whalewatching

Pico, the volcano

Pico island seen from Fajal

Pico, is probably the most impressive of the Azores Islands if you arrive from the sea. It's a 2.500 meters volcano arising directly from the ocean. It was an ancient renowned whale fishing station because of the large amount of whales that frequent the deep waters just near the coastline at the south of Pico.

At Lajes do Pico, site of an ancient whale factory, there are many traces of this old activity that was finally banned in 1980. Here an intelligent French guy implanted a whale watching station Espaço Talassa utilizing the know-how of the ancient whalers and transforming what was a cruel ritual in one of the most impressive things you can do in Azores, a near contact with the whales. His philosophy is that the old whalers can now protect their ancient prey if this allows them to live, it's really a great idea.

All along the coast there are many points of observation "vegia" that were used from the whalers to spot the whales. One of this, "Vegia Queimada", a superb point of view over the sea, has been restored. Now serves to guide the Zodiacs of Espaço Talassa that bring you to see the whales. From here the observers scan the sea searching for whales and dolphins and once spotted signal the zone to the station where you must be ready to board for a raid on the ocean. It's really impressive but the guys are very experienced and know how to bring you safely very close to the whales, it's really a great feeling. I had two whale watching raids and was able to reach about 7 sperm whales and a lot of dolphins.

You can also have a whale-watching trip in São Miguel, the main island of the Açores archipelago. Here there is Futurismo Azores Whale Watching that is organized almost in the same manner. It also utilize old whalers and vigie to spot the whales and organize daily 3 hours zodiac whale watching trips. It can also bring you for a whale-watching cruise on a 36 feet boat. Take a look at their good web site for more information.

Good whales !

Addresses:

	The Azorean Whale Watching Base, Espaço Thalassa 9930 Lajes do Pico, Portugal Tel +35 192 672010 Fax +35 192 672617 E-mail : espaco.talassa@mail.telepac.pt
	Futurismo Azores Whale Watching, Estrada da Ribeira Grande 1001-A, 9500 Ponta Delgada - Azores - Portugal, Tel or Fax - 351 296 384134, E-mail: futurismo@mail.telepac.pt

If you are searching for travel information's and good addresses about these islands just click at the links below or go to Home where you will find a search engine to scan this site or the web for you. All the addresses and the suggestions made in these pages were personally tested.

E-Mail address