Dolphin Cove was founded in February of 1999 with the opening of 1 park in Ocho Rios. However, a dolphin lagoon was not the original plan for the site, with a real estate development being designed for the land. Having loved marine mammals his whole life, and after some extensive research at a few different dolphin parks, the founder of Dolphin Cove saw what a high demand there was for dolphin/human interaction and how much of an impact these beautiful animals had on the people from all around the world. He saw this as an amazing life opportunity and thought, why not?!
He knew he couldn’t do it on his own, so he enlisted in some good investors and with much persistence he was able to get approval for the opening of the first Dolphin Cove! After a lot of hard work and 13 years, we have a total of four parks, Dolphin Cove Ocho Rios, Montego Bay, Grand Cayman and now Negril. Dolphin Cove is known for its beautiful natural saltwater lagoons and excellent animal care and training.
Always with plans to expand, Dolphin Cove Grand Cayman is looking at following the footsteps of our sister parks in Jamaica and adding sharks and all sorts of other critters to our collection. Our beautiful Macaws are currently working towards creating an amazing bird show for our guests. Come into our naturally preserved Cayman jungle forest, and view our 9 parrots that call this jungle home. Do you think it is possible to train fish? Well we are trying! Trainers are working hard every day to get the first ever Tarpon City up and running. A brand new addition of gorgeous lovebirds has arrived and become part of the Dolphin Cove family. Let them fly all around you and land on your hands. See how many you can hold! These bright and colorful birds make this an experience you won’t soon forget.
“When it comes to Dolphin Cove, the happiness of the animals and the guests is of the most importance to me. When I look out my window and see the smiles on people faces or hear them laughing and clapping, I know I’m giving them the experience of a lifetime! I have a great passion for animals and love that we and other marine parks across the world are all working together to create awareness for the marine environment.
My greatest passion is Rapid Development Therapy and its effects on those who come to us with a disability and leave doing things that they couldn’t dream about doing before they met our dolphins. You really would be amazed at some of the results our children, adults and parents, get from just 5 days spent with Ziggy or Nemo. Something as simple as being able to brush your teeth or drink a glass of water, not all children are able to do that. After meeting our dolphins and therapist, they discover that they can do it too. Our dolphins are not only making people happy, they are changing lives.”
Neil Burrows - Park Director,
Dolphin Cove, Grand Cayman
