By Lianne, responsible for the Spanish market and content/translations at SeaBookings.
Not only I didn’t know that it was possible to see dolphins in Lisbon, but I also didn’t know how many dolphins you can find around Lisbon, I was really surprised! And we were extra lucky that day because we encountered a minke whale as well. Can you believe it? Well, take a look at the photos and videos we’ve made for you!
It was a sunny day in Lisbon and Bo and I decided to do a 7km run from Príncipe Real to the marina where the boat would leave at 9am in the morning. This was a good motivation to keep on running because we didn’t want to miss the boat!
Just on time, we arrived, and everyone was ready to climb on board of the trimaran for an excursion named the “Bartholomew Dias Expedition”. This nice trimaran boat looked like a bird and is very spacious! It was a very nice boat because we could sit in the middle or relax and lie down on big nets on each side of the boat.
[youtube height=”300″ width=”615″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6Ksi8TXXtk&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]
Because we only could find the dolphins further away in the open sea we had to sail for a while. But that didn’t matter because everyone was enjoying the sailing. I have to say that I was so relaxed that I even fell asleep on one of the nets! I felt very comfortable and I enjoyed the sun very much. All of the sudden we heard someone saying that there was a dolphin right next to the boat. Francisco, the guide, owner of the boat and marine biologist, advised us to go and sit in the front, because from his experience there will be more soon!
We all went to the front and there we already saw several dolphins swimming and jumping around the boat. I think everyone was really surprised by the number of dolphins in Lisbon, incredible! Because the boat is 8m wide, everyone could enjoy these beautiful animals to the fullest. And it was like the dolphins saw us too, because they were really showing off for us. And if this wasn’t enough we also saw a whale (several times!!) appearing slowly on the surface a bit further away.
After these mind-blowing surprises we sailed back to Lisbon and during our way back we got a short workshop about the dolphins and whales we saw that day by the experienced biologist Francisco. It’s very nice to get to know a little bit more about the species, specially when told by such an enthusiast like Francisco!
I think this was one of the best dolphin watching tours I did in Portugal! I can definitely recommend this tour to the dolphins in Lisbon to anyone who would like to have a nice day on the sea! Next time I’m in Lisbon, I am going again!
