Tenerife: Whale Watching Pirate Ship & Swimming Stop Cruise

4.64

(219 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

“Did you just see that fin?” someone shouted, and for a second I thought I’d missed it — but then the pilot whale surfaced again, slow and calm, right off the side of our old wooden ship. The Peter Pan (yep, that’s really the name) creaked gently as we drifted out from Los Cristianos. Our guide — I think his name was Marta? — pointed out how to spot dolphins by their splashes, but honestly I was still distracted by the salty smell and the way the deck boards felt warm under my feet. There’s something about being on an actual Portuguese schooner that makes you want to pretend you’re in some old adventure story.

I grabbed a drink from the bar (just a soda for me — though some folks went straight for beer) and found a spot near the rail. You could hear kids giggling over at the bow, waving at seagulls like they were old friends. At one point Marta told us about how these waters off southern Tenerife are famous for resident whales — she even knew which ones had calves this season. It’s not loud out there, just wind and water and sometimes laughter echoing across the deck. The crew moved around checking everyone was okay; they handed out floats for little kids before we anchored up for a swim.

The swimming stop surprised me. The water looked colder than it felt — kind of silky, with sunlight flickering down through blue-green layers. I’m not much of a snorkeler but just floating there, hearing muffled voices from above and feeling tiny fish brush past my ankles… yeah, I didn’t expect to feel so relaxed. Afterward we all sat around this big table on deck, dripping seawater everywhere (no one cared), swapping stories about what we’d seen under the surface or which whale was our favorite. Someone tried to order in Spanish and got gently corrected by one of the crew — everyone laughed, including him.

We headed back toward port with faces sticky from salt spray and hair tangled up in knots. I kept thinking about that first glimpse of the whales — how quiet it got when they appeared. If you’re looking for a whale watching tour in Tenerife that doesn’t feel rushed or too polished, this is probably it.