Temptation Sailing Glenelg Review | SA’s Great Travel Planner

When do you call it swimming with dolphins, or just swimming kind of in their general vicinity? That’s the question I ask myself after a dolphin cruise experience.

When do you call it swimming with dolphins, or just swimming kind of in their general vicinity?

That’s the question I ask my family on this Saturday morning when we joined a dolphin cruise that taught us a lot but left us without the actual dolphin swim experience.

In their defence, it wasn’t the company’s fault, it’s just luck of the draw. And whenever my family get together it’s always a barrel of laughs so we had fun anyway.

We arrive early and are surprised to meet a large crowd eagerly waiting to join us on the cruise. After sorting out wetsuits — thank God in this weather — we run through safety measures, procedures and are off into the Gulf, the home of more than a thousand territorial common and bottlenose dolphins.

The majority of our group is there to swim, however you can also opt for the cruise alone at a discounted fee.

Staff are on the lookout with binoculars and yell out when dolphins are spotted; directing us when to head to the back of the boat and when to jump in. Ropes with buoys are attached to the back of the boat for swimmers to hold on to and float, waiting to catch a glimpse of the beautiful creatures.

And that’s how the entire morning went — in, out, in, out — so a relative amount of fitness is required.

Luckily at one point I didn’t blink too slowly and caught a sideway glance of the majestic animal underwater.

Spotting dolphins with Temptation Sailing. Picture: Tara Nash

I’m not that into animals — just ask my childhood pet rabbit — but there’s something about dolphins that are utterly breathtaking.

We also spot a few more above water, and a couple more from the boat in the distance. And that was unfortunately it.

It’s no easy feat for the company, they cannot control how many dolphins we see or how close they get, so it’s a run-at-your-own-risk kind of day.

A money-back guarantee is offered if no dolphins are spotted and you don’t get into the water at all, which means you will be refunded the difference between the watch and the dolphin swim.

But Temptation Sailing boasts of a 100 per cent success rate of seeing dolphins, and apparently the previous day saw plenty.

Tired from climbing in and out of the boat to not much avail, we’re all rounded up to learn more about these incredibly intelligent animals. Firstly, each dolphin has a unique squeal. They send off vibrations underwater and can feel if it bounces back to them to know how far away something is.

The Nash family went on a dolphin swimming experience with Temptation Sailing. Picture: Tara Nash

And they have to consciously swim. While one hemisphere of their brain sleeps, the other consciously breathes (not unlike me at that time in the morning) while on the lookout for sharks. And it turns out they’re not too different in other ways to us humans. “Are they the only other mammal who mates for pleasure?” one overly eager swimmer asks (me), and the answer is “well since you went there, yes”.

When they’re young, the males play together, and jump around pods of women to find a mate “like men at a nightclub”.

Males try their luck with females but if that’s not working out, they try another. They can sometimes get quite rough, which is why some dolphins can often be spotted with cuts (cue my mother’s horrified gasps).

It turns out these are the lucky ones because the dolphin babies are like a “shark’s biscuit” and about 60 per cent are eaten. When that happens, their mothers mourn like humans.

By the end, we’re a bit deflated from finishing the morning without swimming with dolphins, but leave with smiles on our faces awaiting an indulgent brunch on the wharf.

Reviews are unannounced and paid for by SAWeekend.

This review was first published in July 2018 and details updated in March 2021.

• 10 Holdfast Promenade, Glenelg
• 0412 811 838
• dolphinboat.com.au
• LOCATION Glenelg wharf, 15 minutes from Adelaide’s CBD.
• WHAT 3½ hour cruise. Wetsuits, snorkels and masks provided, Bring a camera, towel, sunblock, hat, swim wear.
• PRICE adults $120, children ages nine to 15 $110; peak season (December-January school holidays): adults $130, ages nine to 15 $120.