Which Mallorca Dolphin Tour Should You Book?
Ten dolphin boats, five ports, $46 to $97. A straight comparison of what each one gives you, and which to book for your group, your budget and your alarm clock.
Ten dolphin boats sail from five Mallorcan ports, and every one of them sells you roughly the same thirty minutes with the animals. The fares run from $46 to $97, which means you can pay double for that half hour. The question worth asking is what the extra money changes.
The short answer: group size and the odds. The long answer follows.
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The ten boats at a glance
| Tour | Port | Guests | Duration | Rating | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semi-private cruise | Alcudiamar | 12 | 3 hr | 4.8 (3,346) | $97 |
| Speedboat, photos included | Alcudiamar | 12 | 2 hr | 4.9 (418) | $91 |
| Sunrise catamaran | Port d’Alcúdia | 150–200 | 3 hr | 4.6 (2,370) | $67 |
| Free hotel pickup | Alcúdia + pickup | Small group | 2 hr | 4.9 (943) | $90 |
| Dolphins, cave & Coll Baix | Can Picafort | Small group | 3 hr | 4.8 (1,411) | $80 |
| Fast boat with swim | Can Picafort | Small group | 3 hr | 4.8 (820) | $80 |
| Small-group RIB | Can Picafort | Small group | 3 hr | 5.0 (101) | $91 |
| Glass-bottom cruise | Peguera | Excursion boat | 2 hr | 4.6 (3,816) | $46 |
| Santa Ponsa with swim | Santa Ponsa | Excursion boat | 2 hr | 4.5 (2,214) | $46 |
| Palma morning cruise | Palma | Excursion boat | 4 hr | 4.4 (378) | $54 |
Ratings and review counts are the operators’ live figures on GetYourGuide and move a little week to week.
What the price actually buys
Two things, and neither of them is more dolphins.
The first is the rail you stand at. A twelve-seat boat has to recover its morning from twelve fares; a 200-seat catamaran spreads the same fuel and crew across an order of magnitude more people. That is the whole of the $46-to-$97 gap. Everyone on a small boat has a clear view and nobody is standing behind a row of shoulders.
The second is a written commitment. Two operators guarantee a minimum of thirty minutes with the dolphins on every departure: Alcudia Sea Explorer on its semi-private cruise, and JetFun on its speedboat. Both sail from Alcudiamar. Nobody on the southwest coast makes a comparable promise, and the large sunrise catamaran instead offers a free return ticket on the rare morning when nothing is spotted.
Pick by what matters to you
If you came to Mallorca for the animals
Book the semi-private cruise from Alcudiamar. Twelve passengers, engines built quiet for wildlife work, a guaranteed half hour, the Formentor cliffs on the way back and a swim at Es Coll Baix, a cove with no road down to it. It is the most-reviewed small boat on the island at 4.8 from 3,346 guests.
If you would rather have the photographs than take them, JetFun’s speedboat makes the same guarantee and the captain shoots the encounter for you. It does not stop to swim.
If you are watching the budget
Book the Peguera glass-bottom cruise at $46. It is the most-reviewed dolphin listing on the island, it has a bar, shade, toilets and a sun deck, and its guests rate it 4.6. You will share it with a crowd. For the same money, the Santa Ponsa boat builds a cove swim and snorkel gear into the two hours.
If someone in the group gets seasick
Book the sunrise catamaran. It carries 150 to 200 people on a hull that barely notices the swell, serves breakfast on the way home, and costs $67. The small boats out of Can Picafort cross open water at speed for the best part of an hour, and their own guests recommend taking something beforehand.
If you are travelling with children
The large boats are the easy answer: deck space, shade, a toilet and room to move. The small boats set minimum ages — three on the semi-private cruise and the Can Picafort RIB, five on the sea-cave trip, six on the fast boat — and several exclude pregnancy and back problems. Our guide to dolphin tours with kids works through it by age.
If you are staying in Palma or Magaluf
Book the Palma morning cruise. It leaves the Paseo Marítimo at 10:30 or 14:00, the only listing here with no pre-dawn departure at all, and it will collect you from the Calvià resorts for an extra fare. It is the lowest-rated boat here at 4.4 and makes no sighting guarantee, so treat it as the convenient choice rather than the best one.
If you want the swim as much as the dolphins
Book the Can Picafort sea-cave trip. Three hours, a guide on board, a cave off Cap de Pinar, snorkel gear provided, and a stop at Es Coll Baix, which you would otherwise reach by a steep forty-minute walk down from the ridge.
What no boat here offers
Swimming with the dolphins. No operator on this site sells it, and you should be wary of one that does. The skippers hold their distance and let the animals decide how close to come, which is the single thing guests praise most in the reviews.
A marine park is the other thing people find when they search. Marineland at Costa d’en Blanes keeps trained animals and runs shows to a timetable, which is a different afternoon entirely and not something this site books.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best dolphin tour in Mallorca?
For sighting odds and closeness to the animals, the twelve-seat departures from Alcudiamar: the semi-private cruise and JetFun’s speedboat, both of which guarantee thirty minutes. For value, the Peguera glass-bottom cruise at $46. For a group with children or a nervous sailor, the sunrise catamaran.
Is the expensive tour worth double the money?
If what you want is to be close to the animals with a clear view and a guarantee behind it, yes. If you want a good morning at sea and you are relaxed about the odds, the $46 boats carry thousands of satisfied reviews between them and give you a bar and a sun deck for the trouble.
Which dolphin tour here is rated highest?
The Can Picafort small-group RIB at 5.0, which is the best score here with real review volume behind it. A private charter in the catalogue also shows 5.0, on five reviews. The RIB’s own 101 reviews are a strong early record rather than a settled verdict.
Which is the cheapest?
Two boats share the floor at $46: the Peguera glass-bottom cruise and the Santa Ponsa cruise, both run by the same operator on the Calvià coast.
Do any of them include hotel pickup in the price?
One. MY SEA EXPERIENCE collects from eighteen points across Alcúdia and Can Picafort and brings you back, with the coach ride in the fare. The semi-private cruise offers pickup as a paid option, and the Palma cruise offers resort transfers at extra cost.
Can I change my mind after booking?
Every tour listed on this site can be cancelled up to 24 hours before departure for a full refund, and most let you reserve now and pay later.
Once you have picked, check availability for the date you want. The twelve-seat boats hold twelve seats, and in August they go early.
See Wild Dolphins Off Mallorca
Ten boats from five ports, rated by more than 15,000 guests between them. Sunrise sailings, small-group speedboats and family catamarans — all with free cancellation.
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