Hyatt Ziva Dolphin Tank
In the heart of Cancún’s glittering hotel zone, behind the luxury pools and all-inclusive cocktails, six bottlenose dolphins swim in circles. Not in the open Caribbean Sea that stretches just meters away — but in a concrete enclosure roughly 30–40 feet wide and 200 feet long, operated by Delphinus inside the Hyatt Ziva Cancún resort.
There is a second dolphin facility at the former Dreams property — now under Hyatt’s management umbrella — located nearby. Together, these two enclosures represent a stain on Hyatt’s brand that we at TideBreakers are determined to wash clean.
We need your voice.
What's Happening at Hyatt Ziva Cancún?
The Delphinus Punta Cancún dolphinarium sits inside the Hyatt Ziva Cancún resort at Punta Cancún Boulevard, Km 5, Quintana Roo, Mexico. It offers paid “swim-with-dolphin” experiences — programs like “Primax,” “Interax,” and “Harmony” — where tourists pay upwards of $85–$95 USD to enter the water with captive bottlenose dolphins.
These aren’t rescue animals being rehabilitated. These are dolphins held in captivity for one purpose: profit through entertainment.
The pool they live in is a fraction of what these animals need. Bottlenose dolphins in the wild travel 40–100 miles per day, dive to depths of over 150 feet, and live in complex social pods that can number in the hundreds. At Hyatt Ziva, six dolphins share an enclosure that a human swimmer could cross in seconds.
The second facility, at the former Dreams property (now under Hyatt management), reportedly sits near a river outlet. While operators may claim this provides a more “natural” water flow, the fundamental reality doesn’t change: these are captive animals, confined to restricted spaces, forced into repetitive interactions with tourists, and deprived of everything that makes a dolphin’s life worth living.
TideBreakers is not alone
Our open letter to Hyatt CEO Mark S. Hoplamazian was co-signed by a powerful coalition of organizations:
- 🐋 Paul Watson Foundation — founded by the legendary ocean conservation activist
- 🐬 Marine Connection — a UK-based charity dedicated to protecting dolphins and whales worldwide
- 🌊 Marea — a marine advocacy organization
- 🐬 Dolphin Freedom — campaigners against dolphin captivity
- 🌱 VEELEAF — animal rights advocates
On September 26, 2025, coordinated protests were held outside three Hyatt hotels in the United Kingdom, drawing public attention and media coverage to the Cancún dolphinarium.
A Change.org petition and a MoveOn petition both call on Hyatt to close what campaigners describe as a “prison-like” facility and release the dolphins to a sanctuary.
As of this writing, Hyatt has not publicly responded to any of these demands.
What We Are Demanding
TideBreakers, alongside our coalition partners, is calling on Hyatt Hotels Corporation to:
- Permanently close both dolphin facilities — at Hyatt Ziva Cancún and the former Dreams property now under Hyatt management
- Work with accredited sanctuary organizations to ensure the dolphins are relocated to appropriate sea pen sanctuaries where they can experience ocean currents, natural social structures, and a life of dignity
- Issue a public statement committing to an animal welfare policy that prohibits dolphin and marine mammal captivity across all Hyatt-branded properties worldwide
- Set a clear timeline for these actions — not years from now, but immediately