Dolphin Eco Tour with The Dolphin Explorer Marco Island, FL 

The Dolphin Eco Tour with The Dolphin Explorer Marco Island, FL is an amazing ethical animal tour for the whole family. On this three-hour boat tour, you’ll join the dolphin research team and get to know the local dolphins. The Dolphin Project is the only on-going study of wild dolphins in Southwest Florida and the only study in the United States that is open to the general public. Make sure to file this under bucket list moments!

During the cruise, you’ll participate in locating, counting, and identifying individual dolphins based on their unique dorsal fins. The naturalists have a guidebook of all the identified dolphins in the area for you to work off of, and the environment is very collaborative between the attendees and the naturalists. 

The boats are very kid-friendly. We were able to bring our stroller onboard for our son who was only one at the time. He took a nap during part of the ride right in his stroller. Kids who are awake can earn a Dolphin Explorer Team Badge by helping the the naturalists track dolphin sightings in the Dolphin Explorer Challenge. My older son and nephew, three and four years old at the time, had a blast with this. They get a tracking sheet to check off which dolphins they’ve seen and are awarded a badge at the end. 

In the middle of the cruise, everyone disembarks onto a small island beach where you can shell. The cruise comes with shelling bags for you to keep. We saw some interesting sea creatures and beautiful shells washed up. The naturalist also takes a group photo of your party here. The photos are printed onboard and given to you at the end of the cruise. They are a great souvenir to take home after a memorable day!