- Certified biologist aboard
- Cabo Girão swim stop
- Open bar included
- Wheelchair accessible boat
VipDolphins run dolphin and whale watching trips out of Funchal on a power catamaran that carries 17 guests and three crew, with a photographer on board who emails you the sightings afterwards. It is the comfortable end of Funchal's whale watching fleet rather than the cheap one.
About VipDolphins
The boat is a power catamaran rather than a sailing yacht, so it spends its three hours looking for animals instead of working the wind. Trips carry 17 guests and three crew, and the layout runs to a forward cockpit, a flybridge, a shower and a toilet. A biologist-guide certified for the observation of cetaceans by the Institute of Forests and Nature Conservation sails on every trip, alongside a photojournalist whose photo report lands in your inbox in the days afterwards.
Every sailing goes out after dolphins, whales and turtles, then stops for roughly half an hour below the Cabo Girão cliffs so you can get in the water, with snorkelling gear and towels on board. Bottlenose dolphins and short-finned pilot whales are resident and possible in any month, Atlantic spotted dolphins show from late spring through to October, and common dolphins are a winter sighting, so what you meet changes with the month even though the trip does not.
Good to know
- Booking
- Online with live availability, or WhatsApp
- Check-in
- At the kiosk, 20 to 30 minutes before
- Punctuality
- The boat leaves on time, no late boarding
- Children
- Under 3s not carried on shared trips
- Health
- No pregnancy, back or heart conditions
- Accessibility
- Boarding ramp, arranged after you book
- Cancellations
- Full refund up to 48 hours before
- Bad weather
- Cancelled trips refunded in full
- oceanopioneiro@gmail.com
- Hours
- Can change on public holidays. Call ahead if it matters.
Staying in Funchal?
We are a local team with vacation rentals across the island. Book straight with us and there is no platform fee.
