Robert, our guide, was excellent; very knowledgeable and informative.
However, we felt that the advertising was misleading. For the half day experience, the information on Trip Advisor showed a typical itinerary including Cabo Girao (admission excluded), Pico do Ariero (admission included), Miradouro do Bocas dos Namarado (admission included), Porto Moniz swimming pools (admission excluded) and Stop at Valley of the Nuns (admission included). It also said the duration was five hours.
We were picked up at 9:00 and dropped back to our pickup location at 12:45, well under four hours.
We had a very interesting drive, including Miradouro da Boca dos Namarados as well as a second viewpoint looking in to the Valley of the Nuns, Cabo Girao with the glass floor lookout straight down to the ocean below, the village of Camera da Lobos with its fishing boats, etc., and a lot of spectacular driving, both on and off road.
However, I never went to Pico do Ariero, we never went in to the village of the valley of the nuns, and we never went anywhere near the north coast or Porto Moniz.
When we asked Roberto, before starting, where we would be going, he showed only a smallish area, with Valley of the Nuns as the furthest point from Funchal, about a third of the distance to Porto Moniz. When we asked about Porto Moniz, he said that could only be done on a full day tour, in direct contradiction of the itinerary from Trip Advisor.
All in all a very enjoyable experience, but definitely not what was advertised or expected.
In terms of recommending, I would say yes, but with serious reservations as to the actual vs advertised content.
Wij zijn 5 volwassenen met 1 gehandicapten. Onze gids’s naam Gil was zo meegaand en behandelde onze groep met veel zorg in en uit de jeep. Altijd zorgen dat iedereen geniet van de tour. We deden 2 halve dag tours en hebben echt genoten van Gil’s kennis en uitgaande persoonlijkheid. We maakten tal van stops en hadden een geweldige off road ervaring! Ik beveel deze tour.