Dolphin Encountours Research Center 

Since 1995, the founder of Dolphin Encountours, Angie Gullan has been sharing the magical wonder of coming face to face with the wild dolphins of Ponta do Ouro, pioneering the way in ethical, educational and responsible practice for tours with these sentient non-human persons whom she calls the "people of the sea. We, the team of this research center, cater for the discerning dolphin enthusiast and offer an intimate look into the lives of our local dolphins while funding research and conservation efforts in the marine reserve in Mozambique. 

Being a culture of carers and creators who prove that ethical and educational marine mammal tourism can be achieved when merging both spirit and science, we feel that a close and moving experience with dolphins and whales in their own environment is the best way to conserve them for future generations. 

We specialize in creating a safe space for intimate encounters to take place with wild dolphins while contributing to their well-being, and are happiest when we are out in the field, checking in on our finned friends and are deeply committed to our role in protecting their environment. Through our research and conservation arm DolphinCareAfrica, we have collected and maintained a long-term data set and have historical records by means of images and video archived with over 8000 entries as well as approximately 250 individuals catalogued. Lineage has been tracked on resident females, some as far as 5 generations. 

We invite you to take the plunge and experience something truly magical when coming face to face with these intelligent marine mammals. The past two decades have been spent nurturing a friendship and creating opportunities for human dolphin encounters to take place that works within the realms of conscious interaction. We work with a gregarious population of dolphins affectionately called the Dolphins of Ponta who find home in the coastal shallows of the Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve which borders the iSimangaliso World Heritage Site within the Lubumbo Transfrontier Conservation Area of South Africa and Mozambique. 

Our Tours 

Choose between our signature full Encountour and the mini or the casual dolphin Encountours or the 3 hour whale Encountour which is dedicated to boat based, seasonal whale viewing, including listening in with our special microphone to hear the migrating whales communicating down below and to gather data. 

The full tour has been specially created to accommodate the myriad of different wild dolphin behaviours, each offering a unique insight into the way of the unterwater wilds. If you seek to spend a bit more time in the company of our dolphins, this is THE tour for you. Humpback whale viewing is incorporated from July to November. 

The mini tour is a no frills option of two launches to visit our local dolphins and whales in season. Depending on group dynamics and sea state two launches can be combined to make a longer launch on this tour and on the full tour. 

The casual tour is a once off ocean surfari to look for dolphins and whales in season, and depending on time, snorkel over some shallow reef. 

Encountours include a pre-launch presentation with an introduction to our local dolphins, our long-term monitoring efforts, the DolphinCareAfrica code of conduct, boat and ocean safety, as well as the gear use on the day (mask, snorkel, fins), snorkel tax and video of your Encountour on-line.