Ria Formosa - Boat trip to the 3 Islands: Armona | Culatra Island | Lighthouse

This was one of our favorite things we did on our trip to Faro! The guide was very knowledgeable and the stops were absolutely fabulous- such unique and gorgeous beaches and little towns. If you’re in Faro, I would say this is a pretty hard to miss experience… the Rio Formosa is beautiful and such an important part of the local scenery, culture, and economy. Would recommend!!

We had a great day, from start to finish our experience was amazing! Communication was key- we changed the time of our excursion based on recommendations and are glad we did. The islands are beautiful and the knowledge and expertise of our guides was next level. We felt safe, cared for and relaxed throughout. I cannot recommend this experience enough and we’d happily do the same trip again, we enjoyed it so much! Booking via Tripadvisor saved us a lot based on the prices displayed at the kiosk - excellent value!! We opted for the 5 hour, 3 stop trip and we definitely got value for money here as we were actually out for closer to 6 hours and the timings were well explained and adhered to. We packed a lunch and drinks, but ended up not using anything but the water, as we followed the recommendations offered and had a delicious lunch at a restaurant on Culatra. I cannot tell you how impressed we were with the linguistic skills of our skipper, who was able to give explanations in several languages fluently. We really enjoyed his enthusiasm and in-depth explanations of the geography, tides, currents, cultures and nature- he’s clearly passionate about what he does and this absolutely shines through, giving extra weight to the information he provides- I left feeling relaxed yet invigorated, educated and motivated to visit more places! The individual attention given to everyone on the trip (a full boat of 18) made everyone feel good and was another plus point to note. As an additional note; Safety was clearly a focus, life jackets were provided and advice given to those who wanted to snorkel/swim. I just wish we had brought our swim gear - I missed that there would be opportunities to swim in the itinerary and definitely regret that. It’s worth noting that Weaver Fish are native to the area and so it’s wise to wear swim/beach shoes when frolicking in the shallows. I would love to mention our crew by name but don’t want to spell their names incorrectly. We were on the 10am trip on 16/07/27.

The experience was really cool. You have the opportunity to be on each of the islands to explore them, swim, or whatever you want. The tour was very good in general, very good; Ivan explained a lot of interesting points to us during the trip and he was also very fun and pleasant. I recommend it without a doubt!

Booked this trip direct at a kiosk on Olhao’s seafront. Meeting point was well organised. The tour had 3 stops. I actually think it was 2 islands but with 3 stops. Boat captain was great. We had just enough time at each location. Would definitely do again & 💯 recommend.

Extremely pleasant crew, well disposed and with deep knowledge of the areas to visit, good interaction between crew and passengers, very pleasant day in which we left richer in knowledge and landscape memories. A good hajam.

Excellent tour of Ria Formosa. The itinerary was well thought out, and the professionalism of the company stood out throughout. Our guide, Maurice, was fantastic — offering great options along the way, but also genuinely flexible. Toward the end I decided to skip the third island and take a taxi boat instead, and he sorted it out for me without any fuss. That kind of adaptability made the whole experience even better. Highly recommend if you want a well-organised tour that still leaves room for spontaneity.

We had a great time on our Ria Formosa boat tour. Our skipper Henrique was super friendly and open for our suggestions on what we want to see and how much time we want to spend on different islands. We were lucky that only 5 of us were at the boat so we could arrange the trip in a more flexibility way. During our trip our skipper told us a lot of interesting facts about the park and the islands we visited. He was so nice that he even suggested a restaurant for us to visit for lunch and called it to reserve a table for us and make sure there will be oysters for us to try. Kudows to him for that :) Overall very enjoyable experience :)

It allows you to see a unique part of the first section of the Algarve (near the border with Spain); the desert island is very beautiful, the oysters are absolutely recommended, and the guide was very good at explaining everything in both English and Spanish.

Great boat trip... Friendly and informative... Visited 3 islands and had enough time on each island. Had the best meal at a restaurant recommended by the captain.

Beautiful excursion thanks to the guide who is passionate about his region, which he explains in French, as well as in English and Spanish. Each island has its charm