My husband and I went on the Hop on Hop off 3 island boat tour which we really enjoyed. Such a fun and easy way to explore these islands while in Faro. João Fernandes was very helpful and informative when we purchased our tickets from him. Would highly recommend this excursion !

We have just landed from the wonderful Animaris Sunset Tour on the Ria Formosa. Just fabulous. Our engaging skipper Thomas made our evening with his passion for the wildlife here and great humour. Not quite sure what we expected other than the sunset but we learnt so much and Thomas clearly loves what he does. This was very special. Thank you Thomas x

The organisation is very good. Also the lady on the front desk was very nice and helpeful. She answered all my questions and helped me to pick the right ride. Also the skippers are good and nice.

Booked the hop on hop off ticket and spent the full day exploring the islands. Well worth the money. Staff were all very friendly and knowledgeable. There are a few boat trip companies in Faro but in my opinion this one was the best value for money. Highly recommendx

Thomas is handsome and professional，he introduced many interesting things to us, I hope I could be as attentive and nice as him in the future, and the sunset tour is really nice. Highly recommend for that！

Fantastic nature tour and hop-on-hop off trip to the islands. It was so good my 12 year old son and I went back the next day for another nature trip! This time we stayed on Desert Island for the day to explore, and got the ferry back. Joaquin our guide was incredibly knowledgeable. He helped us identify several Osprey, curlews, great white egrets and many more waders - plus he taught us about the history and ecosystem of the Rio Formosa and other wildlife like the fiddler crabs. On the first trip we had lunch on Culatra and enjoyed walking around the island. I had the best tuna steak ever and it was reasonably priced. On Ilha Deserta there is only one choice of restaurant and it is more upmarket and therefore expensive. The seafood linguine was gorgeous! If you’re on a tight budget it’s better to eat at Culatra or take food with you. We walked around the whole of Ilha Deserta in a couple of hours - including a play on the beach. You could spent many more hours there if you wanted though. We hope to return in the future and would definitely book with this company again. Thank you, Helen and Edward

Very good experience in the eco tour to ilha deserta. Thanks to the low season, we were nearly alone on the boat with very knowledgeable Thomas who shared with us his knowledge on the ecosystem of the lagune. Highly recommend the tour and our very kind guide who had also a good feeling with young children.

Great advice by knowledgeable guide before the trip to Parque Natural da Ria Formosa on which options would suit the whole family. Excellent staff on the ferry, perfect way to see birds on the way. Ilha Deserta has a wonderful boardwalk to enjoy the beautiful landscape and nature finishing with a wonderful walk along a long stretch of beach. Would highly recommend lunch at Estamine, delicious food and great wine list in a stylish eco dining room with Atlantic views. A fabulous day out!

We had an amazing time - the guide Jokin was incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about the area. We took the Evo tour to the Ilha Desert island, which was money well spent, we even managed to see a flamingo, which is quite rare. If you book on the Eco tour, make sure you get Jokin as your guide.

I went on this boat 3x and booked 3 separate trips. First two through trip advisor, last one I booked at the desk. The lady lied about being able to return earlier, the ticket I had was not acknowledged by two of the staff. Luckily the one guy had seen me prior and I got along with him, he allowed me on but advised, I had been advised incorrectly. I addressed this when I got back and advised I’d make a complaint as my flight back is today and this would’ve made me late if the skipper didn’t see me previously. It was pretty clear they had tried to exploit the fact that I had spoken in clear English about returning early and still sold me the ticket which was false.

It was a good experience. The boats came on time and you could easily island hop. I would say to bring lots of snacks and your swimsuit. It’s fun to walk around the islands, but it doesn’t take much time. So spending time at the beach or a restaurant is fun.

Booked in advance for the ferry to Isla Deserta. They really need to make it much clearer as to where the ferry departs from. The dock in the port has all their livery on it but it departs from a dock ten minutes walk from there. Not helpful as there are no signs to direct you or clear directions on the booking form. However good journey and on time pick up from the island on the way back.

We did the hop-on-hop-off experience with three girls to see the beaches of Faro. My preferred spot was the first island (Ilha Deserta), you can spent half day there. It has a wooden pathway to go for a 2 km mini hike and a looong sandbeach on the other side. We spent 1 hour there and there were very few people. We had a coffee and oysters in the restaurant before leaving, the restaurant and bar are fancy and very nice for a short stay. The second stop (Farol) I would recommend to skip, it is a holiday park for portuguese families and some low quality bars. You cannot do much there. The third stop (Ilha Culatra) has a beautiful fishermen harbour. We had an intensive 2-hours-lunch at the restaurant "O Rui" with prawns, claws, fish and sides, plus water and two bottles of wine (total 75 Euros). It was delicious and relaxing. We took the wooden bridge to the other side of the island to the beach (15 min walking) and had a nice swim in the ocean, there is also a bar for snacks and drinks. Very much recommended. It took us all day to return as we liked it so much (from 10.30 to 7pm) but you can also choose to go with the other boats and return earlier. The team is great, they give safety advice and make you feel safe and comfortable at any time. there were also few kids, I can recommend to go with kids as well as the speed boats are safe and you get life vests. You can book the tickets at the harbour area (book 1-2 days in advance).

We really enjoyed the Hop-on-Hop-off! Thanks for the team: always caring, safety first and super friendly! We recommend staying two slots at Deserta and doing the round walking tour and ending with oysters at the bar. As we came off-season Farol was deserted (its rather a holiday park) but Culatra was an excellent experience again. We had fish and seafood at O Rui and LOVED IT! We left in the morning with the first boat and came back with the last 🤣

3 girls - we all did the hop on hop off all day ferry boat to the 3 islands and it is SO worth it. Absolutely incredible, definitely go for it. Remember the team all wear yellow shirts and are in yellow boats so just make sure it’s ilha Deserta boat tours We paid I think around £30 each and it is so worth it. It’s a full day tour and you can hop on hop off the boats on any island you want and they are all worth it. The first one is 15 minutes away on the boat and the experience is surreal. It feels like you’re floating and it’s not bumpy at all - this is to Deserta where this a restaurant and you can walk around the whole island to a beach. The second one was around 7/8 mins away with is called Farol and is a tourist island apparently so in summer it would be buzzing. But in March it wasn’t, you can walk to the other side and there is a light house and a lovely beach to lie on (this was our favourite). There are also two bars but they were closed when we went in March. Then the last island is 5 minutes away in the boat, and this is the fisherman island so this is lots of locals and it’s lovely. Very small but quaint. They have a bar open with ice creams and drinks etc… you can walk around the island too and if you go to the other side there is a beach too which is lovely ! Boats are always on time and lovely to sit on. They provide life jackets too and prioritise safety. Definitely worth it if you are in Portugal! Just take a photo of the boat times:)