Ria Formosa Natural Park Boat Cruise from Faro

Make sure you do this trip with low tide. Otherwise you see a lot of water (instead of birds and other wildlife)

The departure point was easy to find and they took already care of me before the trip even started by providing all necessary informations via Whatsapp! Furthermore the staff was great and the boat trip was fun.

Very good communication from booking to the activity date. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and provided a lot of information about the Ria Formosa Natural Park and the islands we visited. We visited and explored ilha Deserta (smaller, very quiet/peaceful and great for a walk) and ilha do Farol (lovely beach and nice cafes). The boat was comfortable and very well kept. With social distancing and mandatory mask wearing in place, it was a safe experience. We definitely recommend this boat tour.

Excellent tour with all the Covid measures in place. Beautiful islands and natural park are definitely worth visiting. Guide was very friendly, knowledgeable and professional. Desert island was out favourite part.

We really enjoyed this boat trip! The boat itself was great with really comfy leather seats and just a small group of people so you can really enjoy the ride and scenery. We did 3 stops, 2 to explore the islands and one for lunch which was amazing fresh local fish at a very reasonable price. Our guide Miguel was really friendly and knowledgeable. I would definitely recommend this for a day out in Faro.

We went in Sep 2018 and were disappointed given we had read all the positive reviews. This is essentially a visit to 4 different islands, transportation only. Each island you get dropped off to roam for 30 or so minutes. You get to see unique islands and beaches and sub-cultures on each island but know that that is it. Our guide spoke very little he gave one mention about any details about the Ria Formosa Natural Park, so little in terms of educating you on more, just that the tide rises and falls and showed us a crab. Each description of each island as we approached was spoke mostly in French and then Portuguese and hard to hear as he sped across the water - there were only 3 of us that were English-speaking out of 10-12 there. So basically don't expect an enlightening tour. It's basically a quick visit of 4 islands. I learned more reading the page in our Lonely Planet book, which after going on this tour over-played the must-see nature of the Ria Formosa park.

Its a fantastic way of spending half a day in Ria Formosa Natural Park and getting to places that are otherwise covered by water or too difficult to get to. Our guide Alex, who was born on one of the islands we visited, had wonderful knowledge of the park and its history. Do try the oysters when you there, they do not come any fresher.

It was a good trip but just a very long day. With the sun beating down on you and the heat, you get tired rather quickly. The last island, the guide parked in a terrible location where we had to walk over sewage, poop, wires, and it was very dangerous. This is the only negative thing about the trip. We didn’t get our oysters and clams but that’s okay.

Excellent trip and knowledge from the guide. It was not at all what we expected, in fact much better, with island visits and a nice smooth river cruise. Highly recommend this trip, it was sunny, windy and not the warmest day and still great, I would definitely do this again especially in the hotter weather as you can then dive off the boat and swim in the estuary, which is very clear. Great to see the locals who live on the island and their own way of life.

This is a great tour. You get to walk around on some of the islands. Ricardo our tour guide, was excellent.