Whale watching in Tuscany: welcome to Elba Island

Whale watching is a very fascinating practice. And, in general, admiring these beautiful swimming mammals always gives incomparable emotions. Emotions that you can feel: all you need is to know how and where to see whales on Elba Island, in Tuscany.

The Ligurian Sea Cetacean Sanctuary

Originally called the International Ligurian Sea Cetacean Sanctuary, its official name is Pelagos Sanctuary for Mediterranean Marine Mammals (Sanctuaire Pelagos pour la protection des mammifères marins en Méditerranée).

It is the marine protected area between Pointe Escampobariou (French Riviera), Capo Falcone and Capo Ferro (Sardinia), Fosso Chiarone (Tuscany). This area is real treasure of biodiversity, where different marine mammal species live: common whales, sperm whales, and dolphins. Among the other main species, we must mention Mediterranean manta, sea turtle and monk seal.

Where and how to see whales: the Corsica Channel

As you can guess, the “showpiece” of the Cetacean Sanctuary is represented by the majestic whales. Elba Island, in practice, is located right in the centre of the Sanctuary and the best place where you can see whales is the Corsica Channel (the sea between Elba Island and the island of beauty).

So, you just have to take part in one of the several boat tours that brings visitors to see whales. However, not all operators are allowed to offer this type of boat tour.

List of operator involved

To know which are the operators involved that can offer this service, please visit this page of Pelagos Sanctuary official website: Sanctuaire-pelagos.org/en/human-activities/operators-involved.

Elba Island: the boat tours

Last but not least, you have to know that Pelagos Sanctuary is just one of the must-do boat tours during a holiday on Elba Island: among the several ideas, the circumnavigation of the island will make you discover how wonderful Elba Island is.