Whale Watching at the Island of Elba

Excursions and cruises to sight cetaceans in the Tuscan Archipelago.

Sailing in search of dolphins and whales in Cetacean Sanctuary is exciting.  Sighting cetaceans needs patience and continuous observation of the sea surface searching for unusual wavelets,  sprays, fins; for this reason the best days are those with a calm sea and no wind.  As we are searching for free animals who move in open sea and who are capable of covering long distances there aren’t timetables or programmes.  This means that we need to be prepared to pass many hours sailing but just one sighting gives us such intense sensations that will never be forgotten.  Most frequently we sight dolphins, who because of their speed and curiosity come near to the boats that sail in the waters off the Island of Elba, they jump and swim a few centimetres from the prow, often turning round to see who is on board, the watchers will be still and fascinated.  Our meetings with whales, are less frequent, but when we do it is incredibly exciting.  These giants who delicately come near us and study us, as if curious about our presence in their world, create sensations in us that are equal to the size of the mammals themselves.  Last summer three whales between 10 and 15 metres long put on a show for a number of days inside the Medici harbour of Portoferraio, delighting the hundreds of people who came to photograph them.  But it wasn’t an isolated occasion, because after going away for a few days, they remained in the waters of the Island of  Elba, they then returned twice, parading for hours alongside the piers of the port.  We have created some whale watching excursion programmes aimed at research and observation of these splendid mammals, which even in unfortunate cases of not sighting them, leave us with the memory of a beautiful sea trip.  Do not forget good binoculars and a camera.