Hilton HHonors - Hilton Waikoloa Village - Dolphin Quest

I'm staying at the Hilton Waikoloa Village in late August and I'm considering the Dolphin Quest for my 8 and 10 year olds.

I have a couple of questions: 1) How close to the action are the parents when the kids are in the water with the dolphins? 2) Do they allow parents to take pictures and videos of their kids, or do they take the videos and pictures and sell them at a high price?

Thanks.

I'm staying at the Hilton Waikoloa Village in late August and I'm considering the Dolphin Quest for my 8 and 10 year olds.

I have a couple of questions: 1) How close to the action are the parents when the kids are in the water with the dolphins? 2) Do they allow parents to take pictures and videos of their kids, or do they take the videos and pictures and sell them at a high price?

Thanks.

DQ was an amazing experience for this big kid! I did not happen to see how close they allowed the parents, but I imagine it is along the beach. We did grab a couple of their pictures and did not find them to be outrageously expensice, though the video seemed like a waste.

We were at HWV last month and while we didn't participate in DQ, we watched from the observation area. I did see a bunch of parents taking pictures of their kids during the briefing time, which took place right behind the stage. It looked like they were able to get fairly close.

I believe they offer to take pictures and video, but if you have your own, I would go that route. While you can't get too close (i.e. in the water) you should be able to get good footage from the observation area.

First, I highly recommend reserving spots in the program as soon as they open up reservations, 60 days in advance. You can cancel if need be, but it's a good idea to reserve them as as soon as possible.

Go to dolphinquest.org and look around there, as they are making slight changes to the various programs, as well as increasing the prices. You can also make your reservations through the website.

My daughter has done the both the Dolphin Encounter and Dolphin Twilight Camp, which is offered during the summer. The camp is a 4 hour program that involves feeding the dolphins (but not getting into the water), dinner on the lagoon, and activities. She was 9 and 11 when she took part, about the same age as your kids, and had a great time.

Parents are free to take as many pictures and videos as they wish. Parents can be anywhere as long as they stay outside of the fence surrounding the lagoon. When you go to the website above and see the picture of the lagoon at HWV at the top of the page, you'll see the fence I'm talking about. IMO it's worth it to buy at least one of the pictures of the kids with the dolphins as it is a much clearer, closer picture than you'll be able to take yourself.

If you do want to purchase their video ($50 I believe) be sure to check in early the day of the encounter, as they only do a few videos of each group, and once the spots are filled for the video, that's it.

We just got back on Sunday. There are several vantage points... 1) on the dock while the kids are in the water. There are usually several groups going on at a time so depending on proximity to the particular group. 2) on the bridge closest to the Lagoon Grill (only good if your group is working with the dolphins in the holding pen in front of the bridge) 3) along the grassy observation area. This area is directly in front of the lagoon separated by a short fence all the way around. There were lots of parents taking pictures there as well as others just watching..

You can either do the kids (age 5-12) dolphin class (90 minutes) for $130 which was offered once a day or they had a meet and greet intro (10-15 minutes) for $60 when all the classes were full.

Enjoy!