A lot of people have “Swimming with Dophins” on their Living To-Do Lists, and I don’t blame them; dolphins are gorgeous, intelligent creatures that seem to like to have fun on their own. (How many other animals are famous for using orgies to bond?)

Having visited Sea World, I had the chance to pet a dolphin, and I felt more pity than awe. There were just droves and droves of people surrounding this aquarium, which made the dolphins seem more like they were trapped in cages than anything else. And perhaps they were.

So that killed my dream of swimming with dolphins right there—but that doesn’t mean that it should necessarily kill anyone else’s. I’m sure there are plenty of establishments where dolphins are given more room to breathe—and to swim.

Some places you may want to check out include Dolphin World, Dolphins Plus, the Dolphin Research Center, Discovery Cove, and Dolphin Discovery.

If you are turned off with the idea of swimming with dolphins, however, there are plenty of other creatures to add to your list. If you’re into scuba diving, for example, you could swim with dolphins in their natural environment; or you may want to add swimming with manatees, seals, manta rays, reef fish… the list is pretty much limitless.

Just stay away from the sharks, eels and other potentially dangerous creatures. (Or perhaps you have “Swim with Sharks” on your list… and in that cast, more power to you—and good luck!)

And if you have no desire whatsoever to get into the water—say you never learned to swim, or you had a bad boating encounter when you were young—you don’t have to go through therapy just to put this on your list. You could see these creatures in aquariums, or opt to have a land animal encounter. Remember Nickelodeon’s Jimmy Neutron? Jimmy’s friend Carl was stoked just to sport an “I Touched a Llama” button from the carnival. If you want to do something like that instead, go for it!

(Of course, dangers are always present… my daughter nearly had her shoe eaten by a camel at the last fair we went to!)

Myself? I’ve simply altered my dolphin item to “swim in the ocean,” something I still have yet to do (though I’ve seen the ocean, I have yet to step foot in it). And when I do, I will surely encounter something amazing, even if it’s tiny.