Tours to see and swim with dolphins are one of the most popular activities in Zanzibar. However, I had already read a lot of cautionary articles about Zanzibar specifically before I left.

Local travel agencies often behave unethically. Instead of dolphin watching, dozens and often hundreds of boats chase herds of dolphins for hours at a time.

I decided to find out for myself how dolphin tours in Zanzibar really work.

Where do the dolphin tours take place?

There are two main locations on Zanzibar where the cruises depart from:

• Kizimkazi in Menai Bay in the south of Zanzibar.
• Mnemba Atoll in the north of Zanzibar

I have read unpleasant stories about boats chasing dolphins in connection with both locations. I chose Mnemba Atoll, where cruises include snorkeling on a coral reef and a stop on a sand dune in the middle of the sea.

I booked the day trip through getyourguide.com, just like all the other trips. Local agencies often don't even have their own websites and all operate right on GetYourGuide.

Dozens of boats, full throttle engines and chaos

Every morning there are boats patrolling the sea to provide information about the dolphin herds to the various cruise organisers. And there are a lot of them!

They all send their boats out to the dolphin locations.

While in the low season around 20-30 boats always leave the beach, during the high season it can be as many as 150 boats.

The moment the first boat spots a pod of dolphins, all boats turn on their engines at full throttle and move as close to the dolphins as possible. The boat captains work together and literally surround the dolphin herd.

Then total chaos ensues as agency staff encourage visitors to jump in the water and swim with the dolphins.

There is no training on how to behave in the water beforehand.

An appalling experience.

Stress for dolphins, danger for humans

Dolphins are very social creatures and often seek out human company directly.

If they want to, they'll swim up to a boat and play in the waves. That's their choice. But there is no choice here. They are chased, surrounded and forced to escape.

The waters near Mnemba Atoll or Kizimkazi are a natural hunting ground for dolphins with many species of fish to feed on.

With this extremely irresponsible approach, we are disrupting the overall behaviour of the dolphins and gradually pushing them out of their natural habitat.

All wrong.

The agencies' behaviour not only endangers the dolphins, but also the participants of the trips.

People from boats are jumping between dolphins in a completely disorganized manner, and boats with their engines running are weaving in and out of the dolphins. No one is wearing life jackets or any reflective gear. Nothing.

Are there ethics agencies in Zanzibar?

If you scroll through the dolphin tours on getyourguide.com, many agencies even put words like "ethical" or "responsible" in their names, but usually end up acting like everyone else.

Even after browsing discussion forums for several weeks, I haven't come across any agency that I can say is 100% responsible in their approach to dolphin tours.

My overall feelings and recommendations

I wanted to see for myself what swimming with dolphins in Zanzibar is like. In retrospect, I regret quite a bit that I supported this behavior at all with my money.

I really will never do this again.

In my travels around the world, I have experienced a much more responsible approach to dolphin watching.

For example, on the Spanish island of Gomera or the Portuguese island of Pico, similar cruises are conducted in a completely different way.

There are significantly fewer boats per pod of dolphins or whales (usually 1-5), participants are forbidden to jump into the water, and the boat captains immediately turn off the engines whenever they see dolphins, leaving these amazing marine animals to decide for themselves whether or not to swim closer to the boat.

If you want to see animals in the wild in Zanzibar, go see the monkeys in Jozani National Park.