Had a great time experiencing culture in the village (who knew there were so many ways to use the longyi) , travelling to Mingun, eating great food (the food provided... read more by the villagers were better than the top rated restaurants in Mandalay. We found out from our guide that they were asked to use less salt and oil which brought out the taste of the ingredients better) and sleeping overnight in tents! Chit was a great guide and shared with us tons of fun facts about dolphins and Myanmar.

The most magical thing was seeing the dolphins~ We were lucky enough to experience 4-5 dolphins joining in cooperative fishing on the first day. We even got to see a baby and mummy dolphin swimming close to us (the fishermen observed the mummy dolphin wanted to join in fishing but the baby dolphin was sticking too close to mummy. I hope it was a great learning experience for the baby dolphin who was watching the community fishing as much as it was for me. Unfortunately, although the first day was full of dolphin sightings (even from the ship) , we didnt get to see any on the 2nd day. As this is wildlife, i would suggest that one choose at least the 2 days tour to maximize the chance of seeing dolphins!

Through the tour, I could feel the efforts made to preserve the dolphins population, promote community fishing and help educate the villagers! The project is around 2 years old and is still struggling to raise funds to protext the dolphins, so do join the project! You get to save the environment and be part of something magical!

  So I'll admit to being slightly skeptical when I booked this. Given the tiny dolphin population left in the Irrawaddy River, I figured I'd be happy to see even... read more one during the 2-day trip, nevermind any supposed cooperative fishing. That feels pretty silly in hindsight....More

  I just came back home and I can definitely say that my 2-day experience with the Dolphin Project was a highlight of my travel in Myanmar. This lets you see... read more a totally different aspect of the country that you would not even think of. Getting...More

  Who knew there were dolphins in the Irrawaddy. This was a fascinating trip and truly off the beaten track. We were fortunate to see a pod of eight dolphins. We've... read more been in Myanmar over five years and thought we had seen everything. This was special...More

  Though I am typically inclined to skip tours in favor of my own plans, I am so glad we had this amazing experience! We did the full 3 day tour... read more in early May, spending two amazing nights beside the river. The area is so beautiful...More

  Our day began with a short ride to the boat dock where we took a boat crewed by a local family and our guide Chit along the Irrawaddy river past... read more the towns of Mingun and Sinjun. We then transferred to a small boat and followed the local fishermen as they communicated with the dolphins. The dolphins work with the fishermen and being the fish to them so that they can cast their nets for their catch. It is amazing to see the dolphins surfacing briefly and then circling the boat. We had about 90 minutes to watch this and learned that although still very much endangered, the number of dolphins is increasing slowly through the Living Irrawaddy Dolphin Project.

We had lunch back on the larger boat which was provided by a local village. We then spent some time in Sinjun where we had refreshing snacks and drinks and learned how to tie a longhi in many different ways and got to see how the local women make the conical bamboo hats. We received 2 of those hats as gifts.

We then sailed over to Mingun and visited Hsinbyume Pagoda which was delightful.

We sailed back to Mandalay as the sun was setting after a most wonderful day.

  My wife and I booked a private 1 day tour (we wanted to do 2 days, but only had 1 extra day in Mandalay). We booked in advance, Paul... read more was very responsive via email. On the day of the tour, Ko Nyein our tour guide picked us up at the hotel and also took us back in the evening. We first took a larger 2-level boat to the location where the dolphins "hang out", and then transferred to a smaller boat. We spotted many dolphins and witnessed how "cooperative fishing" worked. U Maung Lay the "dolphin whisperer" and another fisherman demonstrated from another small boat, which was very interesting to watch. You need to concentrate and be very fast to take photos, as you cannot predict where exactly dolphins might appear. We just wanted to be quiet, in the moment, and soak in the experience of seeing the dolphins do what they do. We had lunch on the boat, brought from the village, which was as expected. We went to Singyun Village, met with villagers and learned about bamboo hat making, etc. A special and unexpected treat was, we saw part of a local family's child's Buddhist "novitiation" ceremony. The villagers also treated us to snacks and teaf leaf salad, etc. Before returning to Mandalay, we chose to visit Mingun's "Mya Thein Dan" pagoda, as we had already seen other pagodas and the big bell during a previous trip. Ko Nyein and the family who operated the boat offered to take us further up river or to another village, but we declined as we didn't feel like packing too many things into one day. We would have been perfectly happy just to be on the boat, as the entire experience was so tranquil, enchantingly peaceful, and the scenery so beautiful. Ko Nyein and U Maung Lay were very knowledgeable, and the boat family were accommodating. This is a great tour if you want to learn about the dolphins, the conservation efforts, and rural Burmese life and the agriculture industry around the area, mainly peanut farming and some rice. Strongly recommended, and do two days is you can.

  We took the two day tour with camping/ glamping for the overnight. Despite a romantic name, Mandalay was a little underwhelming so this experience was a highlight of the... read more area. First of all, we saw loads of dolphins and plenty of episodes of the dolphins...More

  We booked a private 2-day tour to allow arrival in Mandalay Saturday morning and departure Sunday evening. There were 6 of us in total, including 4 adults and 2... read more young children (ages 4 and 18 mos). The trip exceeded our expectations in nearly every way - first of all, we were fortunate enough to see cooperative fishing in action (which was AMAZING) and got to see additional dolphins from the main boat on a couple of occasions. What a treat! However, beyond that, the trip was very well planned and our whole group enjoyed the various stops (and food!) at the villages, monastery, and sites. Chit was an incredibly knowledgable and friendly leader and it was easy to see how strong his relationships were with the cooking groups/fisherman/guides from the villages. The accommodation was very comfortable and we loved essentially having an island to ourselves for a night! The boat crew was great and we felt very welcome on board with our two young children. Cannot recommend it highly enough!