Whale and Dolphin Watching Tour from Funchal

Die Fahrt mit dem Boot über den Atlantik war sehr aufregend, und dann kamen die Delphine! Unvergesslich! Aufregend und schön zugleich!

Unfortunately our experience of whale and dolphin watching was not a good one. We went out on a rib boat and were really looking forward to what we hoped would be a memorable afternoon. Whilst fully accepting that we were at the mercy of mother nature in terms of what we would see, the entire afternoon was a complete damp squib, literally. We were told it was likely that we would get a little wet due to the conditions. However, this was an understatement. Within approximately 20 mins we were drenched from head to toe including shoes wet through. We could have been standing under a shower, so wet were we. Nobody was prepared for this and we strongly believe that the crew should have properly explained what the conditions would be like before setting off and given everyone the option whether they still wanted to go out to sea. There were people of the rib requesting to go back to shore (the request was not accepted) as not only were the conditions at sea pretty bad but the cold weather coupled with the sodden clothes resulted in a number of people shivering with cold, which is how they remained for the best part of 2 hours. All really unpleasant. To round the afternoon off we didn't see any whales although we did came across several dolphins. Not what we had been hoping to see but we accept that whales being in the area is not something the crew have any control over. All in all we have to say the afternoon was really unpleasant, really uncomfortable and nothing liked we hoped it would be. I'm sorry to have to give such a review and I am sure others will have a far better experience, but this really was a day to forget.

Definitely a worthy trip to see the wonders of the coasts of Madeira. We saw lots of pilot dolphins and a sperm whale, we got close enough to take great photos with no rush to move on. All in all an amazing trip!