Wheelchair Accessible Whale Watching tours

[omah1975]

Hello, I would really appreciate some help please. I am in a wheelchair and I am booked on a cruise on Sapphire Princess to the Canary Islands with my mum in April next year, and after doing some research discovered that the Canary Islands are quite a good place to see whales so I would like if possible to book a wheelchair accessible whale watching tour and therefore my reason for posting is to ask if anyone knows of any companies that offer such a service. After doing some searching I did find one company that said they took wheelchairs but after contacting them and explaining that I am unable to walk at all they advised that it would be extremely difficult for me. As we are stopping in Madeira on the way to the Canary Islands which also happens to be a good place to see whales I will also post this message on the Other Mediterranean Ports board as well (as there does not appear to be a board for Portugal) and also the Disabled Cruise Travel board so as many people see my message as possible.

 

Thank you.

[jean87510]

Does your ship offer an excursion for this? We did this in gran canaria. The thing with whale watching and dolphins is they are wild so you dont know when they will appear. We were lucky last November and saw both whales and dolphins. The other thing I want to point out is it's really quick and everyone will run to whatever side of boat the dolphins and whales appear on. I wish you luck doing this and success because it is amazing. If you do manage to book something, please come back to share how you did it for others.

 

Sent from my SM-G955U using Forums mobile app

[omah1975]

Thanks for the reply, there is not an excursion for this on my cruise which is the main reason I wrote my original post.

[CronFest]

My husband uses a wheelchair, but is able to stand to transfer. He was able to get on whale tours then transfer his chair and sit near me in his chair with the brakes locked. We just explained our needs to the tour operators and they were able to help. The biggest challenge was making sure the gangway was wide enough for the chair, so if you know your dimensions that can be helpful for the tour operator to give you an idea. My husband wasn't able to move around the ship too much but had a fairly good spot to view from, just couldn't move from side to side as quickly as the rest of the guests. We have had several boat experiences where the operators were more than willing to help out, even to the point of four men transferred my husband chair and all one time! There were other operators who moved to a different dock to embark if this allowed for more accessibility. Good luck!