Whale watching from Los Gigantes, with a swim in Masca bay

The trip leaves Los Gigantes marina, on Tenerife's west coast, at the foot of cliffs that the island's tourism board says rise up to 600 metres. The listing's meeting point is the operator's office or its catamaran, the Nashira Uno, with an address on Calle Poblado Marinero, beside the marina. The boat heads out to where the pilot whales and dolphins feed, which the operator says is only a few miles offshore, then turns north to Masca bay, about 5 kilometres up the coast in a straight line, where the Masca ravine meets the sea. There it stops for a swim, with one drink each (water, a soft drink or a beer), and comes back along the foot of the cliffs. The whole trip takes about two hours.

The listing does not name the boat. Its itinerary says speedboat, and its meeting point names the Nashira Uno, which the operator describes as a catamaran built for whale watching, with underwater viewing. On its own website the operator sells a trip that matches this one, two hours with one drink and the Masca stop, for the same 28 euros, on a boat called Gladiator U, leaving at 11:00, 13:00 and 15:00; a reseller gives the Gladiator U's capacity as 38 passengers. Both boats are on the Canary Islands government's register of whale watching boats at Los Gigantes. A live guide speaks Spanish and English, and insurance is included; hotel pickup and snorkel gear are not.

The sea off this coast, from Las Galletas to Buenavista, became Europe's first Whale Heritage Area in January 2021, named by the World Cetacean Alliance for its resident short-finned pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins, with 21 other species recorded. Every boat works under a Canary Islands decree of 2000: no closer than 60 metres, no faster than 4 knots within 500 metres, no more than 30 minutes within 100 metres, no chasing or circling, and no swimming or diving within 500 metres of the animals. That last rule is why the swim comes afterwards, in the bay, away from them.

The swim is off the boat, in deep water rather than from a beach: the tourism board puts the sea floor at the foot of the cliffs at about 30 metres. The listing asks guests to bring a towel, sunscreen, goggles and their own snorkel gear.

Of the trips sold from Los Gigantes on GetYourGuide, four are much alike. On 6 October 2026 this one was rated 4.7 from about 3,900 reviews, from 28 euros, with one drink and the swim in Masca bay. The Dolphin & Whale Watching Cruise with Swim Stop was also 4.7 and 28 euros, from about 5,800 reviews; the speedboat trip 4.7 from about 1,400 reviews, at 28 euros; the pirate boat 4.6 from about 2,400 reviews, at 33 euros, with drinks throughout and a trapeze swing. Resellers list those three as Flipper Uno's, whose own site charges the same prices and names three bays for the swim: Masca, Barranco Seco or Juan López. Booking direct with Maritima Acantilados is no cheaper: its site lists the matching trip at 28 euros, with refunds only on 48 hours' notice, against 24 hours and pay later on GetYourGuide. None of the four is clearly the better buy. We would book this one for the stated swim in Masca bay, or the Swim Stop cruise for its larger number of reviews; for underwater windows and a meal, the operator's 3-hour Nashira Uno trip, which a reseller sold at 40 euros on 6 October 2026.

Our three other whale pages sail from the south coast, and for the Costa Adeje hotels they are closer and calmer: Los Cristianos is 13 to 17 minutes away from them, against 25 to 29 for Los Gigantes, and the sea off Los Cristianos is a little calmer: in March it stayed under 1.5 metres on about half the days, against about four in ten off Los Gigantes. Book Travelin' Lady, 29.90 euros, for a swim; the no-chase boat, 28 euros, for children who would rather watch; Royal Ocean, 95 euros, for a small yacht. Choose Los Gigantes if you are staying on the west or north-west coast: it is 10 minutes from Gran Meliá Palacio de Isora and 16 from the Ritz-Carlton Abama, against 25 to Los Cristianos, and 42 to 44 from Hacienda del Conde and San Roque, against 57 and 58. Or choose it if the cliffs and Masca bay are the point.