Hey check out this fantastic hotel, you can swim with the dolphins in a pool, they have shows and a zoo, I'm going to check it out in July, I have a friend going up there this weekend, I wish I knew about it before. go to www.balimelkaresort.com

just received a s***load of abuse on another forum about cruelty to animals etc. I'm sorry if this post offends anyone, I actually didn't think anything of it and was quite excited to be able to swim with dolphins, the cruelty thing didn't even enter my mind sorry.

No worries, you were just trying to share something you thought might be enjoyable. If other people have a problem with it, they should contact those responsible.

I have not been to the place mentioned, so have no opinion. Ideally the dolphins would be wild, swimming in the ocean with the freedom to leave. In Australia there is a place called Monkey Mia where dolphins come in to shore.

The morning 'dolphin-watching' boat rides in Lovina are best avoided, as you get an armada of boats chasing a few dolphins. Once the dolphins have been surrounded the boats circle, creating a cloud of diesel fumes. Not exactly what people signed up for.

I have been on those silly boats with my 5 year old daughter and we felt sick from the fumes and didn't see any dolphins.

Yes dolphin 'ecotourism' is a tricky situation. I haven't seen the dolphins in Lovina (although I did make it to Lovina) but have seen irresponsible boat drivers scaring the dolphins by going too close.

I did check out the Kratie scene in Cambodia because it seemed like it was managed well by WWF? The boat driver was a lot more responsible than the ones here in Borneo (Kuching) but it could still be better.

Nick you brought up a good point because complaints to the management do work. Once, in a resort here in Borneo, the idiotic manager decided to bring in an illegally bought baby orang utan because he thought that would please the tourists. Well, it does please those who don't know any better but the ones who were truly upset of a baby orang utan being kept in a cage and being overfed and not stimulated, complained. They wrote letters and cc:ed it to the international hotel chain (very smart) and NGOs of concern. That worked. The orang utan was eventually brought to a rehab center.

And oh, I personally wouldn't want to go to a hotel that uses dolphins to promote their business and can see why others were upset by your post.

I'm horrified by this! They even lease out dolphins to 'certified environments' (whatever they mean by that). Transportation is extremely stressful to dolphins. Also, dolphins in captivity and in constant close contact to humans are susceptible to a range of human diseases (constant problems with Staphylo-/Streptococcus infections).

I'd never heard of the place, so I googled a bit. Sure enough, a 'Boycott Melka' link came up, which took me to an (ehrm) erotic website

There are many responsible dolphin watch operators. There are even some places (like the aforementioned Monkey Mia) where wild dolphins come close to shore. Swimming with them should never be enforced, nor should they ever be chased, as is the case with wild dolphin watching in Lovina.