Take Part

in one of the greatest wildlife experiences on earth!

 

Swim or dive with hundreds of sea lions!

 

A close encounter with sea lions in the water is one of the greatest wildlife experiences one can ever hope to have. “Are you kidding?”, is often the first response from our clients when we are offering them the opportunity of swimming or diving with sea lions. Indeed, jumping in the water in front of a sea lion colony with hundreds of them being around may seem at first glance a scary and potentially risky thing to do. But in fact, it is the biggest fun imaginable.

When swimming with sea lions you will be surrounded in seconds by dozens of sea lion heads popping out of the water, curiously looking at you with their incredibly beautiful big black eyes. “Wait a moment? No more sea lions in front of you?” Well, just take a look over your shoulder the whole bunch is already behind your back  making fun of you!

And that’s what it is all about, having a good time – for both, humans and sea lions. As curiously as we are look at them they look at us too. The only thing you have to do is enjoy observing them when popping out of the water in front of and around you, jumping and hurling around or looking at you from below and rocketing past you.

Swimming with sea lions is great fun for everybody. You don’t need to be a great swimmer either as your wet suit will maintain you warm and floating above the waterline and you don’t need to actually swim great distances. The sea lions will approach you, maintain their distance and leave, once they are done checking you out – giving way to a dozen or so other sea lions also wanting to have a look!

You came here for a dive?  You will get that and much much more. However, don’t expect great visibility, when diving in front of a sea lion colony. The water is full of floating/sinking remains from their last dinner (Sorry, but we at Nature Expeditions like to tell it like it is). But you wont need to see very far as the sea lions will approach you very close. While being at the surface, they mostly will maintain a safe distance of more than an arms length, but being under water they often become “a little” bolder: Being marine animals with no hands to actually touch you, sea lions will try to figure you out using their mouth. They won’t bite you, but you will find them approaching from behind and very softly feeling your fins with their teeth or even trying out an arm or leg to see what a wet suit feels like.

To watch videos and slideshows about swimming/diving with sea lions CLICK HERE

 

Full-day: Swimming with sea lions

Includes:

• Hotel pick-up and terrestrial transport
• Marine transport
• Lunch box
• 7mm wetsuit, mask snorkel, dive-boots and fins
• German/English/Spanish speaking guide

Price (Valid till 31.12.2012): 450 Soles per person (does not include tax)

Minimum number of participants: 2

There has never been an accident with sea lion swimmers in Peru. However as a standard practise we will ask you to sign a “no-liability” form for this trip. Please make sure to read our safety advice at the bottom of this page.

Book your tour or get more information

You can also phone us at: (0051) (1) 994 10 42 06

To watch videos and slideshows about swimming/diving with sea lions CLICK HERE

 

What’s different on our swim-with sea lion tours in comparison to other companies?

• We offer exclusive service. We are taking you out to sea in smallest groups. You have our and the sea lions full attention.
• Our sea lion swimming is not restricted to only 15 minutes – with us you dive and swim as long as you want – really! – You want to do this for 5-6 hours in the water? – go ahead and enjoy: this is your once–in-a-lifetime-sea-lion-day!
• We are not throwing you in the water with a thin surfing-wetsuit and bare-foot (making you freeze fast, shortening the time you want to stay) or with a life west on top of your suit (making it uncomfortable to swim and hard to fully enjoy). We provide you with a full seven mm wetsuit, mask, snorkel, shoes and diving fins. This way you can stay in the water and enjoy as many hours as you wish without freezing.
• Our guides are biologists that actually can interpret animal behavior and would recognize any potentially dangerous situation much faster, react inmediately and this way avoid accidents.

 

Book your tour or get more information

You can also phone us at: (0051) (1) 994 10 42 06

To watch videos and slideshows about swimming/diving with sea lions CLICK HERE

 

Full day – diving with sea lions: Two dives (two tanks)

Includes:

• Hotel pick-up and terrestrial transport
• Marine transport
• Lunch box
• Leads
• 2 tanks
• German/English/Spanish speaking dive guide

Price (Valid till 31.12.2012): 599 Soles per person (does not include tax)

Minimum number of divers: 2

Please remember that you need to be a certified diver in order to go diving with sea lions and as common practise in dive operations around the world  we will ask you to sign a “no-liability” form for this trip.

Please also read our safety advice regarding sea lions below.

Book your tour or get more information

You can also phone us at: (0051) (1) 994 10 42 06

To watch videos and slideshows about swimming/diving with sea lions CLICK HERE

 

Special Safety Advice for swimming and diving with sea lions

Most likely you have asked yourself while reading the above: “But isn’t there any danger involved?”

Definitely: Sea lions are fierce predators! – but they feed on fish not humans. There are no reports in Peru of any fun–diver or swimmer being attacked or even slightly scratched by a sea lion. The worst that we ever witnessed was an excited young sea lion getting too bold and mistakenly knocking off a swimmers mask.

TO US YOUR SAFETY COMES FIRST. We are not putting you in the water just a few meters away from the rocks. We consider this irresponsible: You would run danger of getting smashed against the rocks by the waves. You would also run danger of triggering a stampede in the sea lions putting the young pubs in danger of getting smashed to death and causing unnecessary stress to the animals. In reproduction periods there would be an inherent risk of getting attacked by one of he many adrenalin-filled bulls confusing you with an intruder. We are anchoring 50-100 meters away from the colony and ask you to maintain a minimum distance to the island according to the days marine conditions. There will be dozens of sea lions visiting you with no need to swim too close to the island. They all will mostly be females or very young sea lions, so there is no danger for the animals and no possible threat for you as bulls usually will stay away.

There is no danger involved provided you are not provoking the danger yourself. Sea lions are untamed wildlife, so of course they may take it with little tolerance if you would try to jab them, or otherwise behave in a disrespectful manner. You will receive a detailed instruction on the most important behavioural rules on board before going into the water. If we observe you violating these rules and for example reaching out to punch a sea lion our guides are instructed to inmediately take out the entire group of swimmers/divers out of the water and return to shore: no refund awarded.

The most important rule is not to feed them and not to carry around dead fish – the few known reports of humans getting bitten by sea lions, all involved fishermen, spear fishing near sea lion colonies and carrying dead fish on them. Sea lions will then definitely try to get at the easy prey  and the fishermen will understandably try to defend his catch, running the danger to get bitten. 

There are no reports of any shark feeding on sea lion pubs in front of sea lion colonies in Peru. However in several years we once had one day where absolutely no sea lion was in the water for hours and all of them were sitting on the rock. If such a thing should happen again we count on your understanding for not letting anybody into the water and restricting your visit to sea lion observation this day. 

Book your tour or get more information

You can also phone us at: (0051) (1) 994 10 42 06

 

Related links:

 

Nature Adventures: Whale and dolphin watching - Birding – Scuba diving - Diving and swimming with sea lions - Sea kayaking - Sailing

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