Swim with the Sharks and Rays in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

The countries and islands that make up the Caribbean have been luring travelers for a very long time with their laidback attitudes, delicious cuisine, spectacular scenery and friendly, hospitable locals. Puerto Plata, on the northern coast of the Dominican Republic, is a particular paradise in that it offers visitors a real opportunity to “get away from it all.” You won’t find throngs of tourists in Puerto Plata, but you will still find world-class amenities. You’ll also find Ocean World and have the opportunity to swim with the sharks and rays in Puerto Plata – if you dare!

Swim with Sharks: Dive Into a Thrilling Adventure

A Video Tour of Ocean Word, Puerto Plata

The Shark & Stingray Encounter

It takes a certain kind of person to volunteer to get into the water with a bunch of sharks and stingrays, and if you’re that kind of person, Ocean World has an encounter just for you. Actually, the sharks and stingrays are very safe and have been trained to be fed and handled by people. Still, it is indeed thrilling to get so close to these creatures that have scared people for millennium.

Make it a Combo!

Once you step foot inside Ocean World you may find yourself not only in a lovely setting but in a terrible quandary – how on Earth are you going to decide how to spend your day, there are too many wonderful programs and choices? Ocean World makes it easy for you by providing combination packages – you get to see more, do more and save more.

So for instance, if you want to swim with the sharks and rays you can and combine it with either the Sea Lion Encounter of Dolphin Swim in Puerto Plata. These combo packages truly make for a fun-filled day.

Shark and Stingray Fun Facts

Did you know that sharks have replacement teeth?! They can have up to seven rows. Since sharks chew a lot, they actually lose a lot of teeth but luckily for them (not for their prey) they can grow them back quickly and will likely go through more than 30,000 in their life! We wouldn’t want to pay that dentist bill.

Although they may have loads of teeth, sharks don’t have one single bone in their body – not one. Shark skeletons are actually made up of cartilage. And did you know sharks were swimming in the oceans way before dinosaurs showed up? It’s true, they inhabited the earth 200 million years before dinosaurs were roaming the Earth.

Stingrays are sort of cousins to the shark, and they also have no bones only cartilage. Although they don’t necessarily look like fish, they actually are. Stingrays prefer to “fly” through shallow waters in warm climates of the world. They hunt with special sensors called ampullae of Lorenzini, which detect tiny little electrical charges their prey emits. Prey like oysters, clams, shrimp and crab, mmm, our kind of prey.

​Now that you know more about sharks and stingrays, don’t you want to meet them in person? If so, head on down to beautiful Puerto Plata and spend the day swimming with them and also with dolphins and sea lions. Sounds like a great vacation to us!