Blogging With Dolphins: Our Jekyll Island Dolphin Tour

My family and I just came back from our first ever visit to the ocean! We took our summer vacation to St. Simon’s Island, Georgia and plan to go back again! While we were there, we visited Jekyll Island and took part in a dolphin tour provided to us by Jekyll Island Dolphin Tours. I gave you some info about it a few months ago in the beginning of our #BloggingWithDolphins series.

Our tour was guided by Captain Phillip, himself, and first mate Jamie, who also runs Turtle Tides Jekyll Kayaking! We were also going to go kayaking but Clay has been having problems with his knee so we opted to only do the dolphin tour this year. I really want to do the kayaking next year though!

For our Dolphin tour, when we first pulled away from the dock, the theme to Gilligan’s Island was playing. Everyone had a chuckle and I think, secretly, said a little prayer that we weren’t going to be marooned on an island somewhere. Although, it was a gorgeous place to be if it happened! 😀

The dolphin tours are approx. 90 minutes and hold around 49 people. In our group of family and friends, alone, there were 24 people and 22 of them were on the tour with us! We took up one side of the boat!

You go out on this large, commercial pontoon boat. While out on the water, the Captain and his first mate give you some history on the island, the surrounding beaches and the wildlife and marine life you may encounter.

We saw several pelicans and other water loving birds. I was a little sad that we didn’t see any sea turtles on this visit. I was really hoping to see some along with the dolphins.

However, we were lucky enough to see a lot of dolphins and that made my day!

There were several pods that swam and played right around the boat. Dolphins are my absolute favorite creature so I was thrilled to see so many. And so close! Apparently, there was some “dolphin love” taking place in front of us too, but I didn’t see any of that. Other guests were cracking up though and Captain Phillip even played some romantic music for the little love birds…. er… dolphins. tee-hee-hee

Something interesting we learned about, that, is that it actually takes “3 to tango” so to speak. When dolphins mate, the female goes belly up and the male is over top. To keep her from drowning, a “nanny” holds her head above water. This same nanny dolphin also helps the female during childbirth, again holding her head above water so she doesn’t drown, and then helping with nursing and care. I had no idea!

I fell in love with these dolphins and can’t wait to go back. If we do get to stay in St. Simons again, I plan on visiting Jekyll Island and doing the dolphin tour each year.

I have a quick video at the bottom of the post showing a few of the dolphins we saw.

The boat ride itself is incredibly relaxing. I could have easily fallen asleep just enjoying the ride and the breeze. It’s not boring in the least, though. Seeing the view and the dolphins and learning the facts of the surrounding beaches is very interesting. Our youngest daughter loved it so much she hung out right at the front just enjoying the breeze and the scenery. Even if you aren’t lucky enough to see any dolphin pods that day, it’s still very well worth the money.

We saw a beached shrimp boat that had gotten in waters that were too shallow to get out of and eventually just sank. You can see it in the photo below.

We also learned about Shark Tooth Beach that many folks go to in order to collect shark teeth that have washed ashore. One fellow booked a kayak tour and spent his entire time on the beach looking for shark teeth. I’d like to pay a visit there, myself, and see what all we could find.

The crew also passed around a Megalodon tooth that had been found at Jekyll Island. That was amazing!

Here are some more photos showing just how beautiful it is out on that water. The Atlantic ocean, Georgia’s barrier islands, inlets and canals are truly amazing.

{click to enlarge photo below}

If you are looking for something fun, interesting, affordable and relaxing to do on your Jekyll Island or St Simons Island vacation, check out Jekyll Island Dolphin Tours with Captain Phillip!

Here’s a quick video of the dolphins we saw on our trip.

Have you ever been to Jekyll Island or St. Simons Island? If so, have you done the dolphin tour?