We got up at 6:30, knowing we had to shower and pack for our whale watching and flying home. It wasn’t nearly as complicated as we expected and we were ready for breakfast by 7:30, though we knew it wouldn’t be ready until 8:00 (Teresa is very punctual)! We left our bags in Teresa’s office and following our regular breakfast, we were off for whale watching by 8:30, with scheduled check-in at 9:00 and departure at 9:30.
The Futurismo dock was down at the main harbor, only a 100 yards or so from the AutoAtlantis Car Rental. Only being a 15-minute walk from the B&B Sao Francisco, we had plenty of time.
Because we made the reservations for four of us, we had a 10% discount and paid 49.5 euro each. When checking in, there was no problem getting the discount, though the guy behind us only paid 45?!?!
There were probably about 50 of us on the tour. We all assembled in the closed-in cabin on the 1st deck for a safety briefing and orientation. Other than the captain, there were at least six guides who all seemed to have marine biology backgrounds.
We pushed off right on time, heading straight out to sea at full speed. It appeared to be 3 to 5 miles off the coast before we started to slow down.
The main cabin was locked and everyone spread out onto the three decks. Seating was somewhat limited, most of us were just on the rails. It was rough! We started on the 3rd deck bow, Sue went down to the 2nd deck bow as we picked up speed and the swells got larger. There was no way to walk around without a firm grip on the rail.
As we got out to the 3 mile plus area, there seemed to be always other whale watching vessels, most the zodiac type, within view; we were clearly the largest and tallest. This was a distinct advantage when we spotted the whales.
It was almost a goose bump experience when we first spotted two sperm whales traveling together. They were constantly near the surface for nearly 10 minutes. Always showing their location with a water spout just before surfacing. With one spectacular breaching, they dove, giving us a beautiful “tail” shot - a picture in our mind, not on our camera.
Dave actually was the first to spot a second sighting about a half mile off. The guide congratulated him, but one of the guides said we should stay in our current location because there where signs on the surface that we had a second species in the area. She was right. Three Sei whales surfaced. These are the 3rd largest of all whales. They stayed near the surface for more that 10 minutes. You could track their direction by the way their massive bodies churned the water’s surface - a Futurismo drone was also helpful!
We headed back toward the coast and Ponta Delgado. About halfway (2 miles), we spotted a huge pod of dolphins, had to be several dozen, including several calves. They were all around and under the boat. You could see them speeding alongside of us then going into full breach ahead of the bow. As many as 6 to 8 would be in tight formation, breaking the surface in unison. We have seen many dolphins, but this was amazing! Quite a show!
We pulled into the harbor about 12:30, and concluded this may have been the best $100 we ever spent.
So impressed that Dave bought a t-shirt from Futurismo.
In search for a sidewalk lunch, we found Varandas da Avenida. Dave had a tuna salad and Sue, a steak, fries and salad. It was not yet 2:00, and not needing to retrieve our bags and have Teresa call us a taxi until after 3:00, we found a second sidewalk cafe, the Central Cafe for a glass of wine ( same place we had a glass, two days earlier). As we posted on Facebook, “a perfect ending to an almost perfect trip”.
Back at the B&B Sao Francisco, we rang ourselves in and Teresa greeted us and, as always, wanted to know how our day went. She called us a taxi, got our Sao Jorge cheese from her fridge and we were on our way; not before a double-cheek kiss for both of us.
The taxi to the airport was 9 Euro. Checking in was a breeze and we had two hours to kill before boarding our flight to Boston. Like every other flight we have had in the Azores, we had to walk the tarmac to board. Our 6:10 scheduled departure was actually about 6:30. As with most, if not all, trans-Atlantic flights, we were served a full meal.
We arrived into Logan Airport and called for a shuttle to take us to our Holiday Inn Express. As we have found out before, many of these chain hotels have more than one airport location. We nearly got on one shuttle before we realized it was the wrong one. Then, as we were leaving the pick-up spot, the driver was told to go back for another person. With all this delay and the distance to the hotel, we were getting there really late (and our body clocks were 4 hours ahead). At check-in, the young woman the shuttle had gone back for, jumped in front of us, which delayed our heads hitting the pillow another five minutes. The hotel was at least a 30 minute drive from the airport and its lobby loud with a group partying. Not going to get a good review from us!
Not quite home yet, but close. With a 6:00AM shuttle back to the airport, it would be a short night. Our flight on Jet Blue back to Baltimore was routine and uneventful. With Lyft ride for $30, we were home by noon.
With going to the Azores twice in successive years, when we planned the trip we said this would definitely be our last. However, both were such great trips with the people, scenery and activities, we could see a third in our future; after all, we have only seen five of the nine islands! We will always highly recommended Azores to our friends and family.
2025-02-12