An Adventure on Eden Catamaran in Tenerife

The boat sails away from the busy Porto Colon harbor and we gaze back as El Teide mountain reveals itself, reaching into the clouds behind Tenerife’s popular coastal strip.


There are few sights more awe-inspiring than a whale or dolphin rising from the surface of the sea. The south-west coast of Tenerife is a privileged place for watching whales in the wild as there are permanent pods of dolphins and pilot whales living just three miles offshore. 

The pilot whales did not disappoint! As we idled halfway between Tenerife and La Gomera a shout goes up: "Look! Whales!" Breaking the surface a few meters away is a big black-backed pilot whale. Then there's more, lazing in the water on the other side. 

Pilot whales are smaller whales that seem to have permanently smiling faces. They are highly social and can grow to around 6.5 meters in length. 

After some time watching the whales, we sailed on to a cove along the coast where Tim and I had the opportunity to swim with a family of giant sea turtles living in the cove. What a great adventure we had with Eden Catamaran!

Whale Watching in Reykjavik

Whaling has a long history in the coastal waters around Iceland. After centuries of over exploitation, whaling was halted as recently as 1989. Whale watching in Iceland is still a relatively new tourist attraction with trips beginning in 1995.

I headed out of the Reykjavik Old Habour on the  NÚMI, a traditional Icelandic oak fishing boat that has been modified for whale watching and sea angling. Since there is no glass enclosing you on the boat, blankets are provided to bundle up in. I was lucky to have a calm, sunny day.

There are few places in the world where you can find as many species of whales so close to shore as in Iceland. These include blue, fin, humpback, minke, and even orcas. On my own whale watching trip, I was lucky to see minke whales and a pod of white-beaked dolphins.

Minke whales are the smallest baleen whales and also the most abundant. White-beaked dolphins are attracted to boats and often bow ride. Most whale watching boats have a 100% success rate of seeing both minke whales and white-beak dolphins.

On the way back, the NÚMI's engineer, who is an excellent cook, prepared fish soup to warm up with while we sailed back. There are stunning views of the mountains and harbor.