€35 or €79: what actually separates the whale catamarans from Funchal

No other type of tour on Madeira gets booked as often as the trip out to whales and dolphins. 31 options from €35 are on offer for the Bay of Funchal, and between them they have collected 42,463 reviews – the median price sits at €54. The booking pages all sound alike. The trips are not.

Why the animals are so close to the city

Madeira is the tip of a volcano that drops steeply into the Atlantic. Deep water begins just a few kilometres off the seafront – which is why you do not need half a day’s sailing here to reach the area where whales and dolphins gather. Many operators also work with lookout posts on land, which radio the boats towards the right direction.

In practice, this means that after casting off and the safety briefing, you are often in the search area within fifteen to thirty minutes. On a three-hour trip, that leaves a good window for the actual search and the encounters. On a two-hour trip it gets tighter – though it is over sooner if the swell turns unpleasant.

What the price difference buys you

The jump from €35 to €79 is not a jump in your chances of a sighting. All licensed boats work the same bay and operate under the same rules. What differs is what happens between the animals.

At the lower end sit the island’s two most-booked trips: an eco-catamaran trip for €35 (4.6 stars, 10,275 reviews, 2.5 to 3 hours) and a second catamaran trip for €35 (4.6 stars, 7,074 reviews, 3 hours). Both head towards Cabo Girão, both are large boats with correspondingly large numbers of guests on board. Catering is the exception here, not the rule.

In the middle sit trips like the luxury catamaran cruise for €40 (4.3 stars, 3,591 reviews, 3 hours) with a swim stop off Cabo Girão. The swim stop is an anchor stop for swimming in open water – not swimming with dolphins. That is a different thing, and only allowed to a limited extent on Madeira.

At the top end sits an all-inclusive trip for €79 (4.9 stars, 2,926 reviews, 3 hours): an open bar, catering, and a smaller number of guests. The 4.9 stars are not proof that more animals turn up there. They are proof that people are happier when they have room to move about and something to drink along the way.

If you simply want to see whales, €35 gets you that. If you think of three hours on a boat as an afternoon rather than a means of transport, the surcharge is the most honest money on the island.

Catamaran or RIB – the question that matters more than the price

The type of boat shapes your afternoon far more than the bill does.

A catamaran has two hulls, sits wide in the water and pitches noticeably less. There is shade, a toilet, seating, and room to stand up. It is slower, and the search area stays smaller.

A rigid inflatable boat (RIB) is fast, agile and gets further out. You sit astride, without shade, and feel every wave in your back. Two of the popular trips work this way: a semi-rigid trip for €54 (4.7 stars, 2,142 reviews, 2.5 hours) and a fast small-group trip for €54 (4.9 stars, 1,896 reviews, 2 hours). For photographers and people who want to get close, this is the better choice. For anyone who would rather sit comfortably for three hours, it is the worse one.

What a “sighting” realistically means

Short-finned pilot whales and common bottlenose dolphins live in Madeiran waters all year round; sperm whales and striped dolphins are also reported at various points through the year. Spotted dolphins, on the other hand, are summer visitors and are usually seen between spring and autumn, as are Bryde’s whales.

So what you almost always get are dolphins or pilot whales. What you cannot order is the species. Anyone boarding with the image of a leaping humpback whale in mind will be disappointed – and anyone who watches a pod of pilot whales lying at the surface for a quarter of an hour has experienced the calmer, but rarer, moment.

The rules shape the encounter, not the captain

Madeira has strictly regulated whale watching for years, with licensing requirements and a limited number of boats. The usual rules: a minimum 50-metre distance from whales and dolphins, reduced speed when approaching, approach only calmly and offset from behind at an angle, a maximum of ten minutes per boat with a group and no more than forty minutes in total, plus a cap on how many boats may be nearby at the same time. Chasing, feeding and deliberately swimming with the animals are forbidden.

That is why a good captain will eventually turn away even though the animals are still there. And it is why some encounters last five minutes: the animals come closer when they want to – or they do not.

Weather, swell, and the decision made in the morning

Madeira’s classic pattern holds on the water too: the sun shines on Funchal’s seafront while the mountains sit in cloud. For boat trips, though, what matters is not the cloud but the wave – and the south coast off Funchal lies noticeably more sheltered than the rough north coast. More on this in our article on the weather in Funchal and in the mountains.

Whether the trip runs is decided by the operator on the morning itself. A cancellation is not poor service – it is the only sensible response to swell.

Who the trip is not for

• Anyone sensitive to swell. Even a catamaran rocks. For anything against seasickness, please ask at a pharmacy or your doctor – that is not something that belongs on a travel site.
• Anyone who wants guaranteed sightings. Some listings promise sightings. Wild animals cannot be promised.
• Anyone who dislikes sitting still for three hours. Between encounters, the boat is searching, and searching looks like driving.

If nothing turns up

Some operators offer a free repeat trip if a sailing produces no sighting – by no means all of them, and the conditions differ. This is stated on the relevant booking page, and you should read it there before booking, not afterwards.

All the trips at a glance are shown in the whale and dolphin watching category – families will also find something there, since each operator sets its own age limits. If you would rather see the coastline, take a look at the boat trips or the sunrise and sunset tours.