Manati Park by travelgirl3
A visit to Manati Park is a great day trip off the resort. Tours can be arranged through your hotel, but the larger resorts will have a Manati Park bus stop in the parking lot. At Manati, you will find all kinds of animals, from Toucans to Flamingos, Iguanas to Crocodiles. It's very nicely laid out in a park-like setting, where you can wander around for hours. They also have a display of Taino artifacts (Taino are the aboriginal people of the Caribbean), as well as a ceremonial Taino dance presentation.
The Park is quite large, and is very well maintained. We were actually quite surprised at how clean everything was, from the animal pens to the restrooms.
My only concern with Manati was the dolphin tank. Unfortunately, they had 3 fullsize dolphins in a very small tank. They also offer swimming with the dolphins, which is very cruel, in my opinion. A couple of years ago, a child swimming with them was attacked by one. It may look idyllic, but put yourself in the dolphins flippers - would you want a bunch of humans clamouring all over you??
