VMT Madeira is the operator you pick in Funchal when comfort is the deciding factor. Three sailing catamarans, all with covered seating, toilets, a bar and nets over the bow to lie on, and a three-hour trip that costs €40 a head booked direct. It is a family-run company that says it has carried more than 200,000 passengers and averages 60,000 a year with about 25 qualified staff.
That scale is the trade. On a full summer sailing the largest boat carries 216 people, which is a different experience from a twelve-seat inflatable, and anyone hoping for a quiet approach should know that going in. What you get in return is stability, shade, a seat with a back and somewhere to put a small child.
The fleet, in detail
Few operators publish specifications this precise, so they are worth quoting. Sea Nature is 23.8 by 11 meters, two decks, 216 passengers, 44 tonnes, with 200 square meters of sail and a 26.5-meter mast. Sea the Best is 23 by 10.5 meters and takes 98. Sea Pleasure, a 20-meter Ocean Voyager, takes 70.
All three are motor-sailers: the engines run on the way out, and the sails go up when wind and time allow, which the company frames as both a quieter experience and lower emissions. It is not a gimmick — an engine off within earshot of pilot whales is a genuinely different encounter.
What a trip looks like
Departures are daily, 10:30 to 13:30 and 15:00 to 18:00, from the marina in Funchal, with check-in 30 minutes ahead at the desk on Avenida do Mar. Three hours covers the run west along the coast, time with whatever the crew finds, and — when conditions allow — a swim stop under the cliffs at Cabo Girão.
VMT employs a spotter on the top deck rather than relying on the wheelhouse alone. The regulars off this coast are bottlenose and common dolphins and short-finned pilot whales, with loggerhead turtles as a frequent bonus; the official Madeira tourism board also lists sperm whales, Bryde's whales and spotted dolphins, and calls watching here a year-round activity without describing any species as resident.
The rules it works under
Madeira regulates cetacean watching under Regional Legislative Decree 15/2013/MA, and VMT cites it directly in its published code of conduct: silence on approach, reduced speed, the radio switched off, and no feeding of cetaceans, birds or turtles. Each of its catamarans carries the Blue Flag award for eco-tourism boats, which is assessed annually and covers environmental education and management, safety and services, and conduct around wildlife.
The company also runs school and community talks under an "Eco Discipline" program and says its crews collect floating plastic during trips — a detail several of its own reviewers mention unprompted.
Price and guarantee
Sighting guarantee
VMT publishes a free second trip if no cetacean is seen, valid for life — with one seasonal caveat.
- What is promised
- 'If no sightings are possible during our regular whale and dolphin watching trips, we offer a second trip for free' (vmtmadeira.com)
- Validity
- 'The offer of this 2nd trip is personal and not transferrable and has a lifetime guarantee'
- The caveat
- 'From June to 15 September, the courtesy trip is subject to our availability' — in peak season you may not get a seat on the day you want
- Not a refund
- There is no money-back clause. If you leave the island before you can sail again, the offer is worth nothing
Sightings are never promised by anyone. Read the clause on the listing you book from.
There is one line in that clause most travelers miss. The free second trip is subject to availability between June and 15 September, which is exactly the window when most visitors are on the island and every sailing is full. If you are here in August for four nights, treat the guarantee as goodwill rather than as insurance.
Booking direct or through the platform
Price check · GetYourGuide
Live prices, per person, checked regularly. Sorted from lowest.
| Tour | Price | Duration | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| From Funchal: Ecological Catamaran Dolphin Whale Watching | $39.28 Lowest | 3 h | ★ 4.6 (10,945) | Check dates |
| Funchal: Dolphin and Whale Watching Catamaran Cruise | $39.28 | 3 h | ★ 4.6 (7,793) | Check dates |
| Madeira: Whale & Dolphin Wooden Boat Excursion (3h) | $39.28 | 3 h | ★ 4.5 (752) | Check dates |
| Funchal Bay: Dolphin & Whale Watch Luxury Catamaran Cruise | $44.89 | 3 h | ★ 4.3 (3,894) | Check dates |
| Funchal: Dolphin and Whale Watching by Luxury Catamaran | $44.89 | 3 h | ★ 4.6 (1,883) | Check dates |
| From Funchal: Madeira Dolphin and Whale Watching Tour by VMT | $44.89 | 3 h | ★ 4.2 (1,674) | Check dates |
| Funchal: Dolphin and Whale Watching Sailing Trip | $44.89 | 3 h | ★ 4.7 (1,512) | Check dates |
| Funchal:Hop-on Hop-off Bus & Whale & Dolphin boat Excursion | $51.63 | — | ★ 4.1 (57) | Check dates |
VMT is one of the few operators in this atlas whose name appears in a GetYourGuide title, so there is no guesswork: the "From Funchal: Madeira Dolphin and Whale Watching Tour by VMT" listing is theirs, at $45.86 for three hours with a 4.2 rating across 1,660 reviews. Prices are checked regularly.
Booking direct is cheaper at €40 and puts you under VMT's own terms rather than the platform's. Booking through GetYourGuide gives you the platform's cancellation window and a single account if you are stacking several activities into one Madeira week. Either way, the sighting clause is the operator's, not the platform's.
How it compares
Rota dos Cetáceos works out of the same marina with three fast semi-rigid boats, a marine biologist on board and land-based lookouts. It costs €60 rather than €40, carries a fraction of the passengers, and gets you closer to the water and wetter. That is the real choice in Funchal: deck space or proximity.
If you are comparing islands rather than boats, the Canary Islands run the same pilot-whale-and-dolphin combination year-round at lower prices and with a stricter legal approach distance, and our sperm whale page covers the animal both archipelagos occasionally deliver.
Our call
Our call
A morning sailing on the largest catamaran, booked direct
The €40 direct fare undercuts most of the Funchal listings, the boats have toilets, shade and a bar, and a morning departure gets the flattest water before the afternoon wind fills in. The Blue Flag and the published code of conduct are more than decoration here.
Skip it if The big boat if you want a small group — for that, a semi-rigid operator like Rota dos Cetáceos is the other end of the same marina.
Check dates from $44.89Questions people ask
How much does a VMT Madeira trip cost?
Its own site lists €40 for adults over 12, €20 for children up to 12, free for babies up to four, and a €100 family pack covering two adults and up to four children. The GetYourGuide listing that carries VMT in its title is $45.86 for three hours. Prices are checked regularly.
What boats does VMT use?
Three sailing catamarans. Sea Nature is the largest at 23.8 by 11 meters, two decks and 216 passengers; Sea the Best carries 98 and Sea Pleasure 70. All three have covered seating, bow nets, toilets and a bar, and hoist sails when conditions allow.
When do the trips run?
Daily, 10:30 to 13:30 and 15:00 to 18:00, with check-in obligatory 30 minutes before departure. The trip lasts three hours and includes a swim stop below Cabo Girão when the sea allows.
What will I actually see?
Madeira's regulars are bottlenose and common dolphins, short-finned pilot whales, loggerhead turtles and, less often, sperm whales and Bryde's whales. The official Madeira tourism board calls whale watching here a year-round activity, and does not describe any of these species as resident.
Is the sighting guarantee useful?
Only if you are staying long enough to use it. It is a free second trip rather than a refund, it is personal and non-transferable, and between June and 15 September the courtesy sailing depends on space being available.
What does the Blue Flag mean here?
VMT says each of its catamarans holds the Blue Flag award for eco-tourism boats, which is assessed yearly against criteria covering environmental education and management, safety, services and responsible behavior around wildlife.
Where do I check in?
At the VMT desk on Avenida do Mar, Praça do Povo, Cais 8, in Funchal. The company notes that the check-in booth is not always the same dock as the boat, so leave time; the exact berth is on your voucher.
Official sources
Updated September 17, 2026 · partner prices refreshed October 6, 2026
