Whale and Dolphin Watching Tour in Madeira

Recommended by 99% of travelers

Badge of Excellence

Funchal, Portugal

Popular pick

Booked 5+ times last week!

2 hours 30 minutes (approx.)
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

Why travelers loved this

4.9

· Gigi_A ·

Jul 2025

It was great. We didn’t see any dolphins/whales though, but honestly it didn’t matter. The crew were both lovely, attentive etc, and was very comfortable. Very relaxing too, drove around for 2.5 hours, had a couple of drinks, saw Madeira from a different perspective and got to swim —Surprisingly warm!! Would definitely book again, thank you so much!!

· Mark_R ·

Oct 2025

Lovely boat and not over crowded so plenty of space to stretch out and relax. Our captain located a pod of dolphins which was awesome and they provide towels of you fancy a swim in the ocean

Overview

The south coast of Madeira is a popular spot to watch whales and dolphins in their natural environment. This small-group yacht cruise offers a more personalized experience, with a chance to customize the tour to your group’s preferences, stopping to swim or snorkel along the coast, and looking out for bottlenose dolphins, sperm whales, and Bryde's whales.

Magnificent views of Madeira from the water
Swim, snorkel, and spot marine life along the coast
Choice of departure times throughout the day
Small group with a maximum of 12 people

What's Included

Light refreshments (water, fruit juice, soft drinks, beer)
Snorkel equipment (masks, fins and tubes)
Hair and body towels
Blankets
Shower after swimming time
Toilet
Cabin
Bottled water

Transportation to/from attractions.
Snacks / food

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

On Tales - Whales and Dolphins Watching Tours
Loja 16-17 Porto Recreio da Calheta, Av. D. Manuel I, 9370-133 Calheta, Portugal
You will find the On Tales Store at the end of the Marina da Calheta, next to the blue building. Our team will greet you and guide you to our yacht.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Itinerary

On Tales

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Porto de Recreio da Calheta

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Madeira Islands

2 hours • Admission Ticket Free

Madeira Islands

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Madeira Islands (Pass By)

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Most travelers can participate
Confirmation will be sent before the tour or 48 hours after booking:
Subject to favorable maritime conditions (if canceled due weather conditions, you will be given the option of an alternative date or full refund)
Family friendly

Children must be accompanied by an adult
Subject to availability
Wildlife sightings cannot be guaranteed
6/6.30 pm or 7/7.30 pm 19/19.30 departure time: Sunset, Snorkeling and Sparkling wine, NO whale watching
Guests should understand their duty to exercise reasonable care for their own safety while boarding, exiting and being on-board the yacht.
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

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Featured review

Sofia_P

We had the most incredible trip with Luca & Manny onboard! Luca was extremely knowledgeable about the wildlife of Madeira & Manny was a fantastic supporting host & camera man! We were lucky enough to follow a group of Fin Whales and we saw several blows. We also saw a dolphin, seal & jellyfish. We also stopped for a swim which was delightful. The boat was perfect for the small group of passengers and it was a very intimate trip. We thoroughly enjoyed and would highly recommend!! Thank you :)

Reviews

4.9

based on 1,224 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

A amazing morning trip!

Sofia_P, Apr 2026

Response from Host, Apr 2026

Dear Sofia, Thank you so much for your kind words. Our entire team is delighted to read your happiness! Our main focus is to provide a comfortable experience to our guests while maintaining a healthy balance between our eagerness to meet wildlife and a sustainable approach. It is amazing that so many species of marine life put on such a show for you! Small groups always. Your recommendation means a lot to the On Tales team. We hope to see you back on board the Gringo yacht, for a Sunset cruise next time !

Gorgeous day on the water

Byron_K, Oct 2025

Great communication from On Tales up through the morning of the cruise. Had about ten people on the boat during our 10:30 expedition - everybody fit more than comfortably. Beatriz and Bruno were friendly, knowledgeable and skilled and were very up front with the days conditions and expected sightings. Cruised off Calheta for a while chasing a few dolphins which we managed to see, although they were feeding at the time and not in a bigger school. Lovely ride across long, gentle waves along the scenic south coast. Stop near Porta Do Sol for some swimming and the place lived up to its name with the sun in full effect. Refreshments during the cruise and full access to all areas of the boat. Even with minimal dolphin and whale activity it was an exceptional day on the water. Highly recommended especially if you prefer a smaller group setting than the larger tourist boats!

Response from Host, Oct 2025

Thank you Byron, it was a real pleasure to take care of your booking from the minute you selected the On Tales experience on our website. We specialise in private charters, our experience is 2.5 hours long and allows us to explore the island on a coastal cruise while our spotter searches for wildlife from land. Our guests can jump from the boat at one of our favorite bays, swim and snorkel, explore the rocky bottoms and crystal clear waters, close to shore. Comfortable yachts, various sitting areas, on the sofas or on the front-deck. Small groups for designer tours always!

Great value for money and lovely boat

Mark_R, Oct 2025

Lovely boat and not over crowded so plenty of space to stretch out and relax. Our captain located a pod of dolphins which was awesome and they provide towels of you fancy a swim in the ocean

Response from Host, Oct 2025

Ola Mark, Thank you for so much kindness, it was a real pleasure to have you on board our yacht. Meeting whales and dolphins in their natural environment is magical ! Small groups for designer tours always! Maybe next time we could organise a Sunset cruise for you. Swimming and snorkeling from a comfortable yacht is a memorable part of the On Tales experience. Snorkeling equipment and bathing towels are always available for use while on board. Our crew members take pictures that we send to our guests afterwards. All you need to bring is your swimwear and a smile. We take care of everything else!

They are 10 stars,...

Cosmin_G, Sep 2025

They are 10 stars, everything went smooth, staff friendly, and professional. Greatly recommend and definitely well return again. Thank you !

Great boat trip

Matthew_A, Jul 2025

We saw dolphins and a pygmy whale. The boat was uncrowded and comfortable. All the staff were very helpful attentive and friendly.

Fantastic trip. Would recommend to a friend!

Gigi_A, Jul 2025

Lovely time

PATRICIA_F, Jun 2025

It was absolutely lovely. The staff was very friendly and knowledgeable. Boost was beautiful and comfortable.

Response from Host, Jun 2025

Dear Patricia, Thank you fro so much kindness, it was a real pleasure to meet you today.

Really nice experience

rachel_c, Nov 2024

Communication with the company was excellent. They also sorted out our transfer from Funchal to calgheta. Lovely clean boat. Attentive staff. Didn't see whales or dolphins due to weather but the trip was still excellent. Would recommend the company

Response from Host, Nov 2024

Ola Rachel, it was a real pleasure to meet you and a privilege to have you on board. Thank you for choosing and trusting the On Tales team, Nature is sometimes a little shy and cannot be ordered but we make a point of putting together all the required elements in order to provide our guests with a safe and comfortable experience from the first minute to the last minute! We will be looking forward to your next visit to Calheta!

Nice cruise but no snorkeling and more people than advertised on one boat

Sven_O, Sep 2024

The advertised cruise was not what we received. We have booked a tour on a small boat up to 6 people with snorkeling. But we were placed on a boat with more than 10 people, we wer able to dip in the ocean for 5 minutes, they had no snorkeling equipment on board. I adressed everything upon boarding but was told by the staff and the captain that this was what I had booked. It still was a nice cruise. Later back at our apartment I checked my booking and saw that we had actually not received what we had booked and adressed it via Whatsapp with the staff. They told me that they would check with management but have since (two weeks) not answered again.

Response from Host, Sep 2024

Dear Sven, our phone calls were never attended and we have since emailed you. We are sorry to read that you have confused our two offers. The Private charter takes place on a yacht named Miranda, able to welcome up to 6 guests comfortably while the shared cruise (that you selected and booked) is indeed on a spacious 14 seater named Gringo. The snorkeling equipment was in fact available on board and you could have used it freely, as you did with the bathing towels. Once again, our shared cruise option is a cruise that is set to accommodate each and every guest on board with equal and utmost attentiveness and courtesy. Of course, on a private charter, we adjust to you and to no-one else, in terms of the time we spend on each part of the experience. We are sincerely sorry that you feel mislead, please answer our email and let us know what else we could have done in a different way. Our guests opinion always matters to our team.

Unforgettable

Kristofers_J, Aug 2024

The tour was very good, the crew was really nice and attentive. We saw two types of wildlife in the Atlantic ocean, and the crew told us more about what we saw and provided us with pictures as well. They also told us more about the island itself. It overall was an unforgettable and amazing tour! Thank you.

Great experience and wonderful staff!

Carrie_M, Aug 2024

Great crew. Fun educational moments for kids. A chance to jump off and swim and even a dolphin pod sighting! The staff at the front office (and throughout) were kind and throughough! We were well taken care of and it felt like VIP service, but genuine.

Don’t waste your money!

FranciscoJos_G, Jul 2024

Don’t waste your money. At best you will see 1-2 dolphin fins in the distance - no remote chance you will see a whale (confirmed by the 2 skippers on board). If you want to spot dolphins or whales go somewhere else. This is fine if you want to do a boat tour along the Madeira coast. Once knowing it’s a terrible place for spotting animals after ~30 min, we saw 2-3 dolphins in the distance. This was enough for the captains to “call it a day” and made zero effort to spot more. The next 1.5h they just drove us along the coast. And we didn’t even get the 2.5 hours tour, but only 2h.

Response from Host, Jul 2024

Dear Sir, Madeira Island is a wonderful place to watch wild animals, including whales and dolphins. As you did: A wild social group of about 12 Dolphins. They are wild animals that inhabit and migrate through the Atlantic ocean. That is why its magical. That is why they are protected and there are rules for approaching and visualising cetaceans in Madeira Island. They are not in an aquarium waiting for anyone. And most certainly they are not circus animals that perform on command. Before even considering about taking anyone on board, we are very firm stating the previous and also that there is no warranty for finding Cetacean. Exactly the same message that we give on board by our team of very skilled captains. Wild life is to be appreciated. Not bought! Because there are rules that protect Cetacean, we use spoters on land that use binoculars to find them. So no radar, sonar, drones, etc.. They are the ones searching for wild life, from the mountains and Carlos was in permanent contact with the boat. While they search, we show Madeira Island from the coast line wich is really amazing! We also stop on a bay for swiming or snorkeling. While they are searching. That's what we did. Wild life is to be appreciated. Not bought! Because of the previous, we wish that this answer helps you to understand beter! Best regards, Emanuel (captain)

Dolphins and shearwaters

Krautpop_R, May 2024

Great birthday trip with the skipper & his mate. They let me & my partner sit up front on the bow of the boat. Perfect location for watching common dolphins and shearwaters. Had a lovely swim at the end of the boat ride.

Fabulous experience

Sylvia_B, Aug 2023

Seeing the island from the sea was an amazing experience as well as watching the dolphins jump in the water. Emanuel was a great captain, so knowledgeable and a lot of fun.

Highlight of Madeira Visit

Julie_E, Aug 2023

Great experience! The crew and office staff took care of every detail, and we saw a ton of dolphins!

Unmissable!

Kat_H, Jul 2023

This experience was definitely the highlight of our visit to Madeira. The crew were so attentive and the small boat with a maximum of 6 guests meant we felt very looked after. I could not recommend more!

On Tales were very...

Mark_J, Jun 2023

On Tales were very attentive and made the trip great. From the office staff to the two guys skippering the boat . The office even booked a restaurant after for us which was very good.

Amazing experience with a...

Elena_D, Jun 2023

Amazing experience with a wonderful team! We loved this tour a lot, I really recommend to anyone who visit Madeira!

Great experience

Nico_D, Jul 2022

Super friendly people, perfectly organized, a lot of information about the sea and Madeira. We strongly recommend it!

Nice trip around the...

Geeta_L, May 2022

Nice trip around the coast of Madeira - highly recommend the outfit - the rating is due to the fact that we did not see any sealife - lovely experience though.

Response from Host, May 2022

We are sorry to read your disappointment but some aspects of our activities cannot be 100% guaranteed. Indeed we adapt each one of our cruises to the maritime conditions. Nature is sometimes a little shy and cannot be ordered but we make a point of putting together all the required elements in order to provide our guests with a safe and comfortable experience from the first minute to the last minute! This is what makes each cruise unique and unpredictable.

The team is very...

Marco_Z, Apr 2022

The team is very professional and the experience was great! Thanks to Emanuel and the whole team! My family loved it.

Great tour, arrangements and crew

Antti_K, Apr 2022

Friendly crew with great knowledge and communication, we felt safe and well taken care of before and during the whole trip. Very easy to recommend the tour. Personal experience instead of a big group tour was also a big positive.

best birthday gift

Wei_Y, Nov 2021

This was the highlight of our trip! We sailed alongside the shore, trying to spot a whale known to be nearby. The two members of the crew, Thibault and Emmanuel, were extremely kind and thoughtful, plus they were very knowledgable about Madeira. It was such an amazing experience, and we've got loads of photos taken by the crew to relive it!

Response from Host, Nov 2021

Dear Wei and Emile, It was a real pleasure to organize this birthday cruise for you. It was an amazing day indeed! Thank you for so much kindness and patience, you looked so comfortable on the yacht's front deck, maybe next time you would like to try jumping into the Atlantic ocean. It is a very special experience too.

Big scam provided by a nice crew.

Pederlund_N, Nov 2020

Let me start with the positive, friendly staff and crew on board that’s trying to make a living in these difficult times. But the whole concept from start to end is a hoax. Viator is just a greedy provider exploiting small tour companies. We booked the whale tour🤣🤣and couldn’t get information about time because.... ohhh the weather? Wells the weather happened to be the same all day at sea, from early morning to dusk. A gentle breeze or even less than that... 2-3 second meter wind. Anyway was the morning 10 am trip not available because of weather conditions 🤔 No the truth is that it was most likely sold out already but Viator want YOU in the net so to speak. So they sell a tour and later get the availability confirmed by the operator that probably then said... we only have the 16 o’clock tour, 10 and 13 o’clock are full already. So they pull the weather card excuse in nice cooperation with On Tales that backs the story. Which I already explained impossible could be the reason, actually it was in fact even better in midday than evening no matter what source you checked with. I hate greedy providers like Agoda Hotels.com and in this case Viator that snaps 30-50% of the price that the local operator or hotel could have had. But to makes things worse, then the tour was relatively quickly renamed to SUNSET tour 😂 and of course whales and dolphins are animals which you can not rely on, which was mentioned again and again. So no big surprise that we didn’t encounter just one small tail of anything that could be called a whale dolphin or just fish. I think they haven’t seen a whale in 2 years ? They simply don’t go out far enough to be able to spot anything. Don’t buy this trip because it’s just a 2 1/2 hour ride along the otherwise beautiful coastline and for that then it’s definitely overpriced. But yet again, staff was kind and informative but that doesn’t help the picture of a scam.

Response from Host, Nov 2021

We can understand your disappointment that the cetaceans were not in the area, on that day. Maybe you have been treated badly and lied to in the past, by other entities, but it is not the case here. We do not promote or promise wildlife because as a rule, it cannot be guaranteed ! You wanted a service that was impossible to maintain, refused to accept that the weather conditions were not suitable and refused to cancel your booking. The pandemic situation is difficult enough as it is without having to deal with this kind of speculative and purposely damaging behaviour. We are just the weak link that you found to address your angry attitude against big companies.

Best Dolphin-Watching Tour! Best Crew!

Alexander_R, Aug 2020

We were so impressed by this tour that we decided to book it one again. So we did 2 Tours in our holiday and it was absolutely worthit. The whole crew is so lovely and we felt super comfortable. We were allowed to sit in front of the boat - it felt like we had a private tour to the dolphins. The crew love that they are doing and everything is so authentic! They took care of us and all the COVID rules. On the way back we had the chance to swim in the sea and also were allowed to drive the boat - it was amazing! Thank you so much on tales! We will never forget the two tours and will definitely come back in our next holiday ❤️

Response from Host, Aug 2020

Dear Mareike, we cannot thank you enough for choosing and trusting us ... Twice ! The pleasure was all ours and we would love to meet you again on your next visit to Madeira island.

Pure Magic

Alexander_R, Aug 2020

It was so good....We did it twice in 3 days! We was so impressed by the Crew and our first trip @16:30 pm. We decided to book another trip @10 am two days later. Two totally different experiences but both of them were so special!!! Emanuel the Captain and Thiago the biologists took us 6 on a magic trip and it felt like a private tour. Both times we did see dolphins - calmly swimming by our boat. It was so quiet and peaceful. Thank you guys for all the effort and love you shared with us. We will be back for a 100 %!

Response from Host, Aug 2020

Dear Alexander, Yes indeed each one of our cruise can be different because wildlife is so amazing and peaceful. Having you on-board was a pleasure. Great guests make great memories !

Relax

Ekaterina_M, Sep 2025

The organizer Rosa was very nice and competent. We had a great boat tour . Unfortunately, we haven't seen any whales and dolphins. But this is nature . Nevertheless, we really enjoyed this trip.

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Even though we haven't been...

Bruno_B, Aug 2025

Although we were not very lucky in the observation it was an extremely pleasant boat ride thanks to the Welcoming and attention to detail of the team on land and board, and the beauty of the seascapes!

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Dauphins

laura_c, Aug 2024

Très bon accueil, équipage au petit soins autant pour les enfants que pour nous. Super moment merci beaucoup.

Très belle balade

Delphine_B, Aug 2024

Très bonne prise en charge par l’équipage. A l’écoute et donnant des explications sur le fond marin. Le petit plus sont les photos souvenirs reçues le soir même …. Pour parfaire le souvenir..

Likely to Sell Out