Amazing experience!!! All guides are marine biologists who know a lot about whales and other ocean species. Our guide, a girl from Lisbon University (sorry forgot her name…) made a lot of efforts to make our experience unforgettable. By choosing Naturalist you also support marine science because 10% from the ticket price goes to marine research purposes.

Amazing experience, one of the best souvenir that we will keep about the whole trip. We were lucky to see severals animals ( whales, dolphins, fakes orcas and sea turtles) but also all the explanations and scientific fact that the guides gave us make the experience even better. At the end we had also a tasting of a typical island liquor. I really recommend them.

Amazing experience! We did the snorkeling with whalesharks and spent 7 hours with Naturalist, absolutely worth it's money! The Team is great, they are super friendly and make sure that you and the animals are safe. Definitely recommend doing a tour with them!

(Translated by Google) An exceptional team. We spent a fantastic day with Pedro who makes you discover his island in every nook and cranny. (Original) Une équipe exceptionnelle. Nous avons passé 1 journée fantastique avec Pedro qui vous fait découvrir son île dans les moindres recoins.

(Translated by Google) Team prepared we spotted in group of five whale. The guys who accompanied us are marine biologists from the University of Lisbon (Original) Team preparato abbiamo avvistato in gruppo di cinque balena. I ragazzi che ci hanno accompagnato sono dei biologi Marini dell’Università di Lisbona

(Translated by Google) Good explanations and nice place to watch dolphins and whales (Original) Bonne explications et bel endroit pour observer les dauphins et baleines

Amazing experience for Whale Watching in Faial: Naturalist is not your typical tour operator, but it’s a start-up founded and operated by university researches, meaning that they fund the researches also through tourism! Whale watching is a must-see experience itself, but with this super professional team, is taken to the next level! Complimenti, super recommended

(Translated by Google) Very professional and respectful team, very interesting, and we could see many sperm whales and dolphins (more than other companies). (Original) Équipe très professionnelle et respectueuse, très intéressante, et nous avons pu voir beaucoup de cachalots et de dauphins (plus que les autres compagnies).

A great experience. It was an honor to be with that Team on the ocean to see whales. Thank you very much, I think I don't forget it in my hole life.

I discovered Naturalist by chance when I booked their rental cabin overlooking the Bay of Horta and the Horta Marina. What I didn't initially realize was that they also happen to be a team of researchers who are doing incredibly important work in marine science studies. They also provide tour services of Faial as well as citizen-science outings and whale tours. Everything they do is with deliberation and purpose. The house they rent may have the greatest view in all of Horta, and is the perfect place to call home when visiting. I had the opportunity to join them on a whim one morning to search for orcas, which are incredibly rare in the Azores. We located 6 of them, and it was a joyous experience for all onboard, researchers included. I'm already planning my return trip (in just a few months!) and plan to stay at their cabin again, and join them for more of their hands-on, environmentally conscious programs.

My family and I just had a half day tour with Rui Campos. It was amazing! The weather was not so good, a little rain lots of wind, cool, but Rui made sure not only did we enjoy ourselves but had a tremendous experience. Highly recommend the half day tour of Faial. It will be the highlight of your trip!!

(Translated by Google) Great whale watching tour, interesting information from a marine biologist. Great care. Highly recommended! (Original) Tolle Whalewatching Tour, interessante Informationen von einer Meeresbiologin. Super Betreuung. Sehr empfehlenswert!

Very competent and enthusiastic team. The very interesting experience with plenty of wildlife: spermwhales, dolphins, Portugal mans of war and shearwaters. I can only recommend to everyone!

Excellent tours. We did both a whale and a land excursion. All guides are knowledgeable biologists who can tell you anything about local wildlife, flora and history. Moreover, they're all very friendly and cheerful.

We‘ve booked e whale & dolphin tour with Naturlist and it was a great experience! You not only see the wahles/dolphins but rather you learn a lot about them!

I had a very impressive and entertaining whale watching trip today. The team creates a very welcoming atmosphere. The tour is family friendly and the skipper and the guide are sharing their profound knowledge about the whales, turtles, dolphins and seabirds. I highly recommend their way of running whale watching boat tours.

The Naturalist Team during our visit consisted of Marine Biologists with a PhD degree. Their startup and tour highlighted the significance of the Acorean ecosystem and the complexity of the observed species. Tours depend on the current weather and Mother Nature gives no guarantee to observe wildlife. However, we were lucky in November seeing three different species of dolphins and two whales without disturbing the animals in their natural habitat. On top, part of the costs can be contributed to their study of whales and the protection of the ecosystem! (Leaving out the pictures of the whale to not spoil the surprise)

Amazing tour! Staff was so great, knowledgeable and so respectful of wildlife. We got to see some amazing animals and learned a lot, and they share some of the amazing photos they took during the trip. 100/10

Passionated people with good equipement. We enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone. We saw dolphins, whales and flying fish, amazing.

Fabulous knowledge and services. This is the best place for one to go for whale watching and Dolphins and lots of information about them

Great experience with Naturalist. Altough they are an university spin off, they don't speak in a difficult jargon, so it can be appreciated by everyone. They provide raincoats but bring a sweater anyway. The rest is up to the whales!

Maggie and Jose great hosts. Very exciting and informative experience, and saw lots of sperm whales and dolphins.

We're a large family and went whale watching with Naturalist in early July 2023. Every member of the Naturalist crew was welcoming and enthusiastic. We were lucky enough to spot dolphins, whales and other marine wildlife. The crew went above and beyond to deliver a memorable experience, and they surely did! The kids loved it and we did too :) After our expedition we were sent cool photos of the dolphins and whales we spotted that very day. They were taken by the crew, which means you can just relax and enjoy the trip while you're on board. Warmly recommended!!!

Great experience with Naturalist. They are really didactic and answer all the questions you may have before, during and after the tour. We didn´t get to see any whales but 3 sorts of dolphins and hundreds of them! A great show, Something to remember! Thanks to the team!

What a nice experience ! Our guides was super cool and explained a lot of thing regarding the whales, birds and dolphins. We saw 3 spermwhales + a lot of dolphins during our tour. I don't have any experience with other whales watching at Horta, but our experience was really good. We received the pictures a few days after our tour.

Amazing day watching loads of dolphins and whales, the team is super nice and there are true scientists. I recommand 100%

Wow! A great excursion by a super professional team. Scientists are with you in the boat, they are in no rush letting you the needed time to watch the whales and dolphins. 10% of the cost is contributed to the research. Highly highly recommended!! Thank you so much Naturalist team!

Best experience in Faial, we saw 14 whales, dozens of dolphins and one swordfish (1th Sep 2022). The guys are researchers from the university of Lisboa, durinf the expedition they tell you many inrterasting informations about their job and whales. Congratulation and hope to visit you again :) Thank you Gisela and Tiago :) Nicola and Simona from Italy :)

(Translated by Google) Very kind and respectful with the environment. 100% recommended. We have seen everything that we have been told we were going to see. (Original) Muy amables y respetuosos con el medio. 100% recomendables. Hemos visto todo lo que nos han dicho que íbamos a ver.

We had an amazing experience with this startup from Lisbon University. We had marine biologist and an experienced skipper. They were very knowledgeable and experienced. We saw sperm whales and few species of dolphins. Be aware that you will be on a zodiac boat, so if the sea is rough, you can experience some seasickness (especially when standing still and watching animals).

A wonderful morning with Naturalist! We were happy to see dolphins and sperm whales. The whole crew did a great job, thanks again! And also thank you for the fun (but safe!) ride back through wind, waves and rain :)

(Translated by Google) Passionate staff, prepared and dedicated to their work. We have seen dolphins, whales, turtles and invertebrates with the utmost respect. I loved this team! Bravissimi (Original) Personale appassionato, preparato e dedito al proprio lavoro. Abbiamo visto delfini, balene, tartarughe ed invertebrati con il massimo rispetto. Ho adorato questo team! Bravissimi

(Translated by Google) Great sea trip to watch whales and dolphins! (Original) Super sortie en mer pour observer baleines et dauphins !

I have done a few "expeditions" with Naturalist and everything was just perfect. Safety, explanations, and amazing knowledge of all the surroundings that allowed us to see many many different species. 100% recommended

(Translated by Google) Prepared and nice guys who made us discover Pico and all the Azores! Highly recommended !!! (Original) Ragazzi preparati e simpatici che ci hanno fatto scoprire Pico e un po' tutte le Azzorre! Consigliatissimo!!!

(Translated by Google) Informative and competent leadership. Everything was perfect. (Original) Informative und kompetente Führung. Alles war perfekt.

I did the full day Faial island tour with Fernando, a passionate biologist who knows how to pass on his knowledge of the island's history, volcanic formations and very interesting details about the island's flora. Lunch gave us the opportunity to discover some excellent local specialities. A very beautiful tour with varied landscapes, a good representation of the diversity of Faial. Many thanks to the Naturalist team !

Amazing to see dolphins and whales in their habitat! Thank you so much! We have appreciate also the respect and the love that these researchers have for the sea and for its animals. They don't want to sell you just an experience for tourists but they are wonderful in explaining all about the sea and how to preserve the sea world! Well done!

Very enthouastic and involved team. A great sens of respect if marine life. We were very lucky to observe 2 species of whales and plenty of bottlenose jumping very near. The main point is also that you are not only a customer but also a financial support to marine research. Of course, you do not touch the whales or even see them next to you, but a great opportunity to catch the spirit of the wild ocean ans its large inhabitants. Agnès, France.

Science for tourists at its best. You can see the fascination for what they do in their eyes. Terrific!

What an amazing experience!! Thanks guys

Whale watching was a great experience with the Naturalist. Very knowledgeable and friendly team, would recommend it to anyone visiting Horta.

We did a great tour "Hiking Faial - Cabeço Verde / Capelinhos". It goes across 3 Volcanos and is an easy to medium hike. Pedro was a very knowledgeable guide and would answer all our questions. We learned a lot about Picos and the Acorean Fauna and Flora. Thanks Pedro, for your company and showing us the best food in town!!

(Translated by Google) Excellent ride, great explanations and "theoretical" monitoring. Very friendly and happy staff! I loved it! :) (Original) Passeio excelente, ótimas explicações e acompanhamento "teórico". Pessoal muito simpático e bem disposto! Adorei! :)

(Translated by Google) Good (Original) Bom

(Translated by Google) Perfect tour with a top team! Our tour started in the afternoon in Horta. We drove out onto the Atlantic and had the first pleasure of meeting a turtle! Gorgeous !!! We saw some sperm whales and a huge school of dolphins. It was a great trip with a lot of interesting information! Many thanks (Original) Perfekte Tour mit top Team! Unsere Tour ging am Nachmittag in Horta los. Wir fuhren hinaus auf den Atlantik und hatten als erstes das vergnügen auf eine Schildkröte zu treffen! Herrlich!!! Wir sahen einige pottwale und eine riesige delfinschule. Es war ein super Trip mit vielen interessanten Informationen! Vielen Dank

(Translated by Google) Best whalewatching tours on Faial! Clearly the best provider of whale watching tours in Horta. The other tours are also highly recommended. Our tour guide Pedro introduced us to the entire island for a day and we were able to discover many impressive geological formations. The provider only works with real scientists and cooperates with various universities. (Original) Best whalewatching tours on Faial! Ganz klar der beste Anbieter von Whale Watching Touren in Horta. Auch sehr zu empfehlen sind die anderen Touren. Unser Tourguide Pedro hat uns einen Tag lang die gesamte Insel vorgestellt und wir haben viele beeindruckende geologische Formationen entdecken können. Der Anbieter arbeitet nur mit echten Wissenschaftlern und kooperiert mit verschiedenen Universitäten.

(Translated by Google) Very friendly, informative (Original) Sehr freundlich Informativ

Marine biologists, taking you on a tour to fund their research. They are so enthousiastic, it's almost funny. But, they know what they are talking about and they are by no means dry scientists. Recommended!

(Translated by Google) Very good and competent accompaniment of the excursions. We enjoyed both whale watching and the snorkeling trip. Despite the sometimes difficult weather conditions, it was very nice. When there were too bad conditions on one day, no tour was carried out and easily canceled. We recommend! (Original) Sehr gute und kompetente Begleitung der Ausflüge. Sowohl whale watching als auch der Schnorchel-Trip haben uns sehr gut gefallen. Trotz der teilweise schwierigen Wetterbedingungen, war es sehr schön. Als es an einem Tag zu schlechte Bedingungen gab, wurde keine Tour durchgeführt und problemlos storniert. Sehr zu empfehlen!

Very very friendly staff and they made the trip filled with knowledge and fun n cookies. Recommended to everyone visiting the island.

(Translated by Google) Magnificent tour with a very friendly crew and always available to share your knowledge about the fauna of the island. We saw two whales and a juvenile turtle. It was an unforgettable trip! (Original) Passeio magnífico com uma tripulação muito simpática e sempre disponível para partilhar o seu conhecimento sobre a fauna da ilha. Vimos duas baleias e uma tartaruga juvenil. Foi uma viagem inesquecível!

(Translated by Google) Two wonderful tips (whale watching and swimming with dolphins) that have kept everything that was promised. Smart explanations, great team. Thank you! (Original) Zwei wunderbare Tips (Walbeobachtung und Schwimmen mit Delfinen), die alles gehalten haben, was versprochen wurde. Kluge Erläuterungen, super Team. Danke!

(Translated by Google) AÇORES - FAIAL, a natural island and green with the blue Atlantic background (Original) AÇORES - FAIAL, una isla natual y verde con el azul Atlántico de fondo

(Translated by Google) Incredibly good team! My expectations were exceeded several times! I spent with NATURALIST 10 days in Horta in the associated guest house "Porto Pim" and can only say, it was an unforgettable holiday. The jeep tour at the beginning of the trip totally overwhelmed me, the green nature with its volcanoes and crater lakes is exceptionally beautiful. During my vacation I made 4 whale watching trips and 1 dolphin swim. In addition to many dolphins, I have loggerhead turtles, native waterfowl with unmistakable calls, seen many sperm whales, but also fin whales and a blue whale, the largest animal on earth. I'm almost crazy with joy. Incredible. The company is exemplary! The team is incredibly dedicated, nice and caring, but also competent and open-minded. Everyone speaks perfect English. I was able to enjoy the sea and whale exits wonderfully as the equipment, preparation and course of the boat trips were perfectly organized and met the maximum safety standards. I felt in good hands at all times and would like to stay longer. The exits are also used to collect data on whales, dolphins and other marine organisms so that part of the research can be funded to protect the oceans. Absolutely recommended! 💙 (Original) Unglaublich gutes Team! Meine Erwartungen wurden mehrmals übertroffen! Ich habe mit NATURALIST 10 Tage in Horta im zugehörigen Gästehaus "Porto Pim" verbracht und kann nur sagen, es war ein unvergesslicher Urlaub. Die Jeep Tour am Anfang der Reise hat mich total überwältigt, die grüne Natur mit ihren Vulkanen und Kraterseen ist außergewöhnlich schön. Während meines Urlaubs habe ich dann noch 4 Whale Watching Ausfahrten und 1 Delfinschwimmen gemacht. Dabei habe ich neben vielen Delfinen, unechte Karettschildkröten, einheimische Wasservögeln mit unverwechselbaren Rufen, vielen Pottwale, aber auch Finnwale und einen Blauwal gesehen, das größte Tier der Erde. Ich bin fast übergeschnappt vor Freude. Unglaublich. Das Unternehmen ist vorbildlich geführt! Das Team ist wahnsinnig engagiert, nett und fürsorglich, dabei aber auch kompetent und aufgeschlossen. Alle sprechen perfekt Englisch. Ich konnte wunderbar die Ausfahrten aufs Meer und die Wale genießen, da die Ausrüstung, Vorbereitung und der Ablauf der Bootsfahrten perfekt organisiert und den maximalen Sicherheits Standards entsprochen haben. Habe mich jederzeit gut aufgehoben gefühlt und wäre gerne noch länger geblieben. Die Ausfahrten werden auch dazu genutzt, Daten über die Wale, Delfine und andere Meeresorganismen zu sammeln, so dass ein Teil der Forschung darüber finanziert werden kann um die Ozeane zu schützen. Absolut zu empfehlen! 💙

(Translated by Google) Magnificent experience on the tour with Pedro among the volcanoes of the island of Faial (Original) Eseperienza magnifica nel tour con Pedro tra i vulcani dell'isola di Faial

We enjoyed a fantastic day out with Franz. Very knowledgeable and friendly. Cannot recommend enough.

(Translated by Google) Company 5 * that makes us travel to an authentic biology class. Very helpful staff, always available to answer any questions. It is not just a boat ride, it is also the acquisition of reliable and quite interesting knowledge. (Original) Empresa 5* que nos faz viajar a uma autentica aula de biologia. Equipa muito prestável, sempre disponivel a esclarecer dúvidas. Não se trata apenas de um passeio de barco, é também a aquisição de conhecimento fiavel e bastante interessante.

(Translated by Google) 100% recommendable. And it serves to help a good cause. (Original) Recomendables 100%. Y sirve para ayudar a una buena causa.

We only happened across Naturalist by chance because our first whale-watching trip in Ponta Delgada was cancelled. We are so glad that it worked out how it did. The ethos and values of Naturalist are great to see and they genuinely care about what they are doing and the animals they work with - they seem to use their tour company as a means to conduct research, so many of the tour guides are marine biologists or similar with published research. It was an informative trip. The guides took the time to explain to us about whales and those that we were likely to see based on what had been spotted by the lookouts. We then travelled for quite a while in a small zodiac-type boat, so please don't go into this expecting a large boat for 40 people. It's a small boat with probably 10-12 people on it, which, for us, was better. We were lucky enough to see Sperm Whales, which was incredibly and the enthusiasm and excitement of the guides was equal to ours. They seemed to love every second of it as much as we did. We also had the opportunity to see some Risso's Dolphins as we travelled back to land and spent some time with a particularly playful group of Spotted Dolphins, including a little baby that was jumping out of the water. Unforgettable. We would definitely recommend Naturalist. As much for the way they work and who they are as anything else, but, naturally, it helps that the tip was fantastic as well!

(Translated by Google) We have already done many tours. This is one of the better ones. Highly recommended. Thanks for this nice day. (Original) Wir haben schon viele Touren mitgemacht. Diese ist eine von den Besseren. Absolut zu empfehlen. Danke für diesen schönen Tag.

(Translated by Google) Very nice hiking tour along the volcanic cone with Pedro. Then get tips for local cuisine! (Original) Sehr schöne Wandertour entlang der Vulkankegel mit Pedro. Danach auch noch Tipps für lokale Küche bekommen!