If you’ve ever wanted to say hello to otters close up, there’s good news. Coastal Wilds, a Delaware zoo, is offering up an experience where guests can get in the water and swim with otters — and it’s an easy day trip from NoVA.
Coastal Wilds is home to over 40 species of animals — including otters, kangaroos, and sloths — and offers “hands-on, up-close” animal encounters. Located in Frankfurt, Delaware, it’s about a three-hour drive from Dulles.
Otter Swim Experience
The otter swim is, a 45-minute session where guests can hop into a pool with two otters. The otters play with toys — and they often get friendly with the guests.
“As they warm up, they end up using your arms as flotation devices. They’ll start to climb on your shoulders a bit. They’ll try and remove your sunglasses, your hat, or your hair ties, or anything that you may have,” says Zach Bova, brand manager at Coastal Wilds. “They get very friendly and very playful … it’s a very high-energy kind of experience.”
You can snap photos and take videos throughout the experience. Or there’s an add-on option to have the guide take photos and videos for you.
Throughout the experience, guides will offer insight into the otter’s personalities and habits. “One of the missions of our park here is to kind of educate guests and spread messages about conservation,” Bova says. “So we’re always kind of providing information and trying to help guests better understand these animals so that they can develop stronger connections with them.”
And the experience is fun for the otters, too. “We never, ever force our animals to go outside of their bounds and do something that they’re not interested in. And that especially goes for the otters. They love the swim. They love the interactions and the attention from guests,” he says.
The otter experience can be booked alone or as part of the “ultimate otter swim,” a three-hour experience that includes a full tour of the zoo and kangaroo, sloth, and aardvark experience add-ons.
Tickets start at $200 for the otter swim only and $300 for the ultimate otter experience. Guests must be 16 and older to participate.
Feature image courtesy Coastal Wilds
