We joined the day tour on the Irrawaddy in the hope to see the Dolphins. Unfortunately it was not at the right time. However.. We had a beautiful day on... read more the Irrawaddy! Chit, the guide did an amazing job in looking after us and answering...More

  Our day began with a short ride to the boat dock where we took a boat crewed by a local family and our guide Chit along the Irrawaddy river past... read more the towns of Mingun and Sinjun. We then transferred to a small boat and followed the local fishermen as they communicated with the dolphins. The dolphins work with the fishermen and being the fish to them so that they can cast their nets for their catch. It is amazing to see the dolphins surfacing briefly and then circling the boat. We had about 90 minutes to watch this and learned that although still very much endangered, the number of dolphins is increasing slowly through the Living Irrawaddy Dolphin Project.

We had lunch back on the larger boat which was provided by a local village. We then spent some time in Sinjun where we had refreshing snacks and drinks and learned how to tie a longhi in many different ways and got to see how the local women make the conical bamboo hats. We received 2 of those hats as gifts.

We then sailed over to Mingun and visited Hsinbyume Pagoda which was delightful.

We sailed back to Mandalay as the sun was setting after a most wonderful day.

  My husband and I booked the 1 day dolphin tour. We were picked up on time by our Guide Chid and taken to the jetty where we boarded a slow... read more boat owned by a Myanmar family. We were the only ones on todays tour and...More

  It was definitely one of my highlights in Myanmar! Taking a break from pagodas/stupas after 3 amazing days in Bagan, I opted to do this tour instead of probably the... read more usual Mandalay route as I really love dolphins! The 2-day tour brought us along Ayarwaddy river and we were fortunate enough to see dolphins both day 1 afternoon and day 2 morning and them trying to do cooperative fishing with the fishermen! On Day 2 we even saw a small pod and possibly mother and calf!

But as many reviews mentioned, the tour is much more than dolphins, you got the chance to explore the villages living along riverbeds of Ayarwaddy, and learn how to make WELL USE of a longyi (not just wearing it!), enjoy amazing food prepared by the generous locals and monastery, staying overnight on the secluded beach on the river with a camp that has a double bed mattress prepared for you, enjoyed a bonfire with your groupmates and local villagers, and enjoyed a glass of Myanmar wine which you can purchase on the boat, knowing how to do fishing the Myanmar way, also exploring Mingun to see the largest brick structure in the world... could never recommend enough to this tour!

Kudos to our guide Chid and the team to make this tour a very comfortable one for us, but whats equally, if not more, important is their effort of saving the Irrawaddy Dolphins, which are currently endangered in Myanmar due to electric fishing. It does go a great length to keep this amazing mammal alive as well as the heritage of cooperative fishing and I applauded everyone for their dedication into it.

  We spent 2 really great days with the Dolphin Project and their guide, Chit. It was close to be perfect, with a very enjoyable mix of nature and culture. The... read more experience could be a bit more tailored to customer's preferences maybe, but it's still a...More

  From the first time I found this tour/experience online, I thought “this is something I must do!” and now, after having enjoyed it, I simply say to myself “this was... read more the best decision I’ve made in this trip to Myanmar!”.
Its nature oriented shape, its cultural uniqueness and responsible driven approach to local communities and nature made me definitely decided to change my initial Myanmar route to include it. And it was the WISEST DECISION I’ve made in this trip.
We’ve chosen the two days private tour mainly because we are very keen on our timings and we love privacy – things that you pay more, of course, because the private tour is not cheap – and we’ve made the right decision again.
Since the first moment to the last minute of the tour we always felt very well and happy.
The tour boat is great, with a few rooms and a toilet in the lower deck and a spacious and comfortable upper deck from where you can relax and enjoy the boat views on route along the calmness of the Irrawaddy river. The tour team, from our excellent tour guide to the main boat team, were very professional and friendly. Our amazing and polite tour guide had a lot of knowledge about everything and was keen to share it with us balancing the time in between the relaxing moments at the top deck when we wanted just to be on ourselves, and the moments where information was needed to be explained by him, which was really nice. All the necessary information has been provided to us, since the start useful and very detailed briefing to the explanations when we visited the villages and the spots during the tour.
The food was great; simple but tasty and great. Each meal was provided by a different village and made from local products.
The dolphin sub-tours were made in small boats like the ones used by the local fishermen and we could spot a lot of dolphins and we saw the cooperative fishing as well, which left us really happy to witness such amazing activity.
The night in a tent was fun. It’s an “almost glamping tent” with a very good bed inside and you need to use the toilet in the boat a dozen of meters walking from the tent. In the evening people from the nearby village from the other side of the river join us at the camp site and create a small bonfire we can join and have a nice moment with them after which we have the dinner at a table near the tent, under the dark night sky. It’s really nice and fun.
The bottom-line of this tour?
It’s something I just tell you: DO IT!
You’ll visit real people in real villages; you’ll eat real food made by that lovely people; you’ll witness such unique fishing way that cooperates with the local dolphins; you’ll be away from crowds and you really feel part of it. And you end up HAPPIER because this is a RESPONSIBLE tour that HELPS the local small communities paying them for the services they provide to us and it does everything on PROTECTING the dolphins environment.
CONGRATULATIONS Living Irrawaddy Dolphin Project for what you are doing!

  My sister and me chose the two days river trip and it was absolutely amazing. April is one of the hottest month in Myanmar and taking a boat up... read more the river was a really nice way to learn about the local culture. The temperature was...More

  What a great company & great day trip. We did the 1 day tour as that was all the time we had. Unfortunately we didn't see any dolphins which is... read more unusual from reviews I have read. This was due to the rain which was heavy...More

  Spending 2 days 1 night on the river with Living Irrawaddy Dolphin Project was the best decision we made in Mandalay. The most amazing thing about this trip was not... read more only seeing dolphins, but also learning about the unique relationship between local fishermen and dolphins....More