There are eight species of dolphins in Hawaii. The bottle nose is the most common type of dolphin. This name came from its elongated upper and lower jaws. This dolphin is a very loving and friendly animal. There are cases of dolphins that rescue injured divers in the ocean.

In Hawaii you can experience swimming with dolphins. There are several companies on Oahu and The Big Island that offer a swim with these animals in the wild. These kinds of tours usually are combined with water sports such as snorkel or scuba diving.

Dolphins are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act and it is against the law to became closer than 50 yards (45 m) to them. But these friendly animals can approach to check you out. You have to consider that if dolphins prefer to keep away, you should not try to swim close to them. If dolphins come close while you are swimming in the ocean, don’t attempt to touch them and don’t make aggressive or sudden movements.

At the Sea Life Park on Oahu they have special dolphin programs that allow you to swim and hug dolphins, besides you learn about these mammals’ habits. The Dolphin Quest program will explain you why dolphins are considered one of the most intelligent creatures.

I had the fortunate opportunity to be in Hawaii in the summer of 2007 when the weather was absolutely beautiful for 3 straight months while we took a horseback tour, jumped in a shark cage and learned how to surf. It was my boyfriend and my sister and her boyfriend that found ourselves on the beautiful island of Oahu for one week before we left for the Big Island of Hawaii.

So you are probably thinking what young folks like us might end up doing on our Hawaiian vacation right? Well, let me tell you that we did not have one restful moment at all. We did a lot of our activities on the north shore where every outdoor activity imaginable can be found.

Our first activity was the shark tour where the boat took us 5 miles out to sea and dropped a cage in the water for us to enter like sitting ducks while 10 foot sharks came looking for a meal. My suggestion would be to go on an empty stomach because the ride out is pretty rough.