Desertas Islands Trip From Funchal

A Protected Reserve, Not A Tourist Island

The Reserva Natural das Ilhas Desertas covers 12,586 hectares, out to the 100 metre depth line around all three islands. It has been legally protected since 1990, first to safeguard a small colony of Mediterranean monk seal whose formal conservation project began in 1988, and it earned the Council of Europe's European Diploma for Protected Areas in March 2014. IFCN, the regional nature and forest institute, manages access rather than any ferry operator, and its own page on visiting states plainly that thousands of people reach the islands every year on private boats, maritime-tourist boats and Portuguese Navy ships, always with the managing entity's prior authorisation.

Total Protection Versus Partial Protection

IFCN divides the reserve into a Total Protection zone, covering all the land and the sea south of certain points on the islands, and a Partial Protection zone to the north. Access to land, an interpretive walking visit, birdwatching and non-motorised nautical sports are allowed only with IFCN authorisation, requested through the SIMplifica portal. The Partial Protection sea area additionally permits line fishing and diving.

Everywhere in the reserve, collecting or capturing wildlife, bringing pets, littering, washing boats and noisy activities are banned outright, and people and boats may not enter the Total Protection zone at all except at the authorised anchorage in the Doca bay on Deserta Grande.

What A Credential Actually Costs

SIMplifica lists a service called Credencial para visitar a Rede de Áreas Marinhas Protegidas, covering the Desertas, Selvagens and Porto Santo marine protected areas together. Its own cost field reads not applicable, meaning IFCN does not charge a service fee for the credential itself. What the page does not publish is a visitor quota, a landing timetable or a standalone public transport option to get there, which is the real reason no independent ferry exists: the reserve is managed for controlled, permitted access rather than open tourism.

Deserta Grande, Bugio And Ilhéu Chão

The chain runs Ilhéu Chão, the smallest and northernmost at about 1,600 metres long with a lighthouse near its 98 metre high point, Deserta Grande, the largest and highest at 11,700 metres long and up to 479 metres, and Bugio at the southern end, 7,500 metres long and up to 388 metres. The islands sit 22 nautical miles southeast of Funchal and 12 nautical miles from Ponta de São Lourenço, the mainland's own eastern tip. They are volcanic, formed roughly 3.5 million years ago as a single landmass that later split apart, and Deserta Grande's Fajã Grande and Fajã da Doca were shaped by landslides in 1894.

Why Bugio In Particular Is Off Limits

Bugio holds the world's only nesting site of the Desertas petrel, a seabird found nowhere else, and Deserta Grande holds what may be the largest Bulwer's petrel colony in the Atlantic. A tarantula species found only in one valley on Deserta Grande, along with dozens of endemic land snail species and an endemic lizard subspecies, round out why the reserve's rules exist. These are the animals a landing permit protects, which is also why the catamaran trip does not include stepping ashore.

A Boat Trip, Not A Landing Tour

The Desertas Islands catamaran trip costs $103.37, runs a full 9 hours, and is rated 4.4 from 239 reviews, operated by VMT Madeira, one of the operators Visit Madeira names for whale and dolphin watching in the same waters. The listing describes a short guided visit to the reserve and a swim stop in the surrounding waters, with lunch served on board, departing from Funchal marina with no hotel pickup. It is explicit that a landing on the islands themselves needs a separate permit and is not part of the cruise, which matches the IFCN rules above.

Suitability And Weather

The listing states the trip is not suitable for wheelchair users. In bad weather conditions, the operator offers guests an alternative sailing or a full refund rather than running the trip regardless of sea state, worth knowing given the open-water crossing involved. Free cancellation applies up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund under normal conditions.