I strongly recommend this experience ! We had the chance to see two groups of Irrawady dolphins and we saw fishermen collaborate with dolphins to fish : unbelievable unti ... read more you actually see this. Nice tour in the communities afterwards ! Do not leave Mandalay without...More

  My husband and I booked the 1 day dolphin tour. We were picked up on time by our Guide Chid and taken to the jetty where we boarded a slow... read more boat owned by a Myanmar family. We were the only ones on todays tour and...More

  What a great day! Back in December, my partner and I were lucky enough to be the very first tourists to experience the Living Irrawaddy Dolphin Projet 1-day trip. We... read more didn't have enough time to do their usual 2 or 3-day trip, but Paul and...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!

  What a great company & great day trip. We did the 1 day tour as that was all the time we had. Unfortunately we didn't see any dolphins which is... read more unusual from reviews I have read. This was due to the rain which was heavy...More

  Chit our guide collected us at 730 for our day trip. We were the only 2 guests on the traditional river boat. Chit and the crew were very kind and... read more attentive. The 3 1/2 hour cruise up river was relaxing and peaceful and so interesting...More

  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 went on this trip and although we booked a group trip there wasn't anybody else on the boat that day. The tour departed from the riverside in Mandalay.... read more It is a very relaxing and informative day and you soon realise how passionate these people are about the Irrawaddy dolphins.
After about an hour we saw our first group of dolphins, then further up the river we saw another group. The fishermen came from their village to meet us and we were fortunate enough to see the dolphins co-operating with them to fish. This was a wonderful, once in a lifetime opportunity. We had a tasty local lunch on the boat.
On the way back we stopped at a local village where we were greeted with snacks and drinks. Then the local ladies showed us bamboo hat making and for me how to balance a large pot on my head. Then they showed both my husband and myself how to where a longyi. They were so friendly and welcoming, it was lovely.
The day was wonderful, informative (although not over the top), relaxing and we were so lucky to see the dolphins. Please do this trip rather than any others which are just commercial, this group are really trying to protect the dolphins.

  This was one of the highlights of our whole trip. The company is very professional and - most importantly - they always appeared to put the welfare of the... read more dolphins first. We were lucky enough to see them on three separate occasions during our 2...More