Swimming with the dolphins with Temptation Sailing: Amber enjoys the waters off the Adelaide Coast region of South Australia
It's a perfect morning as we head out of Holdfast Shores Marina at Glenelg aboard 'Temptation' - a luxury 58-foot catamaran skippered by Stephen Waites. Stephen originally built Temptation to work the Great Barrier Reef but after spending a summer in Adelaide he never left. He now runs Temptation Sailing offering a once in a lifetime opportunity to swim with the dolphins that live off Adelaide's suburban coastline.
Mike, Crew Member: "The action we get this morning is due to the dolphin's sense of curiosity and their fun loving playful nature. So whatever happens this morning guys is totally up to the dolphins."
Temptation was the first boat in South Australia to be granted a dolphin swim licence and over the years they've formed a close relationship with these fascinating creatures.
Stephen Waites, Temptation Sailing: "We don't chase the dolphins. We have to work out which direction they're going, head in that direction and stay about 50 metres off, wait until the dolphins come to us, then get the swimmers in the water. If the dolphins don't come over to us we have to go find another pod. We don't want to disturb them because it's all about tomorrow - we've got to think about getting interaction tomorrow. If we try to get too much interaction today, then they'll be upset with you tomorrow."
As crew members, Mike and Stephen's daughter Jade keep a lookout for the tell-tale signs of dolphins playing in the distance, there's a real sense of excitement among the passengers as we get ready for one of the most exhilarating experiences of our lives.
"Here they come this side. Ok - swimmers looking out this side - a good size pod coming towards you."
It's organised chaos as one by one we jump into the water and take our place along the swimming lines trailing behind the boat and right on cue, the locals come out to play. The gulf has more than a thousand common and bottlenose dolphins usually in the clearer waters south of Glenelg off Hallet Cove or towards Port Stanvac.
Stephen Waites, Temptation Sailing: "We do research on them everyday, we do fin analysis and a lot of days we'll come out here and see a pod of 20 that we've never ever seen before. So we've probably got a couple of thousand of different fins on our data base - so there's a lot of dolphins."
On a typical cruise you'll see at least half a dozen pods and get to spend time in the water with most of them. And they even offer a money back guarantee - if you don't get to swim with them, they'll refund the difference in your ticket. Temptation Sailing operates from Holdfast Shores Marina at Glenelg. Their Dolphin Cruises depart daily at 8am - returning about 11.30. If you have any further questions please email info@postcards-sa.com.au
Temptation Sailing
Holdfast Shores Marina
Glenelg
Ph: 0412 811 838Dolphin Watch Cruise: $58.00
Dolphin Swim Cruise: $98.00Published 4th October 2009
