We booked the night thermal and dinner activity and had a great time…read more Guide Paola picked us up at our Ponta Delgada hotel exactly the on time and we proceeded to pick up two other couples. As we drove to Furnas he did a great job pointing out some of the interesting sights along the route and answering our questions. First stop was dinner in a local restaurant with the local volunteers (can't remember the Portuguese name) which included wine and dessert. Around 9 we reached the thermal bath and he helped us get oriented before giving us free time to explore the 5 different baths. While in theory this is something you might be able to do on your own, we were really relaxed and tired after 90 minutes soaking in the steaming water so it was especially great to have a designated driver. Thanks Paolo for a great evening!

Two full days touring the Island of São Miguel with Paulo was not enough. Paulo's energy,…read moreknowledge and love for the Azores made him the ultimate in tour guides. First of all, we were introduced via YouTube to Paulo prior to our trip after a lot of research on the island. We watched a great video on one of his tours posted by YouTube Blogger "Here Be Barr." I recommend you checking out the Azores series by "Here Be Barr." For our first outing with Paulo, he picked us up at our AirBnB in his comfortable Mercedes van for a late day tour of the island. He matched us up with other like minded travelers and we viewed cool places and learned so much about the island through his entertaining tour. Our evening culminated with a delicious dinner in Furnhas and a trip to the Thermal baths. Make sure you have him take you for the special corn that is cooked underground from the volcanic heat. He dropped us off late night right back at our hotel. Our Second Day with Paulo was spent on a more private tour of the island that included rides through the countryside and volcanic mountains and a trip to a beautiful tea plantation. He is a tour guide that makes everyone on the tour feel like they have his undivided attention. We asked so many questions and he entertained us with all the answers through historical facts and colorful stories. We look forward to spending time with Paulo on our next trip to the Azores see more of what Sao Miguel has to offer.

Went canyoning with a small group in Sept 2018. Really enjoyed the experience! Wet suits, shoes,…read moreand harnesses were provided. We hiked uphill some and then jumped off of a few waterfalls into the water below. The guides with Azores Adventure Islands were knowledgeable and cheerful. This was a very memorable expedition!

This review is from September. My daughter and I had the best time with our tour guide Andre. He…read moretook us on an amazing hike. During our tour I asked if we could extend the hike a few more hours. He called the office right away and got permission! During our vacation We went from Paris, Rome to the cruise from Barcelona and this tour was a highlight of our entire trip. Andre even mailed out my postcards for me when I ran out of time and had to get back to the ship. Amazing tour, knowledgeable of the Island, accommodating and friendly! I highly recommend. We'll be back to go canyoning next time.

My husband and I did a quick island hope from Terceria to San Miguel. We were only in San Miguel…read morefor a short time and wanted to see as much as we could while there, so we hired SeaZores to tour us. It was a great decision. Sergio was our guide's name and he is phenomal! He is a local full of knowledge. He took us to most worthy sites the beautiful island has to offer. We only wish we had another day to spend with Sergio @ Seazores. The tour was super comfortable in a nice truck. It included an amazing lunch loaded with all the traditional dishes & portuguese foods in a buffet style. We enjoyed conversing with Sergio over the great meal, his island wisdom made the tour so much more than sightseeing alone. The tour service was reserved online and provided prompt & secure service with Our guide waiting for us in the Hotel lobby & providing verbal confirmation the night before. From the breath taking views, to the warm hot springs water, to the cow traffic moo-ving along, the divine meal, the knowledge & friendly service this tour was a worth every bit.

Our travel agent had prebooked us 2 days of tours with Futurismo, and I must say we were pretty…read moreimpressed. Day 1 - Half Day Whale and Dolphin Watching on the Zodiac, followed by a Half Day City Walking Tour. Day 2 - Full Day Jeep Tour to Sete Cidades and Lagoa do Fogo. First day meant a short walk down to their main office as the Whale Tour left from there. After getting our tickets and figuring out which boat we were on we watched a short video and got some basic instructions. The boat was small, and the chairs were tight, but I think by the end we appreciated how much better this small boat was, as we were able to get pretty close, and zoom around when a whale surface was reported. The City Tour was pretty good as well. Our guide Hugo was able to customize the tour to our liking, which meant stopping in at the brewery for some beers, and definitely came alive in the botanical gardens when explaining some of the plant life. The All Day Jeep Tour was fantastic. The weather wasn't really working with us this day to see all of the good views, but the jeep is a must as we definitely went down some really treacherous terrain. Our stop for lunch was excellent, and Paulo kept the day interesting and fun.

I booked my tours with Futurismo through Yazores and had a fantastic time on Sao Miguel! Every day,…read morea jeep or van came by to pick up at the hotel and we headed to one of each of the pre-planned hiking tours. These include Sete Cidades, Furnas, Faial da Terra, Lagoa do Fogo, and whale watching. Each hiking trip took almost a whole day, starting with 9:00am pickup and usually 3:00pm drop off. Lunch was provided and usually consisted of 2 sandwiches (tuna or chicken), an apple, a bottle of water, a fruit juice, and a dessert. The day hikes didn't end when the hike ended either. There were usually visits to neighboring small towns before and/or after. It was quite a relaxed experience. Spending a week on Sao Miguel, I felt like I saw most of the island. The tour guides were very friendly and spoke English, Portuguese, and German. Whale watching lasts 3 hours and you're only provided transportation to the dock. You may try to request a trip to a specific location, but unless there are 2 people interested, they will not go. For example, one of the tourists wanted to go to Nordeste, but he was the only one and couldn't go. Note: tour guides do not accept tips.

This is my fourth whale tour in just over a year (Hawaii, Alaska, and Costa Rica). There are…read moredifferent types of boats, depending on the type of experience you want. We did the catamaran since we were traveling with a five month old. The whole thing is very well organized and feels very safe. The ocean conditions were not bad at all. I get seasick very easily and felt fine. We saw two different types of whales and a ton of dolphins. Great experience!

We enjoyed a half day tour which was a three hour afternoon tour. On this tour you will either see…read moredolphins or whales. We saw quite a few dolphins. Be sure to wear a light jacket as it gets windy and make sure to wear sunscreen!

Our two-day private tour of São Miguel with Azorean Tours was nothing short of magical! From the…read morebreathtaking Sete Cidades Lakes and Lagoa do Fogo (Fire Lake) to the Furnas hot springs and the spectacular Nordeste region, every stop revealed another unforgettable side of this beautiful island. If Hawaii married Ireland and had a baby, it would be São Miguel What truly made the experience exceptional was our incredible guide, Cesar. He was warm, knowledgeable, flexible, and completely attentive to what we wanted to see. We were able to spend as much time as we wished at each location and never once felt rushed. Cesar made the entire two days feel relaxed, personal, and genuinely special. His restaurant selections for lunch were outstanding. It gave us the opportunity to enjoy wonderful local food and getting to know Cesar. At the end of each day, he also recommended excellent restaurants for dinner, which made our evenings just as enjoyable as the tours themselves. By the end of our second day, Cesar no longer felt like simply our guide--we considered him a new friend. His kindness, enthusiasm, and love for São Miguel made these two days one of the highlights of our trip to the Azores. We cannot recommend Azorean Tours and Cesar highly enough. If you want to experience the beauty, culture, and hospitality of São Miguel in a personal and unforgettable way, book Azorean Tours. We have already started planning to return next year with family and friends and are looking forward to spending time with Cesar again!

We spent 3 days with Cesar guiding us around Sao Miguel. He made our trip spectacular. We're…read morealready planning to go back and have passed his name, and Carlos', to our friends. Sao Miguel is beautiful, the people are friendly, the food and wine fabulous and Cesar will create wonderful days for you!

Raphael and Maria were very informative and the food was wonderful. Got some hands on and learned a…read morelot from them. Highly recommend

Fred was such a vibe, the food was yum yum in my tum tum. Fred was very nice. He should get a…read moreraise. The assistant was very super.

I struggled a bit for the proper way to sum this experience up:…read more -teeth-rattlingly rough in calm seas -like a two-hour trip on a bucking bronco -take 6 Advil and call me in the morning -not for people over 35-adrenaline junkies only -least favorite whale watching trip -like sitting in a middle seat on an international plane trip -root canals are more pleasant -would tell my friends to "skip this" So let me explain: we've been of "whale watching" trips all over the globe from Boston to Hawaii, Alaska to Tahiti -it's something we seek out so when I heard the azores is home to lots of whales and dolphins it sounded like a "must do" for us. In my book, Any whale watching trip has three key parts (1) do you see whales? -often up to Mother Nature (2) quality of the crew-do they add to the experience? And (3) boat/craft/accommodations-is it comfortable and pleasant? So how did they do? (1)-5 stars: right away we saw a huge school of spotted dolphins feeding with birds in a frenzy-super cool. Near the very end of our excursion, over 2 HOURS LATER- we encountered a pod of sperm whales including a juvenile-a bit hard to see and they were always only on left side but a true once in a lifetime thing. (2) as for our naturalist Katarina and our skipper, let's call him Mario--mixed-2 stars . K did a good job talking about species while skipper drove the boat as if he was trying to bounce us all out-we endured over an hour of jarring slamming despite the relatively calm seas. I was seated near the middle of the boat and to be fair they stress it's less violent in the back but even given that, a young lady one row from the veryback got sick due to the violent bouncing -again in relatively calm seas with average swells. -2 stars is generous (3) experience-maybe it's my own fault and I should have done more research-ALL MY PRIOR WHALE WATCHING were on catamarans, cruiser and even an 8-person zodiac. This boat while in the style of a large inflatable was configured more like Ryan air but with even less personal space and held around 30 people. There were three rows of 2 forward facing bench seats followed by around 6-8 rows of single "seats" actually more like padded benches that you straddle -had the same feeling as a wide bicycle seat or a horse saddle. Passengers are nested one behind another with maybe 12-15" from my face to the back of the head of the guy in front of me. In the back was one bench seat for 5. Now imagine spending 3HOURS IN A MIDDLE SEAT bouncing across the waves-ZERO STARS-absolutely horrible. Bottom line: knowing what I know now, and even with 100% chance of seeing another pod of Sperm whales, I just would not go. It was physically just to uncomfortable and I had to cancel other planned activities in the Azores as a direct result of this "experience" I can't recommend this to anyone outside 20-35 age group.

We've been on whale watching trips in other parts of the world and overall we think this experience…read morewas well organized and the staff was professional and nice, however unfortunately there was not much whale watching to be done. I guess in part one can say nature can't be predicted or controlled, however even with the people supposedly assisting to locate the whales there was very little to be seen. Also the boats are small and therefore can go fast which means the ride tends to be bumpy so ride at your own risk. If you get seasick easily then either medicate before going on the trip or avoid it altogether.