Kayak Experience @ Ponta De São Lourenço

Kayaking is a really great way to explore Ponta Do São Laurenco. As well as the kayaking itself, you can learn about the history of the area and its natural environment. The whole experience is professionally organised and all the necessary equipment is provided. After the kayaking, there’s an hour to spend at the spot. There’s also the chance to go for a swim, with snorkelling equipment available, so take clothes to change and the towel. It’s best to visit on a sunny day – the views are much better then, and you can see the beautiful blue water. The organisers naturally ensure that the experience only takes place in safe weather conditions. If you’ve no experience of kayaking, it’s worth letting the instructor know so they can paddle more slowly – we struggled to keep up a little, but the group waited for us in the end.

We booked a kayak tour advertised as “limited to 10 participants”, so alarm bells should have rung when 19 people turned up. There were no safety instructions, kayaking guidance or rules—just get in your kayak and go. We were immediately taken at a fast pace along the coastline, with several people struggling to keep up, yet there was no checking in to see if everyone was okay. The occasional information about the locations was also difficult to hear because of the group size. Initially, I actually really enjoyed the experience. The equipment was good quality and the location was stunning, with crystal-clear water. The problems began when we went around the final corner, beyond the point accessible on foot because the land is protected for wildlife. We were told we could tie our kayaks together and jump into the deep water to snorkel, and were even told we could remove our life jackets. We chose to keep ours on. While some people were still in their kayaks, the waves suddenly picked up and the tied-together kayaks were repeatedly smashed against the rocks. It was terrifying watching my teenage children helplessly trying to protect themselves when they had no control over their own or other kayaks. Several kayaks capsized, throwing people and belongings into the water, and one man was quite badly injured. From what we could see, the guides had no first aid kit and no first aid training. My children eventually managed to get onto some rocks, only to be shouted at by the guides because they were in the protected area. Everyone sensibly ignored this and concentrated on getting themselves, their kayaks and belongings to safety. Our family eventually managed to regroup in the water along with a couple of others, collecting a floating paddle and a life jacket, but were left waiting for guidance—which never came as everyone else remained on the rocks. Eventually, the boat that had taken us to the starting point came to rescue us. We all had to clamber aboard in choppy conditions, which was far from easy from a kayak and my daughter was quite bruised from it. Thankfully, the injured man was also able to get on. We were taken back to the starting beach, but inexplicably everyone except the injured man and his party was made to get off so that he could be taken to the marina on his own. We were then left stranded for around an hour with no explanation or assistance, while boats arrived to collect passengers from other pre-booked tours. We were repeatedly told that the boats were only for the 4.30pm or 5pm tours, despite our kayak tour being advertised as two hours and us expecting to be back at the marina by 4pm. Instead, it was around 6pm. We were sunburnt, exhausted and extremely late for our check-in on the other side of the island. We were, however, incredibly grateful that everyone in our group survived unharmed, and we sincerely hope the injured man received the help he needed and is recovering well. I hate leaving bad reviews, but this experience needs a serious safety warning. Participants should be physically fit and ideally have kayaking experience; I would not consider this suitable for young children or weak swimmers. To management: if the limit is 10 participants, it needs to be 10 participants. There should be proper safety instructions before setting off, guides should establish participants’ kayaking abilities and monitor their progress throughout the tour, and appropriate first aid equipment and training should be in place. I sincerely hope an incident report was completed and that safety procedures are reviewed and improved as a result. We did receive a refund, which we appreciate, but that does not excuse the poor management and lack of safety procedures. Everyone was extremely lucky that this incident did not have a much more serious outcome. Get Your Guide cancelled our tour after it had ended to facilitate the refund so we are unable to leave a review on there.

I was thrilled that they offered a pickup service that came right to us and delivered us back home afterwards! The kayaking was fun, but quite challenging because of the windy conditions. I might caution inexperienced kayakers to consider the weather before going on this excursion. I kayak quite a lot and it was challenging for me. The inexperienced members of our group were really struggling.

This experience was my favourite within our week long stay in Madeira. The guide was incredibly knowledgeable and the whole kayaking side of things was so much fun! I also really enjoyed the snorkelling at the end before being picked up by the speed boat. 10/10 recommend adding this to your itinerary for your trip. The team at Sea Emotions are amazing!

Our kayak tour was pleasantly warm for January. Our guide was friendly and knowledgeable and told us about the geology, history and marine life that are special to this area

Excellent kayaking tour with Andrea. Gorgeous place and he was full of knowledge about geology, history, economics and wildlife. Highly recommended

We had a great time exploring the coastline around São Lourenço. Our instructor was very informative and friendly. The snorkelling at the end was the perfect way to round it off.

We booked kayak and snorkeling and it was a blast. Lino, our guide, was very energetic, informative and a fun person ! We were also very lucky to see 2 monk seals just by our kayak ☺️. The view was amazing even with a bit of rain. We also snorkel and saw a lot of colorful fishes ! In the end we had a small boat tour which was really fun ! We recommend this compagny for sure !!

I have to say I've been kayaking in many places but this trip in madeira was amazing! Rui was very knowledgeable and made sure everyone was safe and happy. The trip was peaceful at times, and then it felt like I was in hawai 5 O, paddling fast and smoothly! Thank you Rui for saving my plonker who flipped his kayak and fell in (he had no experience). You quickly reacted and made sure my plonker wasn't panicked and got him back onboard. Rui, you were bloody amazing! The cost was reasonable and we got an extra 45mins added to the trip! There was a sealion fishing for fish which was a brucey bonus, he was definitely a big boy! I also got to jump in for a lovely swim right at the end... I would definitely recommend kayaking here, all 5 of us thoroughly enjoyed the excursion. The boat trip back was also amazing, we were taken to a cave which was breathtaking! Thank you again I'll be booking again for next year!

Fantastic afternoon at Ponta de Sao Lourenco. First a boat ride out to the location where the kayaks were kept. Then a kayak trip with a guide, pointing out various areas of interest. Followed by time to snorkel. We snorkeled with a sea turtle and some very colourful fish. On the boat ride back to the marina we received a guided tour of the coast line. We really enjoyed the trip!

We really enjoyed kayaking with them! Our guide was friendly and encouraging and he told us interesting facts about Madeira. We managed to spot a seal and there was even snorkelling included. We would definitely recommend but we suggest to use a good sunscreen.

The kayak excursion was nice but unfortunately we were quite a big group, almost 20 people, and the whole time I felt like the outline of the activity wasn't well explained and they were passing us on form one "person in charge" to another (in the office, on the boat, whilst the kayak, and back on the boat). First they took us on a bigger boat, this much is said, but we took all our things with us and left them in a shed on the site and had to quickly get ready to start with the kayaking. It's also a bit confusing as some people on the boat are a part of the excursion while others merely take the transportation instead of walking to the end point. When we started the kayaking experience, the monitor was very helpful with the kayaks and even took pics during the tour since we couldn't really take any of our stuff with us. We rowed for about 2h, listened to some interesting facts and had a break for some swimming and snorkeling, but when we came back to the shed to get our stuff we then had to make time for about 1h until the boat took us back to the meeting place. I would have loved to maybe walk the way back or would have taken different things/shoes with, having known how the whole activity looked like.

We did the kayak tour and it was incredible, we made so many good memories and was a great experience. Our guide was Lino and was great, providing good information and also making sure we are safe. Lino took us to a nice spot for snorkeling (with pro ides gears) and what a view under the sea. Definitely would recommend it and I would do it again.

Our guide (Lino) was amazing, great facts about the surrounding areas, took great photos and had a great spot to snorkel.

An amazing tour, the guides were super helpful and informative, they took great care of us getting in and out of the kayaks when the waves were choppy, also got to snorkel and have a quick speedboat tour back to the marina. Great value for money, a wonderful day, would highly recommend.

The tour was totaly worth it and are tour gide (Lino) made it even better! Were a group of 4 so he had the time to take us to nice places and give us great info about everything. We stopped to snorkel and had a chat with Lino. We couldnt wish for a better guide!!! 10/10 would do again

We started from the marina with speedboat transfer to the kayaking bay. We got life vests, scuba equipment. Our tourguide - born local - knew every corner of the island, we made a nice tour, few stops for photos or interesting things to see. He made photos of us while being on water. We stopped snorkeling too. Our guide moved the kayaks to shore and was very helpful and friendly. We could change our clothes before returning with the speedboat. During backway we had few stops and the boat guide showed us Elephant rocks, pigeon cave and so on. We even got nice branded water bottles as souvenirs. High level service and nice people.

We initially booked only the kayaking tour, but our driver recommended we also try the dolphin-watching experience—and we’re so happy we did! Both tours were absolutely worth it. Kayaking under the wild cliffs (not like in cities!) was stunning. We explored sea caves, snorkeled with colorful fish (even though the water was chilly), and our guide took amazing photos and sent them to us afterward. Everything was well organized and beautiful. The dolphin tour was just as great! Our guide was super friendly, energetic, and shared lots of interesting facts. The small boat felt very stable—no seasickness. and feeling the part of nature, not like on the big catamarans in Funchal. It also let us get much closer to nature (always within the legal limits). At the end, we even jumped into the water from the boat inside a cave—unforgettable! Yes, it’s just a bit pricier than in Funchal and need transfer, but 100% worth it. Highly recommend this company!

Very good equipment and knowledgeable guides. Super dun transport for the kayak spot. Additional chance for snorkeling with possibility to borrow full equipment.

Really fun, the water was to cold so we didn’t snorkel but overall had fun kayaking and learning about the volcanic mountains

Our guide was very knowledgeable and very safe. We didn’t know that the tour could also include snorkeling for the same price. We were able to stop, swim and snorkel. Overall an amazing experience.

Not the best cayak experience mainly caused by the weather + costal side does not provide much interesting places to see - yet worth trying if you are seeking for some adrenaline in the wild ocean. Strong wind, waves + no people at all make it an interesting workout. Our guide was level headed, nice and even willing to retrieve our flying caps from the water without any hesitation

Lovely day out. Beautiful views and a chance to snorkel too. They catered for our larger group size and the guides were friendly.

We had an amazing kayaking experience, so much fun, the area was absolutely stunning, have to say sea was a bit choppy or bit harder wind in some areas but was incredible. We couldn't manage to see the lion seas but I'm guessing was due to the weather. Still we highly recommend this activity and company!! Thank you so much! obrigada.

Nice trip if you like nature en explanation of nature/coastline on the tour. Not for beginners when there is to much wind. It takes the pleasure away when your working so hard. Guide was very nice and helpfull and gave al lot of information. He also made al lot of pictures witch you get for free after you send an email. 5 minutes from the harbour on a RHIB with high speed was nice.

Well organised, good proactive communication, knowledge guide, very friendly and helpful staff. I would highly recommend.

Such a great experience, thank you! We were not sure if the area will be interesting, but it was amazing! Our guide was very nice and experienced, gave us lots of interesting facts about the nature and Madeira island. We saw many caves, birds and other animals. We took also a boat tour and saw very rare monk seal <3 Recommend kayaking with Sea emotions! Kristina

We had a great (and by chance private) kayak trip with Philippe! He was considerate about our fitnesslevel and gave us plenty of options to rest, whilst showing us some beautiful caves. He also shared some interesting geographical knowledge about the vulcanic rock, which we later on were able to recognise on our walks on the island. Filippe also told us that we were able to join a whale watching tour later that day, without pushing us to participate. We actually did go along on the boattour and saw pilot whales, which was absolutely incredible. Really recommend this kayaktour, especially with guidance from Filippe!

Nice kayak adventure. Hard kayaking though, if you'r alone as adult, with a kid in front. The guide didn't notice that, until my husband was exhaulted. So he hadn't enough power to follow for the snorkeling. Except for that it was a good tour. No instructions for snorkeling though.

A fantastic day with really great guides! The waters are clear and amazing for swimming/snorkeling. Kayaking in pairs or alone was so much fun and got to see so much. Lunch in the cafe was delicious. Lots of information given about the local area and history which was really interesting. Please make sure to wear sensible footwear as the pebble beach/stone staircase is difficult to navigate in flipflops/ sliders, it can also be cloudy and windy in the mornings. The tour also offers a pick up service which we found out about during the trip which was super useful.

We had a great morning kayaking with our guide Martim, he was chatty and knowledgeable and even though the weather was a bit cloudy we enjoyed the snorkelling spot he took us to. It was an experience that was well worth the money and we would definitely recommend doing. We even saw a heron, which was a first for Martim! Thanks for taking us out :) Sam and Lauren from Bristol.

Beautiful part if Madeira that highly recomend it to do it by kayak. We had an amazing time. As a bonus, they gave us snorkeling equipment and we could see the sea life too.

It's nice location for kayaking. The guides were really friendly. Snorkeling was a pleasant bonus. Just don't forget water-resistant sunscreen, we were sunburned afterwards.

Pros: The tour guide was nice and provided good information about the landscape and history. Cons: Our 3 man kayak was sinking the entire time which made it very hard to paddle and caused us to capsize. The guides seemed reluctant to help. There was really not a whole lot to see. The location was just a bit boring.

Found the conditions very rough and hard to paddle. There was not much to see in the caves. Not a worthwhile tour.

Good Tour. We did the day Pack with boat, kayak and snorkeling. The boat Tour top the Lighthouse was amazing. Pretty good price-performance all in all.

It was a truly excellent experience! Our guide was friendly and knowledgeable, and we had a lovely time travelling along the coast, exploring the little caves, and seeing some of the local wildlife, all with a beautiful view of the oldest part of Madeira island! At the end we even had a bit of time to take a swim in the crystal clear waters of the beach where our kayak trip began (to cool off) :) All in all, one of my favorite activities on Madeira- highly recommended!

Been to Madeira 12 times, always had good trips this is the first bad one. Went kayaking with my son, instructor did not introduce himself or bother to learn our names. Minimal info given on the trip re surroundings . Had a dangerous landing on rocky beach and injured my shin. The instructor and staff then disappeared and we were left to work out which boat to get back to the Marina. Shocking service. Have made a complaint but no response.

We booked the kayak trip online, the company were really helpful, suggesting the day with the best weather and the time of day for good sea conditions. Our guides were knowledgable and spoke good English. We have been kayaking before but there were people in our group with no experience and they didn’t find it difficult. There is a boat ride initially to where the kayaks are kept which requires you to disembark up some metal steps to a concrete quay. for this reason I would say the trip isn’t suitable for those with any mobility issues (ie you can’t just get in and out of the kayak at a beach) . We had the option to go snorkelling during the trip but as the sea temperature was a little cool we chose not to. When we returned we were offered a discount for the whale watching that afternoon, which we did. We saw pilot whales and dolphins. I was a little concerned at travelling so fast and so far offshore in a RIB, however this meant we were able to see the animals up close (they were right next to the boat) and move quickly when others were spotted. All in all a fantastic day, thank you!

I was great fun to go kayaking, explore some caves and go snorkeling in this beautiful water. Our guide philippo was knowledgable, very friendly and super relaxed about our itinerary and the timings to go back. We liked it so much that we came back for a whale watching tour the next day which was also absolutely magic!

Great place to kayak and see some amazing landscapes. We had a great time even though in the rain and wind. Very good organisation and the team was approachable as much for the organisation than the actual experience.

Stunning, simply stunning, highly recommend this tour and the company, from first arriving, we were made to feel welcome, with a nice touch of free water for all of my family, even the speedboat ride was a thrill an bonus. Our personal guide Inês greeted us and gave us a brief description of the activity before taking us straight out on to the ocean, despite our inexperience kayaking she showed us the basics and off we went. Out on the ocean Inês kept us informed about the coastline and history of the area with her vast knowledge all the time keeping it enjoyable for my Kids, we had at least 30 mins swimming in the ocean, which all of my kids took part in, the fun bit was getting back in the kayak!! We then returned to our start point where Inês still assisted us when ever we needed, my 2 girls really took her and she was attentive and responsive at all times to their questions. We then took the 30 min glass bottom boat ride back to the harbour which was an additional bonus I hadn’t realised was even part of the tour, where our new guide and boat captain continued to explain the scenery and coastline. Really can’t recommended this tour highly enough and will gladly rebook should we return to Madeira.

Nice place and very good views with many explanations about the geology of the volcanic landscape during the boat and kayak trip. Well organized. There was a problem landing on the stone beach before snorkeling, because the waves were stronger than expected, risky. Previous indications would be necessary to avoid injuries. So also to get a better snorkeling experience.

Great experience, everyone is soo lovely and organised. Highly recommend to see the other side of the island, great to see.

The guides barely talked to us, let alone smiles or pictures. It was a shame. One of the guides was smoking during the activity. It was a very windy day and could be even a bit dangerous, but they did not even ask if it was our first time. The place is very nice, those two guys were not.

The time we spent in the kayak was great, beautiful scenery. However, we came back to the shore an hour after and we were left to do snorkelling or whatever we wanted to do for an hour and half - which isn’t what was promised. I don’t think the schedule was communicated well which left us not really knowing what we were supposed to do. We would have loved to spend more time in the kayak, as expected, since paying 30€ for 1h of kayak seems a bit excessive. The instructors didn’t communicate either when we had to leave, so we had to squeeze in the boat back, which was full. Thankfully the girl in the boat was kind enough to take us back. Thankfully there was a bar nearby so we killed time a with a couple of beers before the boat came back.

Got the day pack with guided kayak, snorkeling and boat tour. Alfonso, our guide, was professional and fantastic and sought to maximize our experience while going at our pace. We are convinced kayaking is the best way to explore this part of the island as hiking is more interesting in greener parts in the west of Madeira. We tripped up a bit and missed our original tour because we enjoyed our lunch a bit too long but caught the tail end of another tour and very happy. Hoping they will remember to send us the photos Alfonso took for the kayak outing!

Thank you to all the staff who were friendly and welcoming. The tour however was nice but there seem to be more sitting around or swimming if you so chose than actually kayaking. I think it should be more clear the tour was around 2 hours not 3 you kayak to a spot where the seas meet and you can snorkel then you kayak back and stop enroute and again can snorkel, then back to where you started which is very steep stone stairs!! Not great if you don’t like heights or balance isn’t great :-) however the staff are wonderful and go above and beyond just felt more description would help prepare for what to really expect

Stunning views and friendly, knowledgeable guides. Marta and João really went above and beyond today to make our trip as good as it could be. Would highly recommend the tour (and especially them!) to anyone. Thanks so much, Marta and João! Will return next time we're in Madeira :-)