4 Stops | 3 Islands & Ria Formosa Natural Park - From Faro
Recommended by 98% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Faro, Portugal
- 4 to 5 hours (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Explore the Algarve's Ria Formosa Natural Park during your time in Faro on this half-day excursion. Join a small group and visit four of the islands in the park—Deserta, Farol, Culatra, and Hangares—via a catamaran. Spend your day swimming in the warm waters, observing local marine life with your snorkel, and learning about local village life.
- Learn about oyster cultivation in the region
- Upgrade to include a typical Algarve lunch in Culatra
- Observe wildlife like herons, storks, and spoonbills
- A small group means more attention from your guide
What's Included
- 10h00 - Morning Tour : 5 hours ( Time to lunch )
- 14h00 - Afternoon Tour : 4 hours ( Time to snacks )
- Professional SKIPPER / Local Guide
- Masks to snorkeling
- Life Jackets
- Lunch ( Morning Tour)
- Food & Drinks & Snacks
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Cais das Portas do MarR. da Porta Nova, 8000-250 Faro, Portugal
The Boarding Place is located at Rua da Porta Nova, 8000-250 Faro The company's representative will be dressed in a Green T-Shirt. Stand Name : Estrela da Ria Formosa
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Itinerary
Parque Natural da Ria Formosa (Pass By)
1
Barreta Island
45 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Ilha do Farol
45 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
3
Ilha da Culatra
2 hours • Admission Ticket Free
4
Ria Formosa
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Parque Natural da Ria Formosa (Pass By)
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Children must be accompanied by an adult.
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Tours can be changed depending on sea conditions.
- Stroller accessible
- A maximum of 12 people per booking.
- A minimum of 2 people is required per booking.
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
- Not recommended for people with motor difficulties.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 12 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.9
based on 3,084 reviews
MaryBeth_B, Oct 2025
This was a wonderful tour that showed us different ways of life on the barrier islands of the Ria Formosa.. Barreta Island (formerly a leprosy colony) has only one restaurant and one fisherman's shack. It is beautiful and feels very remote. It is where the Ria Formosa and the ocean meet, with lots of turbulence and large waves. Ilha de Farol (Lighthouse Island) has a very chill, laid back beach vibe, pretty little cottages. Culatra Island, which is actually the same island, but a small fishing village on the other side of the island, shows you the real workings of the fishing industry and lifestyle.
Our guide, Joac, was very informative, friendly, humorous and made you feel safe with his navigation. The boat was very comfortable. The only unfortunate part was unfortunate that we were not able to meet the oyster farmers or watch the process, but Joac did his best to explain the process to us.
I would highly recommend this tour.
Carolyn_W, Oct 2025
What a lovely day out to see the water eco park surrounding Faro- a step back in time to a basic way of living
The beach on the ocean side of Culatra was spectacular
anne_s, Sep 2025
Wonderful experience, beautiful day at sea visited three islands had a great lunch. I highly recommend it.
Jennifer_H, Sep 2025
Was a good way to see some of the Ria Formosa Park and learn some of the history of Faro. Our guide Joao was very friendly and took time to get to know all of the people on the tour. He told us a lot about the islands and answered all our questions. It can get a bit cold if the wind picks up so bring an extra layer.
Sunni_R, Jul 2025
Pretty neat but not super exciting. It was a chill day and we had a nice guide. A bit chilly in the morning when we left so bring a jacket!
Ben_W, Jul 2025
It’s was a long day, be prepared take warm clothing, the guide Philip was awesome, and on arrival the ladies who greeted us was lovely. Overall brilliant day out in the nature reserve.
Angela_F, Jul 2025
Nice trip, the time run very quickly and would have been nice to spend more time in each stop. The tour guide/ driver was very polite and acknowledged. Unfortunately we missed the last stop for tide reasons
Hannah_A, Jun 2025
It was a fantastic day. The crew were so friendly and helpful. Saw lots of dolphins and whales on the way to the island stops. The puffins were beautiful and fun to watch and seeing the Guillemots was amazing. Highly recommend this tour.
Rob_B, Jun 2025
We had a fantastic time, Oscar was an absolute superstar and made sure everybody enjoyed themself. The islands themselves are well worth seeing, the boat ride was equally relaxing and entertaining, and the lunch we had on Culatra was fantastic. All in all a highly recommended way to spend the day!
Cristian_C, May 2025
I had a terrible experience, as I couldn't enjoy the tour because the operator refused to understand the circumstances that prevented me from attending. I asked them to reschedule it, and they told me I had to pay again, which I found very unfortunate.
Response from Host, May 2025
You did not show up at the scheduled time and at 9:48 you sent a message saying that the tour was cancelled.
You were informed by phone and received a written response that the tour was not cancelled and that it would start at 10:00.
After checking, you contacted the company and stated that the cancellation was not our fault but that of another company.
The fault was yours, not ours!
The flexibility must be the other company's, not ours!
Florence_T, Apr 2025
It was a great way to check out the islands off Faro. Our captain, João, was a lot of fun and informative. He watched the wave and wind closely and recommended to change the order of the tour to avoid being splashed by the waves. He apologized in advanced on the way back to Faro that we would get wet by the crashing waves. He even turned the boat around when one of the tour member’s hat was blown off by the wind to retrieve it. There was enough time in each island to explore around. I’d recommend this tour.
Dhiman_D, Feb 2025
It was an amazing experience. Our tour guide Filipe is very knowledgeable and was very helpful. I recommend this tour to anyone visiting Ria Formosa from Faro. It is a "must visit" and the islands are really beautiful.
Thanks to Filipe for the splendid experience.
John_M, Jan 2025
You are on a boat, dress accordingly. Great visiting the islands to see how peaceful and beautiful they are. Saw many birds, the oyster farms and people digging for clams. Quaint fishing villages.
Olumuyiwa_A, Dec 2024
Philip was a great, kind, and knowledgeable Skipper. Had fun learning about all the islands, the history of each stop, and the war knowledge. The restaurant on Culatra island was also great. The salmon was absolutely delicious!
Anita_B, Dec 2024
Extremely informative. Guide was very passionate about the areas. We had a good time. Not sure how to fill in this void.
Kelly_H, Oct 2024
Had a fantastic time. Organisation was great from directions to meeting point to restaurant booking for lunch. All stops were beautiful in their own right with different things to see and experience. Our boat captain, JC was the best kind of mad! Very fun but also very passionate and enthusiastic about the national park and all it has to offer. Would highly recommend!
Grace_R, Oct 2024
I had a great time on this boat trip. Great weather and lots of time to explore the islands and grab a snack. I had captain JC and he was fantastic, funny and charismatic guy and made the trip even better! Definitely recommend!
Carolina_B, Oct 2024
We had a wonderful tour through the Ria Formosa. Our guide was João and he has a great energy and empathy with his guests.
We got many interesting facts regarding the Ria and the views were amazing.
Sailo, Oct 2024
Our driver Oscar was very entertaining, explaining along the way all the wide birds, sea horses, oyster plantation …
ARTURAS_P, Sep 2024
Very good and friendly guide. Gave a lot of knowledge about the region. We had a fun and meaningful day. Thanks for the trip.
Riya_S, Aug 2024
The views were astonishing and serene. We got to experience a lot of the Portuguese culture and nature. However, for the amount of €40 per person, it was not worth it. We paid for a guided tour but were just chauffeured around. There wasn’t a tour per say, we just went on the boat with a few facts here and there for 4 hours plus walking on the islands. Also, the tour guides attention was clearly not equally distributed and he portrayed favouritism.
Claire_H, Jul 2024
Fantastic trip, wonderful islands made even better by the entertainment of JC. Definitely recommend.
lorraine_l, Jul 2024
we had a great day exploring the nature reserve and small islands our guide jc was brilliant very informative and helpful chatty and funny .would recommend the morning trip
Laurence_M, Jun 2024
Beautiful scenery, dynamic, friendly and knowledgeable guide. Very good restaurant booked by the guide.
Deborah_H, May 2024
It was nice to be on the water, but there was not much to do on the island except to get a cold drink. There was a lot of walking to get to the boardwalk. The guide was nice so it wasn't his fault.
Lynn_M, May 2024
Sergio was a lovely personable guide. I had the most phenomenal fresh caught fish lunch ever. It was a fish I had for the first time. We went out at low tide and came back at high tide. Interesting, the difference.
AmyLouise_A, Apr 2024
We had an amazing day with Joao. His knowledge and explanations really added to the whole experience.
Enough time given at each stop and the recommended restaurant was superb - food was super tasty.
Would highly recommend this tour - thank you Joao!
Carmen_D, Oct 2023
Go with Ivan, best captain ever! He explained through the whole trip. Very recommended trip, specially if the weather is good.
Peter_M, Oct 2023
What a wonderful time we had on the 3 Islands trip from Faro. The trip was exceptional because we had a very knowledgeable guide, Ivan. Ivan added so much to the experience by explaining about the various wildlife, the harvesting of oysters and what the life of the fisherman is really like. I recommend this trip to anyone visiting the Algarve. If you want a truly memerable experience ask for Ivan to be your guide.
Jacqueline_S, Sep 2023
Lovely relaxing day. Saw lots of seabirds , beautiful beaches and had a superb meal of fresh fish.
Ivan the guide was very good.
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4 Stops | 3 Islands & Ria Formosa Natural Park - From Faro
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