Sal Island: Full-Day Buggy Tour with Shark Bay & Salinas

4.90

(127 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

First thing I remember is the sound—buggies coughing to life in Santa Maria, that mix of sea air and engine oil. Our guide, Paulo, handed me a helmet and grinned, “Ready?” I wasn’t sure. The sand was everywhere already. We set off in a line, dust trailing behind us like smoke signals. It’s louder than I thought it’d be but somehow you start to love it after a few minutes. The wind on your face feels sharp, almost salty.

I kept losing track of time as we bounced between dunes and those weird valleys—sometimes you’d catch a glimpse of the coast way out there, all blue and flat. Paulo stopped at Shark Bay (you pay a few euros extra if you want to get closer), and honestly, seeing those fins slicing through shallow water made my stomach flip. There’s this hush when everyone’s watching them—no one really talks for a minute or two. After that we hit Terra Boa; Paulo pointed out the “mirage” but it took me a second to see it. Maybe my eyes were tired from all the sun.

Lunch was simple—a little place where the fish tasted fresher than anything back home (not included in the tour price, just so you know). I tried to order in Portuguese and got laughed at by one of the cooks; she corrected me with a smile though. Later we floated in the Salinas—honestly surreal, like being weightless for five minutes. The salt stings if you’ve got any cuts but it’s worth it for how your skin feels after.

On the way back through Murdeira I was already half asleep from sun and wind burn. My hands still smelled faintly of engine grease even after washing up. I keep thinking about that silence at Shark Bay—strange how quiet people get around wild things.