OCEANO – Whale Watching operator for respectful encounters with dolphins, whales and the ocean
Oceano Barcos S.L. is a Whale Watching operator who stands for a respectful Whale Watching. Our priorities are to offer respectful encounters with whales and dolphins, to inform and raise awareness about cetaceans and the ocean, to use our resources and those of our planet in a responsible way and to offer an obliging service to our guests at all times.
1. Respectful Whale Watching
„We are the visitors, the whales and dolphins are our hosts.“
As whale watching can become a stress factor for the marine mammals, respectful observations of whales and dolphins are the key prerequisite for beautiful encounters also in the years to come. OCEANO is a fully licensed Whale Watching operator with the yellow flag “Barco Azul”, and we adhere to the legal Whale Watching regulations issued by the Canarian government. Our boats also serve as a research platform, and our crew collects scientific sighting data on each tour in order to support the German NGO M.E.E.R. e.V. and their scientific work on La Gomera. We also cooperate with various organisations for the protection of whales. M.E.E.R. e.V.’s permanent exhibition “Dolphins and Whales off La Gomera – Species diversity in a changing world” can be visited in our OCEANO office and information centre free of charge.
2. Customer satisfaction
Another main concern of ours is customer satisfaction. The customer feedback form is of great importance within the company. The clients’ feedback is evaluated on a regular basis in order to continually improve our service and to fulfil our guests’ wishes, so that every Whale watching tour becomes an unforgettable experience.
3. Education and awareness building for the ocean and the cetaceans
We offer regular lectures and screenings of documentaries at our office on La Gomera, pointing out amongst other things the different threats to the sensitive eco system of the oceans and their inhabitants. We provide all guests with comprehensive information material and “eco tips” for their holidays. All our boat excursions are accompanied by a multilingual OCEANO guide providing detailed information.
4. Conservation and Sustainability in our daily lives
OCEANO is a participant of a comprehensive, long-term management project for tourism within the framework of the European charter for sustainable tourism (Carta Europea de Turismo Sostenible – CETS) on La Gomera. Of the numerous applicants for this environmental and sustainability process, Oceano Barcos S.L. is one of 18 companies on the island which were accepted.
In order to be accepted in this process, the companies need to fulfil various basic requirements in the fields of nature conservation and environmental protection, social responsibility, support of regional development, as well as a close cooperation with La Gomera’s National Park Garajonay. Additionally, self-set goals are to be realized within a given period of time (1 – 3 years), and after that the certificate needs to be renewed.
Plántate – A reforestation project with native species on La Gomera
As part of our commitment within the Charter for Sustainable Tourism on La Gomera, we would like to offset the CO² emissions of our boat trips from July 2022 onwards: On a monthly basis, we will donate the corresponding amount to the local project Plántate, through which native trees and shrubs are being planted on La Gomera.
Plántate is a reforestation project of the environmental department of the island government in cooperation with the Garajonay National Park and ATUSOS, the association of tourism businesses belonging to the Charter for Sustainable Tourism. Together with the local population, schools, administrations, businesses and associations, native species of the “thermophile forest” (bosque termófilo), which used to be very common in areas between approx. 250 and 750 metres above sea level, are being replanted.
We also offer our guests the opportunity to offset the CO² emissions of their flight directly on the island through the Plántate project: https://gomeraexperience.com/en/calculator/
It is an ongoing process for us to make our everyday office-life more and more environmentally friendly and sustainable. Regular garbage collection boat excursions are just as much a part of this policy as our cooperation with cetacean conservation projects.
The equality and equal treatment of men and women is natural and self-evident in our company.