The Ocean World Adventure Park in Puerta Plata – Dominican Republic
05.01.2025
Between dolphins, sea lions, sharks and parrots…
Next to Ocean World Marina is Ocean World Adventure Park, a large amusement park with various animal shows and a swimming park.
Is Ocean World Adventure Park worth a visit?
A ticket costs around USD 80 and includes a lunch buffet, four animal shows, snorkeling in an (artificial) reef, and swimming in a natural pool with a slide park and sunbathing area. For an additional USD 129, you can get up close and personal with sea lions and sharks, and swimming with dolphins is available for USD 229. Swimming with dolphins is particularly popular; you can frolic with the animals in various pools, let them pull you through the water, or pet them as you swim by. This always takes place in groups with a trainer and is time-limited. The facility is spacious; the dolphins can move between pools and are lively and playful. The facility gives me the impression—as far as one would expect for creatures in captivity—that the animals are well cared for and receive intensive, individualized care.
We didn't book any additional tickets, so we can only offer an observer's opinion: The interaction between guests and animals was very relaxed and always closely supervised by trainers. There was no crowding, and every guest with an additional ticket was able to have physical contact and a few additional activities with or near the animals. If you're looking for something like that, this is the place to be, in my opinion.
Overall, I really enjoyed the interactive animal shows. There are two to three shows per animal per day, so you can visit them all in a relaxed manner without the animals being in constant action. What I liked best was how close you get to the animals—there are no special barriers, so some animals, like the sea lions and sharks, are just a few steps away. You can even come into physical contact with the birds.
The artificial reef impresses with its large variety of fish; here too, you can get very close to the fish while snorkeling.
In my opinion, the swimming areas were primarily for children and teenagers, who had a lot of fun with the large swimming rings or the inflatable climbing frames and slides. There was a separate pirate-themed pool for the little ones.
Overall, we really enjoyed our visit. It's a beautiful facility, not overcrowded (even though we were there on a Sunday). It's a relaxed atmosphere, and you can observe all the animals up close. The spacious dolphin enclosure, in particular, offers plenty of insight into and interaction with these animals.
