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February 2nd, 2011 by Sarah Bennett
Special offers for April 2011
Still looking for a holiday in April? We have knocked £100 off selected holidays in April using the direct flight from Manchester and Gatwick.
Whale and dolphin watching experience – 7 nights

Sperm whale breaching
Based in a stunning converted convent, your week will be spent out whale watching, on a history of the whales tour, with a marine biologist looking at their current research, and exploring the cobbled streets of Vila Franca. A fantastic educational week in a lovely location.
Normal price : £1046pp Offer price : £946pp
For more details on this holiday, please see our website
Cycling on Sao Miguel – 7 nights

Cycling on Sao Miguel
With a choice of 2 great itineraries, we have catered for everyone from occasional cyclists to mad fit tourers. Bikes are new Specialised Cross Trails bought at the end of 2010 to replace our old fleet.
Strenuous itinerary - Normal price : £895pp Offer price : £795pp
Moderate itinerary – Normal price : £906pp Offer price : £806pp
For more details on these holidays, please see our website
Walking holiday on Sao Miguel – 7 nights

Sete Cidades crater walk
Explore the craters of Sao Miguel, its boiling pools, its stunning waterfalls and beautiful coastline at your own pace on our independent walking holidays. You can choose to have a hire car and do circular walks or have taxi transfers and do linear walks. Lovely hotel accommodation and great walks.
Self drive – Normal price : £856pp Offer price : £756pp
Taxi transfer – Normal price : £959pp Offer price : £859pp
For more details on these holidays, please see our website
Please note : prices are valid for departures on 02 April, 09 April and 16 April 2011. They cannot be combined with any other offer
Topics: April, azores, cycling, Sao Miguel, Special offers, walking, whale watching
Posted in azores news
Permalink: Special offer – Azores holidays in April 2011
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Posted:
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September 22nd, 2010 by Miguel Cravinho
The end of the summer is approaching, but fortunately here in São Miguel it feels far away still. Dolphins and whales cheer us up whenever encountered making everyday special and bright!
This week (13-19 September 2010), we observed five different species, the bottlenose dolphins, the common dolphins, the Atlantic spotted dolphins, the pilot whales and the sperm whales.
Both whales and dolphins are often seen breaching out of the water with spectacular jumps. The reason for these acrobatic leaps can be various from courtship display, simple fun or related to a less joyful cause like trying to eliminate parasites! Cetaceans are in fact affected by various ectoparasites which in some cases can produce damage on their skin, but do not cause death.
Below is a photo of an Atlantic spotted dolphin (Stenella frontalis) while leaping out of the water and showing a parasite attached on its flank. 
Ectoparasites of whales and dolphins include the acorn and stalked barnacles typically found on humpback whales, or the Cryptolepas rhachianecti another barnacle species found on gray whales. Barnacles are not true parasites as they don’t feed on whale skin, rather they exploit the swimming of the whales to filter food in the water. However, when in great number they can bother whale movements. Gray whales are also affected by lices gathering around wounds and scars and feeding on their skin. Other parasites damaging skin tissue are cookie cutter sharks and possibly sea lampreys.
During one of our encounters with Atlantic spotted dolphins we had the chance to enjoy the sighting of some young individuals leaping high into the air. One of them, at closer look, showed a parasite attached on its flank. Although the resolution of the picture doesn’t help to identify the parasite, its size and shape suggests it could be a cookie cutter shark.
Cookie cutter sharks (Isistius brasiliensis) are so called because they leave cookie-shaped scars on the body of large fishes and marine mammals. They have a cylindrical body and a circular mouth, which contains many teeth used by the shark to remove the flesh of the host.
When we see dolphins showing their acrobatic skills it is not necessarily due to parasites luckily for them, and many exhibitions are related to a courtship display during the breeding season.
Topics: dolphins, Sao Miguel, whale watching
Posted in azores news
Permalink: Cookie cutter on Azores dolphin
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Posted:
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July 15th, 2010 by Sarah Bennett
More lovely comments in today - thank you!
“Super holiday in every respect. We loved the scenery and geography and abundance of flowers. It was all so peaceful and dividing the holiday between three islands made it feel like three holidays. The people were friendly and welcoming. Food excellent but lacked vegetables. Often one meal was plenty for two people. A great trip right from planning to doing and remembering. thank you for your help throughout.”
Mr & Mrs Birkmyre (Sao Miguel, Faial & Flores – 12-26 June 2010)
“Just to thank everyone who made the trip so enjoyable – Jake, Ian and all the team in the Azores. Everyone seemed to do their best to be helpful and make the trip as enjoyable as possible for us. It is greatly appreciated and we will certainly sing your praises to everyone we know who wants to make the trip to such a beautiful place with so much natural flora and fauna to see and enjoy.”
Mr & Mrs Finlayson (Whale watching & swimming with dolphins on Sao Miguel – 13-23 May 2010)
Topics: dolphins, whale watching
Posted in Azores Testimonials
Permalink: Super Azores holiday in every respect
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Warning: strtotime() [
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Posted:
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September 2nd, 2009 by Sarah Bennett
“Your staff were very helpful – the best ever. One of the best family holidays we have ever had, not sure how to top it! Superb weather – up to 28 degrees every day.”
The Harper family (18-25 Aug 09)
Sao Miguel – whalewatching holiday staying at Hotel Caloura
“We had a fantastic time and hope to return sometime. Everything was as good as we expected and in many cases better! Many thanks.”
Mrs King (15-29 Aug 09)
Sao Miguel & Pico – whale watching holiday staying at Caloura, Talisman & Whalecome ao Pico
“Everything worked seamlessly and the quality of the accomodation, transfers, car hire etc. was excellent. The Azores were beautiful and we may up sticks to Flores to start a self sufficient life! Many thanks.”
Mr & Mrs Dearden (25 Jul – 08 Aug 09)
Sao Miguel, Pico & Flores
“Both whale watching trips were amazing and the natural scenery was breathtaking – your brochure doesn’t really do it justice. After the whale watching our kids were grinning from ear to ear (as were we!). Overall, a very good vacation enjoyed by all of us. One which we will remember with happiness and will be hard to top! Well done and many thanks.”
The Dodd family (4-18 Aug 09)
Sao Miguel & Faial – whale watching holiday staying at House of Varadouro and Quinta Altamira
Topics: Faial, Family, Flores, pico, Sao Miguel, whale watching, whales
Posted in Azores Testimonials
Permalink: Best family holiday ever in the Azores
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Posted:
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Warning: date() [function.date]: It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'UTC' for 'GMT/0.0/no DST' instead in /home/archipel/public_html/whats-new/wp-includes/functions.php on line 112
July 14th, 2009 by Miguel Cravinho
Hello my friends,
Just to inform you that our new boat has finally arrived!
Especially designed to provide safety, comfort and still a close contact to Nature, this new equipment will certainly update our fleet, providing our clients with an excellent experience discovering the Atlantic Ocean and – of course – the “amazing world of whales and dolphins”.
The new boat is 11 meters long, powered by 2 engines (4 stroke) of 250cv – the most energy efficient/environmentally friendly on the market – the boat layout provides 22 individual seats with 4 seats in the rear part, particularly designed for families with children or “older” people (next to the skipper).
The boat was build in Viana do Castelo, northern Portugal, by SEARIBS. It’s the result of a customised project bring together the skills of the boat’s factory and the specific needs of our whale watching operation giving birth to a high performance and extremely fun boat.
Hope you enjoy it.
Best regards.
Miguel
For information on a whale watching holiday aboard this great new boat, click here
Topics: dolphins, Family, Sao Miguel, whale watching, whales
Posted in azores news
Permalink: New whale watching boat on Sao Miguel