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!

  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

  As someone who does not typically like guided tours, I highly recommend this tour! It was a great way to explore Myanmar village life and the tour guide Chit was... read more very knowledgeable and friendly. We saw dolphins both days, although they caution that the dolphins...More

  My husband and I did the 3-day Explorer. I don't even know where to begin. This trip was so amazing on so many levels. First of, I have... read more to talk about the cooperative fishing. Do you know that there are only THREE place in the...More

  From the first time I found this tour/experience online, I thought “this is something I must do!” and now, after having enjoyed it, I simply say to myself “this was... read more the best decision I’ve made in this trip to Myanmar!”.
Its nature oriented shape, its cultural uniqueness and responsible driven approach to local communities and nature made me definitely decided to change my initial Myanmar route to include it. And it was the WISEST DECISION I’ve made in this trip.
We’ve chosen the two days private tour mainly because we are very keen on our timings and we love privacy – things that you pay more, of course, because the private tour is not cheap – and we’ve made the right decision again.
Since the first moment to the last minute of the tour we always felt very well and happy.
The tour boat is great, with a few rooms and a toilet in the lower deck and a spacious and comfortable upper deck from where you can relax and enjoy the boat views on route along the calmness of the Irrawaddy river. The tour team, from our excellent tour guide to the main boat team, were very professional and friendly. Our amazing and polite tour guide had a lot of knowledge about everything and was keen to share it with us balancing the time in between the relaxing moments at the top deck when we wanted just to be on ourselves, and the moments where information was needed to be explained by him, which was really nice. All the necessary information has been provided to us, since the start useful and very detailed briefing to the explanations when we visited the villages and the spots during the tour.
The food was great; simple but tasty and great. Each meal was provided by a different village and made from local products.
The dolphin sub-tours were made in small boats like the ones used by the local fishermen and we could spot a lot of dolphins and we saw the cooperative fishing as well, which left us really happy to witness such amazing activity.
The night in a tent was fun. It’s an “almost glamping tent” with a very good bed inside and you need to use the toilet in the boat a dozen of meters walking from the tent. In the evening people from the nearby village from the other side of the river join us at the camp site and create a small bonfire we can join and have a nice moment with them after which we have the dinner at a table near the tent, under the dark night sky. It’s really nice and fun.
The bottom-line of this tour?
It’s something I just tell you: DO IT!
You’ll visit real people in real villages; you’ll eat real food made by that lovely people; you’ll witness such unique fishing way that cooperates with the local dolphins; you’ll be away from crowds and you really feel part of it. And you end up HAPPIER because this is a RESPONSIBLE tour that HELPS the local small communities paying them for the services they provide to us and it does everything on PROTECTING the dolphins environment.
CONGRATULATIONS Living Irrawaddy Dolphin Project for what you are doing!

  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. …

  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.

  I would really recommend this trip to everyone! The first day started with the pickup at our hotel. We went to the river and went on board the boat. The... read more boat was of good quality. First we got an introduction about safety followed by our...More

  We had such a fun trip with Chit and his team floating up the Irrawaddy earlier this month. It was incredible getting to see the dolphins up close and we... read more saw a number over the course of the 2 day trip - whilst this isn't guaranteed - the team make every effort to work together with the local communities and fishermen to share sightings. It's a good mix of being able to experience a little flavour of village life, boating time and fishing with the expert fishermen who have been honing their craft for decades, their commitment and skill is amazing. Camping on the sandy island was one of our highlights and it was so comfortable to be in the tents as other reviewers have said, definitely more comfortable than our night in Mandalay, everything was set up for us already when we arrived at the island and we could relax, have a beer and watch the sunset. Absolute bliss! Thank you to them all for their kindness.
2 things to keep in mind:
- If you don't do a private tour, you spend 24/7 pretty much with your fellow tour-mates, so get ready to make friends! If this does not appeal, consider the private tour option. Our friends opted for the private tour and also highly recommended, that gives a little bit more flexibility around how long you spend in each location also.
- Check the itinerary closely, the dolphin tour includes a visit to Mingun, if you're travelling in Mandalay beforehand, it may be worth saving that trip so you don't end up visiting twice and use the time to see other fun things in Mandalay instead.