Dolphin Cove is a marine park on the coast opposite Dunn's River Falls, about seven kilometres from the Ocho Rios cruise terminal, where you can enter the water with bottlenose dolphins, nurse sharks and stingrays. It keeps cetaceans in captivity, which is a contested practice, and we set out both sides below so you can decide before you pay.
History
Two Jamaicans and four dolphins
Dolphin Cove was built by Stafford and Marilyn Burrowes, who researched the model by visiting dolphin facilities elsewhere before committing. The Ocho Rios park opened in February 2001 on roughly three acres across the road from Dunn's River Falls, with an initial investment of about US$1 million and four dolphins. It was the first attraction of its kind in Jamaica.
Expansion came fast. Adjacent land was bought from the Urban Development Corporation in 2003 and the enlarged park opened in 2007 with around 15,000 feet of ocean frontage. A second site followed at Half Moon in 2005, and in 2010 a 23 acre park between Montego Bay and Negril at a reported US$5 million.
A junior market success, then a sale
In December 2010 Dolphin Cove listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Junior Market, offering 80 million shares at J$3 to raise J$240 million. The issue was heavily oversubscribed, and for a while it was the standard example cited when Jamaicans argued the junior market worked. In November 2015 the Mexican operator The Dolphin Company paid US$30.72 million for 58 per cent, and later US$4.74 million for a further 9.04 per cent. Burrowes took just over US$35 million out of the business he started.
The last two years
The story since has been financial rather than aquatic. On 31 March 2025 the ultimate parent, Leisure Investments Holdings LLC, filed for Chapter 11 in Delaware. Dolphin Cove Limited itself did not file and kept trading. In September 2025 the majority holder put its 79.99 per cent stake up for sale, and on 9 July 2026 signed a purchase agreement with Global Attractions Ltd, incorporated in Saint Lucia on 16 March 2026, less than four months earlier. The price was not disclosed and the people behind Global Attractions are not public.
Trading has been hard too. Hurricane Melissa made landfall in western Jamaica on 28 October 2025 as a Category 5, the strongest storm ever recorded to hit the country. Revenue for the quarter to March 2026 fell 39 per cent to US$2.5 million and profit fell 83 per cent to US$140,000. Stafford Burrowes still holds around 9.8 per cent and chairs the board.
The captivity question, stated plainly
Keeping whales and dolphins for public display is genuinely disputed, and not on the fringe. Canada banned cetacean captivity for entertainment in 2019 under Bill S-203. Tripadvisor stopped selling tickets to venues that keep or breed captive cetaceans in October 2019, and Expedia Group followed in November 2021, which is why you often cannot book these programmes through the big platforms.
The welfare case is that bottlenose dolphins are wide ranging, long lived and socially complex, and that no enclosure reproduces the range, depth and social choice of the ocean. The industry case is that accredited facilities provide veterinary care and food security, that peer reviewed survival analyses have found captive survival rates at least comparable to some wild populations, and that public contact funds marine conservation. Both claims have published research behind them and the literature does not resolve cleanly either way. Dolphin Cove breeds on site rather than taking animals from the wild, and reported four calves born in an 18 month period before 2010.
That is the position. If it sits badly with you, Ocho Rios has plenty of water that does not involve an enclosure.
What it costs and when it opens
Open daily, roughly 11am to 5pm. Published rates are around US$75 for Admission Plus, US$69 for the Shark Encounter, US$119 for the Dolphin Encounter, US$149 for the Dolphin Swim Adventure and US$189 for the Dolphin Royal Swim, with about 10 per cent off for booking online. Photo and video packages are separate and start around US$99, which is where a lot of the real spend happens.
Children are priced by height, not age. Above about 4 feet 6 inches they take part at the adult rate. Between roughly 3 feet 3 inches and 4 feet 6 inches they need a paying adult in the water for the swim programmes. Below that, only the Encounter is available.
What it is actually like
A well run commercial operation timed to cruise ship arrivals, and it feels like one. Programmes run to a fixed slot, groups move through in sequence, and the photographers work the whole way. The dolphin time itself is short relative to the price. Beyond the water there is a jungle trail with iguanas, snakes and birds, a small beach, kayaks and a restaurant, which is what plain admission gets you. Midweek and outside cruise arrivals is markedly calmer.
What to bring
- Reef safe sunscreen, applied well before you enter the water
- A towel and a change of clothes
- Card or cash for photos, which are not included in any package
- Water shoes for the rocky shoreline
How it fits a day
YaadBinge slots Dolphin Cove at 11am to 1.30pm, straight after Dunn's River Falls, because the two sit opposite each other and the transfer is five minutes. That gets you the falls at 8.30am before the buses and the afternoon free.
Without an in water programme, plain admission is a two hour visit at most, and there are cheaper ways to spend an Ocho Rios afternoon. Book the swim slot in advance either way, because walk up availability on cruise days is poor.
