Dolphin Cove - So much to be proud of.

Every year, The Gleaner Company of Jamaica, which manages the largest distributing newspaper on the Island, honors members of the public and private sectors of Jamaica for their contribution to the nation. 

On November 7^th, 2011, Dolphin Cove, Jamaica’s # 1 Attraction, and recently voted The Caribbean’s Leading Adventure Excursion Operator for 2011 by The World Travel Awards, was honored to receive The Gleaner Honor Awards for business in 2011.

The recipients of the Gleaner Honour Awards 2011

This award was given to Dolphin Cove for their efforts to expand their company thereby providing hundreds of Jamaicans with much needed employment in this difficult economy.

The expansion project which is already under way will be in both Negril and Ocho Rios helping both communities to increase their salary bases and causing a multiplier effect in the towns.   This will benefit the communities positively as with more inhabitants comes more support for local taxis, supermarkets and shops; who are currently suffering due to the decrease in population as more and more of their residents are forced to leave their communities and seek employment in other towns or abroad.

Dolphin Cove is proud to have an interactive and ongoing training program where unskilled laborers have joined the Dolphin Cove team and become highly trained professionals in the Tourism Industry; resulting in many past employees being able to accept skilled jobs in Honduras, Venezuela, St. Kitts, Cayman and even as far as Turkey in The Mediterranean.

Faced with challenges of dwindling guest arrivals to Jamaica due to the current state of the World’s economy, Mr. and Mrs. Stafford and Marilyn Burrowes, the owners and operators of Dolphin Cove, are still dedicated to the communities that Dolphin Cove calls home and are making every effort to increase employment by 15% this year resulting in salaries totaling $265 million a year.

Dolphin Cove believes in giving back to their communities that have helped them to grow from a small family run marine attraction with six dolphins to a now publicly traded company that is able to boast being the largest marine attraction in the Caribbean.  Dolphin Cove’s dolphin population is now 31, and rising, due to their successful breeding program, a testament to the animals’ contentment in their natural lagoons.

One of our beautiful Dolphin Calves nursing

Dolphin Cove also participated in the 2011 International Coastal Clean Up Day, where members of the Dolphin Cove team, including management, dedicated their day to clean up the coastline of Jamaica.  Dolphin Cove was also happy to provide refreshments, not only for their staff but for all the volunteers that were involved in this great effort.

Beach clean up

 

The Company also sponsored the premiere of the movie “Dolphin Tale” in Kingston, the Capital of Jamaica, at the Palace Cineplex Theater.  This premiere was sponsored in aid of Chain of Hope Jamaica, an organization which assists children to receive lifesaving Cardiac Operations at the Bustamante Hospital for Children.

In addition Dolphin Cove enjoys assisting throughout the year with providing gift certificates and donations to various charitable organizations, schools and the police department youth camp.  In fact once a year, Dolphin Cove offers an area of their park for the police youth camps prize giving ceremony, providing lunch, drinks, prizes and incentives to the young minds to continue studying and working hard to get the most out of their education.  

In 2009, after coming across a small basic school where over 100 students were being taught in a one room building, Mr. and Mrs. Stafford and Marilyn Burrowes chose to have Dolphin Cove adopt this small school.  Every year staff members volunteer to refurbish the school, repainting and mending the building.  Dolphin Cove provides the building equipment and paint for this yearly event as well as food and drinks for the volunteers.  Throughout the year Dolphin Cove continues to provide books, desks, chairs, equipment and a safe, clean environment for the students of the Steer Town Basic School to learn.

 

Dolphin Cove is very pro education and training, as they believe it to be a part of the solution for our current economic state.  As a result they saw the need to sponsor university students whose grades showed promise but who lacked the funds to be able to continue their education.  Amongst those sponsored are aspiring architects, doctors, lawyers and teachers, all of which are doing very well and working hard to achieve their goals.

Dolphin Cove has also expanded to Grand Cayman, where they have created a large attraction with a natural dolphin Lagoon in the Caribbean Sea.  This attraction offers swimming with the dolphins as well as a very successful Dolphin Human Therapy program (DHT).  

Many believe that animals, particularly Dolphins have a special gift that can assist individuals Common diagnosed with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, and autism with much needed therapeutic help.  This program has had many success stories helping to improve skills in speech/language, motor areas and behavior.  The program is also family interactive allowing family members to be a part of the patients’ progress.  Dolphin Cove is confident that this program will continue to help those in need.  

Dolphin Cove was proud to receive The Gleaner Honour Awards for Business in 2011 and is determined to continue to expand their product in efforts to attract a larger number of visitors to Jamaica and The Caribbean.  Providing much needed employment and thereby support to the communities.  Remaining at all times dedicated to their country and the people who have made Dolphin Cove grow to where it is today.