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About Us

Lisbon Dolphins is a Marine Exploration company that provides guided tours by real Marine Biologists that welcome you in their boat and share their knowledge and deep love for dolphins and other marine specifies. See them out in their natural habitat. By the end you will be able to identify each and few other curiosities that will impress your loved one back home.

Our love for dolphins is what drives us.

And sharing that loves is what we do.

Lisbon Dolphins was the first Marine Tour company to operate out of Lisbon’s harbour and became the preferred choice for people wanting to observe dolphins in their natural habitat.

Lead and backed by two distinguished Marine Biologists, Francisco Martinho and Andreia Pereira, Lisbon Dolphins has an average of 98% success rate in dolphins’ sights.

Lisbon Dolphins aims to be become one the best Eco Tours in the world as their objective is to develop a sustainable and low impact business while contributing to Eco Education by providing a real scientific experience in a natural scenario.

Don’t just see, observe. Don’t just learn, explore. 

Our guidelines are based on the following objectives:

  • Study of the marine environment and megafauna communities off mainland Portuguese coast
  • Run as a self-sufficient entity, funding our own research through ecotourism revenues
  • Present to the public the natural wealth of Portugal’s central coast, while having the opportunity to educate and sensitize to the environment
  • Promote the development of sustainable and efficient techniques for marine exploration

The main goal is to study the dolphin and whale population in central Portugal. At the moment we are dependent on tourism revenue to keep doing the surveys.

The philosophy of the company is to leave a low impact on the environment, through the chosen vessel which will be able to keep the environmental impacts as low as possible. When is possible, we join other boats, as it is preferable having one boat watching the dolphins than two.

Ultimately we aim to have a null impact on the environment, by becoming carbon neutral, abdicating of the antifouling paints, by not contributing to marine noise, using sustainable products, and ensuring the recycling of all produced waste.

Client testimonials

We make happy clients.

That was such a cool trip and experience for our whole family! everyone who is interested in nature and dolphins should book that trip with Francisco! (…)
Karin
Very highly recommended. This is exactly the type of experience that will inspire future ecologists and biologists to protect their environment. (…) We saw a pod nice and close and got an in depth description of each individual in the pod and their behaviour. Outstanding, what every wildlife based tour should be like.
Rob
Highly recommend (...) Francisco is an expert in many aspects and is very good in sharing his knowledge in a non-expert-friendly way. He was caring a lot about us, giving insights and information which was way beyond our expectations. His enthusiasm and solid knowledge made the trip more than just dolphin spotting (...)
Zsófia
Meet our Tour Guides

Our passionate team

francisco

Francisco Martinho

Lead Founder of ECCO Ocean

He has a master’s degree on Conservation Biology and a bachelor’s degree on Environmental Biology, both by Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon. Has 12 years of experience in the field, looking for dolphins and whales. Moved to tourism recently to be able to pursuit his passion of studying dolphins in the field. He is your guide in the expeditions.

andreia

Andreia Pereira

Researcher at ECCO Ocean

She is a research fellow at D. Luís Institute of the University of Lisbon, studying fin whales through their acoustics (“AWERNESS Project”).

Our partners

golfinhos.net

Golfinhos.net

Portal Informativo
apcm

Associação para Ciências do Mar

Associação Científica
The Best Dolphin Tour in Lisbon

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