Catamaran Dag Cruise naar Desertas Eilanden vanuit Funchal

Amazing trip! We were advised to bring jackets, which were needed during the boat journey due to the open sea and winds. The boat ride itself was very pleasant. The trip onto Desertas Island was very informative, and we really enjoyed the conservation of the island. There was plenty of free time to enjoy water sports, if desired. Lunch was provided, buffet style, which was plentiful. As a vegan, I was very impressed with the care given - I was given a band indicating dietary needs, and I was given a vegan burger as the main (to go with the buffet vegetable selection). On the way back, we were fortunate enough to see 3 species of marine life - Dolphins, Pilot Wales and a Sperm Whale. An amazing day, with a great crew!

This catamaran trip is a scam, aiming to get money out of tourists at all cost! To start with, we were told to bring only ourselves and a swimsuit, everything else will be provided on board (food, water, drinks and shelter) and we should look forward to a nice sunny ride with a visit to the dessert island where we will do a hike around the island, snorkling, paddleboarding and lots of swimming. We were also promissed a delicious hight quality lunch on board with plenty of options for all.. Now the reality.. the weather condition were very bad that day, extremely windy already in the morning, so they knew it wasn't going to be a pleasant drive and yet they went ahead with it, instead of cancelling or postponing the trip! There was absolutely no shelter from the strong winds, it was extremely cold and wet the entire almost 3hrs ride both ways.. i had 4 layers on me including a rain jacket and a big towel wrapped around me and still i was shiverring and could not keep my eyes open as the wind and splashes of water was getting to my eyes.. There were people who got unwell, others curled up on the plastic benches holding tight to their loved ones, trying to protect each other from the cold and wind.. After we sufferred through the first part of the trip and set foot on the dessert island, the "hiking" begun which was literraly a 100m circular walk.. you could not move around the island by yourself due to danger of a landslide.. has anyone mentioned it before at the time of booking this trip? No, of course not. Ok, so let's do the snorkling we thought.. there are lots of rocks and crystal clear water, there must be a lot to see under water.. another dissapointment, we were not allowed to snorkel anywhere near the rocks as apparantly last month a piece of rock fell directly on a tourist's neck and got injured.. whaaat? If it's that dangerous to snorkle there, then why are you taking us there and advirtise it as a wonderful snorkling experience??? We were literally told at the time of booking that it was a great place to snorkle.. in the end, we were limited to snorkle by the tiny beach in an area of about 50sqm and instead of colourful fish you could observe the tourists feet under water :) After this "wonderful" experience and 5 hours into our trip, we finally got to have our lunch which was a buffet with the option of cold slices of pork or cold piece of very dry fish and a "salad" that consisted of two ingrediens, tomato and cucamber. Needless to say, we came back from this trip totally exhausted, frozen to bone, dissapointed and frustrated.. it was a waste of money and a wasted day. I do not recommend this trip to anyone, honestly.

Tolle Erlebnisse auf dem Wasser: wir haben auf der Fahrt (2x3Stunden) verschiedene Wale und Delfine gesehen. Die Crew hat bereitwillig gestoppt und viel erklärt. Auf der Insel gab es einen zweistündigen Aufenthalt. Das einzige, was man verbessern könnte, sind Schnorchel für jeden. Man musste sich diese mit Fremden teilen. Auf der Rückfahrt gab es sogar Mittagessen. Sehr gelungen und ein super Abschluss meiner Reise