Fancy a swim with dolphins?

One thing my wife Pashmeena and I always, always wanted to do was to swim with dolphins. And a couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to put a little happy tick mark against this on my mental bucket list of must do experiences before I turn into worm food.
We were at The Atlantis Palm Hotel in Dubai for the day and made a bee line for Dolphin Bay. We walked into this incredibly set up lagoon where a group just before us were already in the water and playing with four dolphins. You get goose bumps just watching how intelligent, gentle and all around wonderful these animals are.
We waited for 10 minutes for an orientation class and then it was off to the change rooms to get into our wet suits and then straight to lagoon one where our dolphin named S2 was already making chirping noises as she waited for us.
My most vivid memories in life are at those moments when I am fully present and my mind stops thinking long enough to simply take in all in. This is how I know I was very alive when our dolphin S2 came up to me and gave me a hug...yup... literally a hug. I didn’t lock eyes with her or exchange knowing winks from one air loving mammal to another. But for those first few moments I experienced a better understanding and appreciation for these amazing swimmers than any stack of text books or hours of video could ever hope to accomplish.
To say it was surreal or a life changing experience still wouldn’t give it justice. It goes well beyond. This dolphin played with us, swam with us, gave us a kiss on the cheek, wanted its belly rubbed and most noteworthy of all, when you do make eye contact, you see so much life and gentleness in a dolphin’s eyes that it makes you shudder.
In those moments in the water, everything had fallen away except the beauty of that dolphin.
Still, I’ve only given you the tip of the iceberg. Because I realize if I launch into a full blown story of all I experienced, from the inside out, in those moments, it’ll be just that; my story.
I’d rather encourage you to get yourself to The Atlantis in Dubai and experience the thrill firsthand. I can guarantee it will stir something inside you and will give you a new appreciation for life as a whole.
So get cracking and start with a dolphin experience as number one on your bucket list. I promise you that you will remember it for the rest of your life and smile every time that you do.