Tenerife Excursions- Must Cat catamaran

Sep 14, 2011 by cafebebemama

On our family holiday to Tenerife, courtesy of Lowcostholidays, we were given the opportunity to fill some of our week with excursions in the area. This was very appealing to us as, never having been to Tenerife and not speaking much Spanish, we were sort of like fish out of water. Having some outings planned and arranged for us allowed us to manage our time and fill our days with enough to keep us busy yet not exhaust us!

The Must Cat catamaran journey was highly recommended and although we were a bit wary of the burbling sea (and possibly spending the journey with your head hanging over the side) we went for it. We picked up motion-sickness tablets for Mark and I had Sea Bands to keep me on the straight and narrow so we hoped for the best. The Must Cat catamaran office was manned by 2 English women which was very reassuring to a relatively non-Spanish-speaking family. The exuberant crew was made up, mostly of tanned and wind-swept “surfer-dude-type” men along with two young women who were studying the pilot whales and dolphins on the route. We were welcomed aboard along with at least 50 other passengers and as Jack Johnson music played, we pulled out of the harbour.

We embarked on the afternoon cruise which was scheduled to last 4.5 hours (54€ per adult, Ella was free) and included a free bar (soft drinks + beer & wine) and free buffet (salads, cold meat and fish); ice cream was extra! We were told by the “guide” that we might be able to see pilot whales and/or dolphins but there was no guarantee. As we moved along the coastline of the Tenerife south coast (including Los Christianos and Playa des Americas), the glorious sunshine, soothing waves and chilled out music put everyone at ease. I adored it! Thankfully I didn’t feel any nausea and it was so relaxing that Ella ended up falling asleep for at least an hour!

The captain spotted a family of pilot whales about midway through our journey so we followed them around (carefully of course) for a while. It was amazing to see such beautiful creatures up close and personal, albeit a safe distance from the catamaran. There were mothers & babies and we got a great lesson on the lives of pilot whales from the crew. They were exceptionally knowledgeable which was wonderful. Ella missed out on the pilot whales as she was sleeping so we didn’t tell her about them when she finally woke up!

Eventually, we reached a little cove/bay where there were a few scuba boats anchored. We anchored as well and everyone got the chance to jump in the sea for a bit of a swim. We were told that there were often sea turtles in the bay so to keep our eyes open for them. I went into the water with Ella first but it was a bit “nippy” (it is the Atlantic Ocean after all!) and rather choppy so being pregnant and not the world’s strongest swimmer, I didn’t feel too confident about Ella being with me as she bobbed around with her arm bands on. We clambored back onto the catamaran while Mark had a go at scuba diving (for the somewhat ridiculous additional cost of 15€ for about 5 minutes of scuba) and did manage to see the sea turtle.

Our return journey was very chilled and lovely. Ella and I managed to steal a seat on the side of the catamaran for a bit so she could hang her feet over and enjoy seeing the sea. We did find 4 dolphins on the return which impressed Ella immensely.

All in all, the Must Cat catamaran adventure was by far MY favourite excursion. I would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone visiting the south coast of Tenerife. It was definitely worth the 54€ fee. The only thing I wasn’t particularly keen on was that, once on board, you were presented with several opportunities to buy different things. There was a videographer taking footage of the trip and for 25€ you could purchase the DVD; we opted out! We also had our picture taken when boarding the Must Cat and part way through the journey, the photographer arrived with prints of the photos which we could purchase (1 = 7€, 2 = 10€, 3= 15€). We did purchase those (at the beginning of our holiday after all…it was a good picture as well). The scuba was the biggest waste of time/money (15€ for 5 min) so I wouldn’t recommend doing that.

We returned to the harbour about 5 hours after setting off, very happy, not burnt and ready to have dinner! Must Cat was definitely a hit with the whole family and was a great way to spend the afternoon in Tenerife. Thank you to Lowcostholidays for making the excursion arrangements for us.

**Lowcostholidays sponsored our family holiday to Tenerife including several excursions in the area. My reviews, opinions and recommendations are entirely my own.**