With the introduction of our weekly and monthly updates (in which sea states are frequently mentioned), we thought of giving you a catch-up of all sea states possible in the dolphin tours:
Sea State 0
Out of this world: Mirror sea, no ripples, no wind. This sea state is also prompt to fog, and in that case it’s not good to have sea state 0.
Does not affect the navigation.
Without fog, it’s the perfect conditions to find dolphins (spotting range up to 2km, 11% of failed tours were due to fog)
Sea State 1
It’s a soft ride: Flat sea, scaly ripples.
Does not affect the navigation.
Very good conditions to find dolphins (spotting range up to 1km).
Sea State 2
It’s an off-road ride: Darker sea, short wavelets, waves don’t break. Sun glare is significant.
Wind is strong enough to throw water back into the boat, the stern where the crew is starts getting splashed. At this state we take precautions where we go because usually wind picks up, resulting in an increase of sea state that reduces the comfort aboard.
Fair conditions to find dolphins (spotting range up to 200m).
Sea state 3
Excitement guaranteed: Large wavelets, waves breaking with glassy appearance, frequent white foam on the horizon.
Wind direction states where we can go, and going in the wrong direction makes guests on back seats be frequently splashed. Departures under these conditions mean that back seats are closed from being booked.
Minimum conditions to find dolphins (spotting range <100m).
Sea State 4
«Picture coming soon»
It’s a wet roller coaster: Small waves, white foam forming everywhere.
Back seats become very wet and 4th row of seats starts getting splashed. Cameras, phones and other tech need to be well sheltered from the elements. Bags aren’t safe on the floor, as there will be water on the floor. Even during a dolphin sighting, wind blows water back into the boat.
No condition to find dolphins, white foam masks the dolphins, even at close range. Driving becomes harder and very distracting (spotting range <30m).
Sea states above 3 are responsible for 44% of the failed tours, so we don’t plan tours with sea state above 3. These states are mostly found in the end of some tours and rarely during the tour (underestimated forecast). This sea state means the tour must continue restricted to coastal areas.