Whale Watching from Caniçal and Machico

At Madeira’s east end, the whale watching trip to book is Madeira Sea Emotions’ Madeira: Whale and Dolphin Watching Tour: two hours on a speedboat from Quinta do Lorde, near Caniçal, off the Ponta de São Lourenço peninsula, with a marine biologist guide, from US$70 a person (checked November 2026). If no wildlife is seen, you are offered another trip free. It suits you if you are staying in Machico or Caniçal; from Funchal, most trips leave from the city’s own marina.

The calendar is Madeira Sea Emotions’ speedboat. On 26 November 2026 and 14 January 2027 it showed departures at 9:30 AM, 12:30 PM and 3:00 PM.

Caniçal or Caniço?

Caniçal, often typed Canical, is the village at the eastern end of Madeira, in the municipality of Machico; the Museu da Baleia, the Whale Museum, is there. Caniço, with an o at the end, is a different town on the south coast, closer to Funchal, and no whale watching trip on this site leaves from it. If a search for “Canico whale watching” brought you here, you probably want either Caniçal or a trip from Funchal marina.

Getting to Quinta do Lorde and Machico

Madeira Sea Emotions gives its safety briefing at Quinta do Lorde, east of Caniçal village, and searches the water off Ponta de São Lourenço. Drivers park in the covered car park inside the Hotel Quinta do Lorde; by bus, take SAM bus 113 towards Ponta de São Lourenço and get off at the hotel’s main entrance. The boats leave from the marina’s pontoon D or E. The trip includes no hotel pickup.

By road, the Museu da Baleia in Caniçal is about 28 km from Funchal marina, and Machico’s marina about 23 km.

Machico marina

Visit Madeira lists Porto de Recreio de Machico among the island’s whale watching departure points, and under Portaria 46/2014 (as amended in 2015) Machico shares the cap of 25 authorised boats with Funchal, Câmara de Lobos and Santa Cruz. We do not list a trip from Machico on this site, so from the east end we point you to Quinta do Lorde, a short way further east.

The speedboat trip

Madeira Sea Emotions runs a 700 hp speedboat that takes up to 30 passengers and two crew, with a marine biologist guide and commentary in English, Portuguese or Spanish. The search is off Ponta de São Lourenço, with seabirds and the rock formations of the coast on the way; on summer trips there is a stop to swim and snorkel at Ponta de São Lourenço, with the snorkel gear provided. Food and drinks are not included.

It is not suitable for pregnant women or people with mobility impairments. If no wildlife is seen, you are offered another trip free, and you can cancel free up to 24 hours before.

Check dates for the speedboat

The same rules as everywhere in Madeira apply on the water: no active approach closer than 50 m, and up to 10 minutes per boat between 100 m and 50 m (DLR 15/2013/M, read November 2026). A fast boat gets there sooner; it does not stay longer.

The Whale Museum in Caniçal

The Museu da Baleia is at Rua Garcia Moniz 1, 9200-031 Caniçal, and opens Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 18:00 (its home page, read November 2026). It is a museum, not a boat trip: a place to learn about the whales and dolphins of Madeira before or after a day at sea, or instead of one when the sea is too rough. Its pages describe the bottlenose dolphin as present all year, the common dolphin as seasonal, and sperm whales as using Madeira’s waters at any time of year but coming and going. Its ticket prices are not printed here; check them on the museum’s site before you go.

East end or Funchal?

Prices, ratings and review counts from the listings (GetYourGuide checked November 2026). Operators price by date and season, so treat the figures as the shape of the market, not a quote.

For the boats from the other end of the island, see whale watching from Calheta.