| Ethical whale watching and swimming with wild dolphins in the Azores
Everything you need to know
Whale watching and swimming with wild dolphins. For us, these were activities that had been on our travel bucket list for years. But of course, we wanted to do this in an ethical way. In the end, we decided to go to the Azores. A small archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean teeming with these majestic sea creatures.
Of the 81 different species of whales and dolphins worldwide, no less than 28 live in the waters around the Azores. This gives you a year-round chance of spotting them. How to do this in a responsible way? With which organisations? And what is the best time for this? Read this and more here.
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What are the Azores?
The Azores is an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, midway between Europe and North America. The Azores belong to Portugal and are known as Europe’s Hawaii because of their subtropical climate, volcanic activity, many waterfalls and tropical green vegetation. Just like Hawaii, the Azores are also enormously rich in marine life.
You will find different species of whales and dolphins here all year round. For a long time, these animals were hunted and killed, as whaling was the main source of income for the islanders. But now the islanders have found a more animal-friendly way of making money from the rich waters: whale watching and swimming with wild dolphins.
Eco-friendly tour operators
Besides hiking through the beautiful nature, whale watching and swimming with dolphins are the most popular activities on the Azores. Local organisations are hereby making efforts for sustainable tourism. But it is still important to look carefully for suitable organisations that really do this in an ecologically responsible way.
We ourselves have good experiences with both Futurismo and Terra Azul.
Futurismo
This is a large eco-tour organisation operating from two different islands in the Azores: São Miguel and Pico. Both islands are great for whale and dolphin watching. São Miguel is the main island of the archipelago and here Futurismo has two bases from which their boats depart: the capital Ponte Delgada and the northern town of Rabo de Peixe.
Futurismo is committed to the protection of whales and dolphins and for this reason they send a marine biologist and several photographers on all their tours so that the animals can be properly documented.
This organisation operates two different types of boats: a small, fast zodiac boat and a larger catamaran. The latter is more suitable for families with children, people with back pains and photographers. A tour with a zodiac boat is a bit more adventurous. This boat is also used for swimming with the dolphins.
Terra Azul
This eco-tour organisation operates from the small village of Vila Franca do Campo on the island of São Miguel. It is strongly committed to the conservation of whales and other marine life by investing a large part of the revenues from their tours in research and education.
Some of this research and education is carried out during the tours themselves, where tourists are first told about the animals and conservation. As with Futurismo, a marine biologist then joins the boat to document the animals and their movements.
Terra Azul only offers tours with zodiac boats, with which you can both ethically spot whales and swim with dolphins. As a bonus, their tours often include a trip around the ‘Princess Ring’, a special crater island off the coast of Vila Franca.
Whale watching in the Azores
Both Futurismo and Terra Azul do not search for whales and dolphins using sonar or other means that may disturb the animals and their habitat. Instead they rely on spotters from the shore. These spotters have gigantic binoculars at their disposal and via a low-frequency walkie-talkie they pass on the locations of the animals to the boats at sea.
These boats then sail as quickly as possible to the location they were told. Once there, they keep their distance from the whales. The marine biologist ensures that the animals are approached correctly and then passionately explains everyone about the animals and their habitat.
In some cases, the whales swim up to the boats themselves, which is what happened during our first trip on the catamaran. A very special experience, where it was actually a question of who was interested in whom.
Swimming with dolphins in the wild in the Azores
Swimming with dolphins is also subject to strict rules to protect the animals. On the Azores, you swim with wild dolphins in the ocean, and not with dolphins kept in captivity (this is in any case not a healthy practice for the animals and something we would never do ourselves).
Swimming with dolphins’ is a relative term in this case. You lie in the water close to the boat and the dolphins swim past you or under you, barely noticing your presence. This is also important and something that the marine biologist watches out for. No more than two people are allowed in the water at the same time and you have to do this in a calm way, without splashing.
The marine biologist also checks beforehand whether the dolphins are ‘okay’ to swim. This is mainly to do with the type of dolphins, because there are also dolphin species that are very shy and do not like to see people in the water. So swimming isn’t allowed then.
Times and costs
Whale watching or swimming with dolphins is possible both in the morning and early afternoon. Depending on the type of tour, the boats leave around 8.30am or 1pm. The costs for whale watching are around €60,- and for swimming with dolphins between €85,- and €115,-.
When to go whale watching in the Azores
On the Azores, you have a year-round chance of seeing whales and dolphins, with travel organisations even estimating this at 98%.
Spring is the best time to spot the largest species of whales. Several species of baleen whales, such as blue whales and humpback whales, pass through the Azores particularly in April and May on their migration between the cool waters of the North and the tropical waters of the South.
However, you are more likely to encounter sperm whales during these months. This is because they are the most common species of whale in the Azores and they stay here all year round.
The summer is the best season to see the different dolphins, and – if you want to – swim with them. The common dolphin is also a permanent resident of the Azores and is therefore regularly seen in autumn and winter, as is the sperm whale.
Which Azores island is the best for whale watching
Within the Azores, São Miguel, Pico and Failal are the best islands for whale watching and swimming with dolphins. However, you should always keep an eye on the weather on these islands. The weather can be quite stormy on the Azores, which means that a tour may have to be postponed or even cancelled.
Seasickness
The stormy weather can of course also cause a stormy sea. Take this into account, especially if you are sensitive to seasickness. In that case, it is advisable to take one or two pills against motion sickness in advance. We did this and did not suffer from anything, but especially on the catamaran, there were clearly people who could have used a travel sickness pill.
Hi, we are Samira & Maurits, a travel-hungry couple with a passion for photography.
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