Dolphin safari

Swimming with dolphins is something many people dream of, and plenty do... but few would even imagine beautiful dolphin encounters every single day. But that is exactly what I experienced on my Wild and Free holiday, a six-day live-aboard in the Red Sea, Egypt.

The fledgling "Dolphin Safari", offered by the Wild and Free husband and wife team Khaled and Ruth, is only in its second year, the core of the business being daily dolphin trips from the shore at Marsa Alam.

And it's testament to the success of last year's debut trip that no fewer than eight of the same guests were booked onto the 2008 holiday - fuelled by "such a wonderful time", the newly formed group of friends had returned from Egypt in 2007 and booked this year's trip within the month.

Our good-sized group - 14 guests, a mixture of solo voyagers and pairs - soon bonded, and the range of different ages and personalities worked well.

Those of us on our own were in shared cabins, thus ensuring we immediately got to know our "roomy" and that we felt a part of what quickly became a little family.

The first morning after arrival onboard the Sea Scorpion, our comfortable and perfectly sized vessel in Marsa Alam, we set off on our voyage, relaxing in the 36 sunshine that never left us throughout the holiday.

The first dolphin sighting came extremely early on, which set the tone for a week literally full of them (Ruth even joked that the punctual arrival of the first spinners was actually their very own pod of blow-up dolphins).

As we had literally only just set off, the first experience with these beautiful spinner dolphins was purely from the surface, and what an experience it was. They were clearly in playful mood, and the crystal clear waters offered the perfect opportunity to view the pod of around 10 at play in their natural world.

Continued from previous page So much better than any "experience" in a captive environment could ever be, we gazed, awe-struck as these happy creatures danced along the boat's bow waves, and they looked up at us, equally enthralled with these strange, above-water creatures.

Magical though this was, the encounters simply got better and better.

The beauty of being on the boat for the week was that we (or rather our captain, Tito) could simply dash off at a moment's notice - if the dolphins we happened upon moved off, we could up anchor and go with them, or find a new pod that was happy to play.

While spinners were the dolphins we actually swam alongside, bottlenose also turned up to play, dazzling us with their daredevil manoeuvres at the bow of the boat as we travelled at speed, twisting through the waves, and swimming on their sides so they could eye us through the clear water.

Included in the holiday package were the freshly prepared three meals a day, which catered for us veggies extremely well, as well as water and all soft drinks, lending that all-important air of luxury to the week.

The only time we came remotely close to exerting ourselves was in trying to keep up with those pesky porpoises which is, of course, as it should be.

The encounters themselves were wonderful and simple, even for those not entirely happy in the water.

I took my own snorkelling equipment, but arrangements beforehand secured hiring options, and once the dolphins had been sighted, we simply snapped on snorkel, mask and fins, jumped in, and waited to see what happened. More often than not the family groups were extremely inquisitive and desperate to play with us, spinning and twisting and testing the nearest swimmer to them by catching their eye and challenging them to keep up.

Mothers showed no fear for their babies, allowing them to swim directly beside us, something I wasn't expecting and which left me very moved.

Having found a reef that seemed to be home to a particular pod, which changed in numbers from around 12 to as many as 100, we stationed ourselves there for several days, enjoying at least one encounter a day, usually two.

Not that dolphin swimming is the only leisure activity on offer. If you start to become slightly blasé about the encounters (it CAN happen), there's plenty to keep everyone happy - sunbathing, relaxing on deck, jumping in for a cooling swim or snorkelling, taking in the huge amount of marine life that swarms the abundant corals.

Being able to see some of the same dolphins again and again, we all soon formed our favourites - mine were "Bump", a large adolescent male with big white scrapes on his back, and a gorgeous little baby who was blind in one eye, and consequently had to change sides to get a good look at you.

Encounters ranged from short trips out in rigid inflatable boats to catch up with pods, to literally launching ourselves off the front of the Scorpion, landing among a group that had come to have a look and see what we were all about.

Each of the guests was tutored beforehand in correct dolphin swimming etiquette, which ensured that no one crossed the line and interfered with the dolphins' space in anyway - hands off is the only way to interact.

It's something Ruth, who has a strong background in wild dolphin swimming, feels very strongly about.

Working in ecotourism since 1988, the Brazilian-born naturalist first swam with Egypt's dolphins in 1994 and says of the "deeply spiritual and healing" encounters: "I consider it a privilege to spend time with animals and an honour to share the experience with others."

Her expertise coupled with some of the world's most stunning waters, perfect, sea breeze-kissed weather, and truly magical encounters with these peaceful, fun-loving creatures, resulted in what can truly only be described as the holiday of a lifetime.

FACTFILE

Wild and Free is a UK company operating Dolphin Swim holidays in Egypt. They offer eco-village based wild dolphin swimming holidays all year and boat-based wild dolphin swimming safaris in July and August (see dolphinswims.co.uk)

Both run in the Marsa Alam area, Egypt. A 7-night holiday in July or August 2009 will cost £680.

Email: wildandfreetravel@gmail.com

Website: dolphinswims.co.uk

Tel: 0845 345 9052