A day after hurdling ourselves out of a plane, we were off to Rockingham, just half an hour south of Perth, for a day of swimming with wild bottle-nosed dolphins. We arrived and were greeted by the crew of Rockingham Wild Encounters and then onto the boat for a brief safety announcement before we were away.
So this might sound odd, but I have a list of things I have to do before I die. It just so happens that swimming with dolphins is #32 on the list, so getting the opportunity to be in the water with these amazing creatures was a dream come true for me. We had only be away from shore for a few minutes when the captain gave the signal that a group of dolphins had been spotted and prepare to get in the water. We suited up and within a few minutes we were sliding into the water off the back of the boat and into the water. All of us were split into two groups, each going with one leader who would move us through the water with a propellor as we hang onto the person's belt in front of you.
We instantly put our faces in the water and were surrounded by a group of dolphins swimming amongst us. They'd dive down below us and swim underneath and then back to the surface. After a few minutes of them swimming and playing with us in the water we headed back to the boat and jumped out of the water, exhilarated.
Then we got the signal from the captain again to get back in. More dolphins had been spotted. We jumped back in again and this time there were even more of them. Everywhere we turned there was another one, swimming beside or under us. We looked down and a few metres down there was another few, some of them with calves. We could hear them squeaking to each other as well!
After another two dives, each better than the last, we got out of the water. I couldn't believe what happened as the boat was pulling away! The dolphins swam beside the boat, riding in the wake, jumping out of the water! It was almost like it was their way of saying thank you for coming and playing with us. After a couple minutes of them jumping beside the boat they disappeared under the waves and were gone. After they were gone our guides told us that was probably the most dolphins they've seen all together all season!
After the huge adrenaline rush of skydiving the day before, the dolphin swim was a totally different thrill, but another amazing experience.
