Whale Watching Worldwide

Portugal ‐ Mainland
Year Number of
whale
watchers
AAGR Number of
operators
Direct
expenditure
Indirect
expenditure
Total
expenditure
1991 Minimal N/A N/A Minimal Minimal Minimal
1994 Minimal N/A N/A Minimal Minimal Minimal
1998 1,380 N/A 1 $31,000 $56,000 $87,000
2008 58,407 45.4% 11 $1,815,602 $4,322,497 $6,138,099
Capital City: Lisbon
Whale Watch Locations:
01: Lagos
02: Vilamoura
03: Portimao
04: Setúbal
The Portuguese mainland is currently demonstrating its potential
for dolphin watching, as predicted in the 2001 IFAW report by Erich
Hoyt. From a slow start in 1998, when the country’s mainland had
only 1,380 whale watchers, it is estimated that over 58,000 whale
watchers undertook trips in 2008. Tour operators offer dolphin
watching exclusively, as no large cetaceans are easily observed in the main industry areas of Sado Estuary
and Algarve coast.
Approximately half of the mainland’s dolphin watchers participate in tours offered by opportunistic dolphin
watching operators, which combine whale watching with seal, turtle and/or nature watching cruises. This
represents a clear difference compared to the type of whale and dolphin watching practiced in the other
two Portuguese territories analysed in this report, the Azores and Madeira Islands, which offer mainly
dedicated whale and dolphin tours.
The main whale watching activity is focused on Setúbal, in the Lisbon region, and along the south coast in
the Algarve, with the towns of Lagos, Vilamoura and Portimao as departure points. The Algarve region is a
major holiday location for Portuguese nationals and other Europeans, with budget hotel and flight packages
almost all year round. This may go some way to explaining the explosive numbers of dolphin watchers
reported by the surveys, although approximately 60% of dolphin watchers are Portuguese nationals and 40%
internationals.
In general, trips last from three to four hours (a half‐day trip), and follow return routes along the Algarve.
Most boats used for these tours have a high passenger capacity, on average 47 places. The trips cost around
$41 for an adult and $25 for a child.
As mentioned above, only dolphins are spotted in Portuguese mainland – bottlenose dolphins reside in the
Sado Estuary, while short‐beaked common, bottlenose, striped and pantropical spotted dolphins are seen in
the Algarve.
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