The dolphins that most people swim with there are Atlantic spotted dolphins who allow very up close and personal interactions for long periods of time. These dolphins are smaller than the bottlenose, more open and friendly, and are covered in spots that look like granite by the time they are elders. The spots don't start coming out on their bodies until they are a few years old so at first they look like smaller bottlenose dolphins. There are two main places to swim with wild dolphins in the Bahamas. One is a series of sand banks about 40 some miles off Grand Bahama Island.
Sand banks are shallow, sandy areas without much vegetation or sea life where dolphins often live.
The other is off the tiny island of Bimini, which is the westernmost Bahamian island, only about 48 miles off the coast of Miami. Most of these experiences are done as live aboard trips on boats that operate out of the Bahamas or Florida. These operators have been doing dolphin interactive trips for years and know the dolphin protocol, for the most part. There are a few land based operations out of Bimini now being offered, however. I would like to say that, in my opinion, a trip to swim with dolphins is NOT a vacation, and should not be planned as such.