having a jeweler work on my bangles (the jade one in particular) is unfortunately not an option. I may have to just "wing it," but at least I can remove the rest of my "baubles"...before the cruise and before I start vacation-bloating.

I may see about either wearing some sleeves to "hide" the potentially threatening jewelry OR I may be able to tape them down.

What a silly "problem" to have, huh?