Sunday 15 September

Today was Discovery Cove – something that’s been on Catherine’s ‘book-it’ list since she heard about it in 2014.  Reviews on this place are always very positive so it wasn’t difficult for her to convince the boys that it was a must do!

We were all awake by 6 am and the original plan was to set off about 6.30 to arrive at Discovery Cove by 7 am.  In the end we were slightly late setting off but it didn’t matter.  Early Sunday morning on the I-4 means no traffic so it only took us 25 minutes to get up to the Sea World resorts area.  Parking was really easy as was check-in.

We’d expected to be ID’d at registration as alcohol is served for guests over 21, but this wasn’t checked.  As we were directed out of the main reception area we met a staff member who was holding a sloth.  We were allowed to stroke him (Catherine was in apoplexy at this point in getting to touch her spirit animal!) on his back, not touching his head at all.

First stop was to the food hut for breakfast (all food, drink and snacks for the day is included in your entry ticket).  This is the usual breakfast fare for cooked stuff in the US but there was also fruit, yogurts and oatmeal.  Once we’d had our fill we went to be fitted with either wet shirts or a full wet suit.  The boys went for the shirts but Catherine had to go the whole hog with a wet suit!  Changing facilities provided were excellent and to a very high standard.

We got lockers and then decided to explore the Grand Reef first.  This is a salt-water pool with an artificial reef in the bottom, filled with fish and rays to be viewed when snorkelling.  We’d been given snorkel gear so thought we’d give it a try.  The water was quite nippy so the wet shirts & suits were very welcome.  It took some of the gang (Catherine & Chris) a little while to get the hang of it (Andrew took to it again like a fish out of water – excuse the pun) but it was a brilliant experience to see the rays swim past and almost touch you as they went.  They also had an underwater Perspex viewing area where you could see sharks and other fish.

Our next adventure was to try the lazy river. This is fresh water and much, much warmer than the reef.  At first we decided to go round under our own steam but then we realized that having a pool noodle (float) was definitely the done thing & grabbed some before trying again.  A lovely relaxing experience overall (with a couple of waterfalls to duck under!) and this provided a good pre-lunch relax.

Part of the lazy river goes through the onsite aviary so we got to see some bird life as we floated round.  We then realized that it was lunchtime and went back to the food hut to get re-fueled.

The overall review on the food from breakfast was mixed but the offer at lunch more than made up for it.  Excellent choice of hot food from steak to salmon to burgers and all you can eat salad accompaniments and puddings.

We could have also had beer or wine with our meal as part of the package.  Lunch completed we decided to visit the aviary properly before we returned to the water.

The aviary was another great experience.  You are given a small container of food for the birds and they are trained to feed while sitting on your arm.  We did manage to persuade some to feed while sitting with us but most preferred it if you held up the food to within reach of their perch!  We then went back to the water as on our first foray round the lazy river we’d noticed a smaller inner lazy river that we wanted to explore.

This was where we could see marmosets from the water and there was also a section where they had a pair of otters that we could also see swimming from underwater again through Perspex.  It was then back to the lazy river for a second time as we’d enjoyed it so much before lunch.

Final stop of the day was to the grand reef again as the boys wanted another go at snorkeling.  At this point though it was getting a bit overcast and about 4 pm we decided to get ready to go for our evening meal.

Overall we were so impressed with Discovery Cove and will be back.  It’s excellent for a relaxing ‘theme park’ day with a difference.  We found enough to do to fill the day from 8 until about 4 and could have stayed longer.

So much choice - and only 14 days!

Tonight’s food choice was Andrew’s as a late birthday dinner, back to a favourite haunt from his last visit – Uncle Kenny’s BBQ at Clermont.  This place really is a gem.  A bit rough & ready in terms of presentation of the restaurant but the food is outstanding.  

Having stuffed our faces with pulled pork, Texas toast, chicken, sausage & lots of their amazing potato salad we wended our way back home with a pit stop in Wal-Mart to stock up on a few bits.  Jet-lag had started to kick in for some of the party (Catherine…) so it was an early night ready for another early start tomorrow.