Seaworld is fantastic, but I always want to have more interaction with the critters. While in the Dominican Republic, this was possilble. We saw shows, swam, snorkeled, and had a great time "playing" with the animals.

For those of you who are concerned for animal safety, these interactions are completely supervised and led by the trainers. Our actions were very structured and we followed the directions given to us, so that the animals would remain comfortable and have fun, safely.

First activity of the day was to feed the tigers. We were able to do so through a very sturdy plexiglass window with a hole in it, large enough for the special feeding fork and meat to fit through. The tigers know when it is feeding time, as it is scheduled. They look forward to these photo opportunities, as they get treats. There is no danger involved, but it is fun to tell people that you fed the tigers. For the children there, it was very exciting. We also swam in the tiger grotto, separated from the tigers by a very thick plexiglass.

Next, we watched a bird show and the sealion show. Then it was time for the Sealion Encounter. We took photos together, waved back and forth across the pool, played catch with the ball, pet them, and got really wet when they splashed us. We sat on the side of the pool and they swam in the pool. They are very fun creatures.

The sting ray encounter was next. (We pre-arranged our interactions and followed an assigned schedule). The shallow pool meant we could kneel and touch them. We were intructed on how to properly feed them, but I did not follow instructions the first time around, and got a little bite on the finger... no blood, no emergency... nothing to be alarmed by.

We moved on to the shark pool. The trainers had fun calling us shark food, and we enjoyed the interaction. Swimming with the sharks was fun, as I would never try to do this in a natural environment with un-trained animals.

Although we did not swim with dolphin this trip, the show was entertaining.

Snorkeling, swimming, and sunning were the remainder of our day. Ocean World sells photos of the encounters, and they are well worth it! The gift shop is nice, and the cafeteria has descent food and beverages.  It was a fun day of adventure.