Desertas Islands, Madeira: boat trips, landing permission and the full-day commitment

Is a Desertas boat trip right for your Madeira holiday?

Choose the Desertas Islands if you want a full-day boat excursion to a protected reserve and are comfortable with the possibility that conditions change the planned swimming or shore visit. Do not choose it just to guarantee a monk-seal sighting or to fit a short boat ride around another major activity.

Ilhéu Chão, Deserta Grande and Bugio are the three islands southeast of Madeira. The reserve protects seabirds and the Mediterranean monk seal, among other wildlife. A published guided visit is not permission to explore all three islands independently. The Selvagens are a different island group and are not part of the Desertas day-trip programmes described here.

VMT: a May-to-October catamaran day

VMT’s own Desertas page advertises departures from Funchal Marina on Wednesdays and Saturdays, 09:00–18:00, from May to October. It describes a nine-hour catamaran excursion with a Madeiran buffet lunch, one drink and opportunities for swimming, snorkelling and stand-up paddleboarding.

The published adult price is €90 for ages over 12, checked on 25 October 2026. Check-in is required 30 minutes before departure. This is the operator’s advertised programme and tariff, not confirmation of seats or a departure on your date. In particular, do not carry its May–October season into a November plan.

This format suits a traveller who wants a catamaran and included lunch, and can leave the whole day free. The land visit and water activities should remain conditional on permission, the crew’s instructions and conditions.

Bonita da Madeira: a different schedule and a return-time conflict

Bonita da Madeira’s Desertas product advertises Wednesdays and Sundays, a 10:00 start, lunch and a guided shore visit, with Margarita Sunset named as the boat. It identifies Marina Nova do Funchal, Cais nº8, and requires a stop at the kiosk to collect a boarding pass, with arrival at least 30 minutes before departure.

The page is inconsistent about the finish: its upper details say 18:30, another programme block says 18:00, and both carry a nine-hour duration label. Do not turn those into one precise return promise. Get the finish time on the actual booking confirmation and avoid a tight evening connection.

The same product describes swimming as subject to weather conditions. Its homepage and product page also show different starting-price figures, so use the dated booking quote rather than treating a search-result price as the payable total. This is a second published format to compare, not an endorsement based on an inspected trip.

Permission does not guarantee that you can land

IFCN, the reserve manager, says visits require prior authorisation, whether visitors arrive on private boats or maritime-tourism vessels. Its current visitor instructions direct applications through SIMplifica and describe a guided interpretive route as the main nature-tourism activity.

For an organised trip, establish whether the operator arranges the required authorisation for your departure and whether any applicable reserve charge is included. For a private vessel, arrange the authorisation through the official process before travelling. A boat reservation and an IFCN authorisation are different things.

IFCN explicitly states that it does not provide the transport for passengers and crew to disembark. That makes the landing method a practical booking question: ask how the transfer ashore works and whether it suits your mobility. This guide does not certify step-free boarding, a step-free landing or unrestricted walking ashore.

Sea conditions, cancellation and what happens if landing is impossible

Keep a separate land-based plan for the day in case the operator cancels or changes the trip. Do not build an arrival flight, a non-refundable evening transfer or another timed attraction around the advertised return. For a short Madeira stay, a full-day trip also uses time that could otherwise cover Funchal or a north-coast outing.

Before payment, get the answers to two different questions: what happens if the entire sailing is cancelled, and what happens if the boat sails but the planned landing or swim cannot happen? A general cancellation deadline does not by itself answer the second question. Bonita’s product lists free cancellation up to 24 hours beforehand; the terms supplied for your booking should establish the actual cutoff and weather-change remedy.

Pack the items needed for the programme you book. VMT lists a windbreaker, swimwear, towel and sun cream. Bring drinking water and follow the crew’s advice about footwear and going ashore. If an open-water day is the part you do not want, choose a land visit rather than relying on a calm-sea promise.

Wildlife: habitat is not a sighting promise

The official reserve description identifies the Desertas as a stronghold of the Mediterranean monk seal and a seabird nesting area. That explains the protected-area controls; it does not establish a probability of seeing a seal from your excursion.

Choose the trip for the sea journey and the authorised reserve visit as a whole. Do not assume a named species on an operator’s page is a guaranteed encounter, or that a Desertas trip includes the same route and wildlife-search time as a dedicated whale-watching excursion. Follow the crew and reserve staff rather than approaching animals for photographs.

Where to stay for the departure

Funchal is the practical overnight base for the two published departures described here. Confirm the exact kiosk and berth on the booking instructions: “Funchal Marina” is not a substitute for a meeting point, especially when you must collect a boarding pass before boarding.

If staying in Calheta, Porto Moniz or another more distant base, add both the morning transfer and the late return before comparing the total cost and day length. Book the trip only once the operator confirms that your chosen date is running, the meeting time, the inclusions and the policy for a changed programme.