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The boat tours on the Ria Formosa, and the walking and sightseeing tours on the countryside and mountain, are a market niche for the nature lovers. Bird watching is also a growing sector. The Sun plays with the water and a soft breeze rocks the boat leaving from the pier in Tavira. We are starting a boat tour aboard of the Sequa Tours company boat. After a short path in the Gilão River, we reach the Ria Formosa. Seagulls and ducks lay still in the waters while boats cross the canals.

The trip is relaxing and depending on the tide it can even get us to the Atlantic, in front of the Tavira Island.

According to Henrique Lourenço, manager of Sequa Tours and Another Level, both with eco-tourism activities, this is a growing market, especially regarding bird watching, where people are very demanding about the quality of the service provided.

The bird watching season is mainly on autumn and spring, although on winter some species may be observed. On summer it’s obviously unrecompensed and unworkable, both bird watching and walking tours, due to the high temperatures.

People look mostly for the boat tours during summer, which are provided by Sequa Tours from the piers in Tavira, Cabanas de Tavira and Vila Real de Santo António. For bird watching, the programmes offered by Another Level are based on Tavira and they can be by boat or on land.

For the hikers, many paths are programmed along the sea coast or on the countryside up to the mountain.

Herique Lourenço explains the different publics: “There’s a clear noted difference between the summer costumers, very oriented to a relaxing fun boat trip, and the birdwatchers, who are a very knowledgeable group, with an exact idea of what to see and do”.

The businessman emphasises that the birdwatchers, usually coming from the northern Europe, especially from the UK, follow other birdwatchers recommendations, and come here to watch particular bird species they want to observe.

“They look for endemic species and for some migratory birds, which come from the North Africa or the Northern Europe, depending of the time of the year”, adds Herique Lourenço, who works with professional guides with over 15 years of experience.

Henrique assumes this is a growing market, but alerts for the dangers of a poor service: “ It’s crucial the quality of the provided services, since we are working with an informed tourist, who knows other countries and has means to compare – we must provide exactly what they look for with a higher standard”.

The bird watching tours have to be booked in advance and the price goes around 30-40 Euros per person, for a half day tour, and 70-80 Euros, per person, for a full day tour.

The groups can’t be bigger than 8 people “because it would scare the birds”.

For the boat tours, there are scheduled times. From the Tavira pier, departures are at 09h30, 10h45, 15h00 and 16h45.

For more information about the boat tours, click here. If you’re interested on birdwatching tours, the information is on this website. For the walking tours, check here. And the car sightseeing eco-tour info is to be found here.

source: http://www.algarveobserver.com