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Algarve Tours
Algarve Tours

The small print, part one

How we test and rank

Most Algarve tour rankings are ordered by the commission the platform earns. Ours are ordered by what we saw from the paying seat. This page is the method, written down so you can hold us to it.

Last updated: 2026-09-01

  1. We book like you would

    Every activity is sampled in the current season, paid at the public price, under a normal name. Operators are not told a review is happening. What we score is what a first-time visitor gets: the safety briefing, how the guide reads the sea and the group, whether the wildlife narration is accurate, and whether the price on the day matches the price on the website.

  2. Three coasts, every quarter

    The West (Sagres and Lagos), Central (Portimão to Albufeira) and East (Faro to Tavira) coasts each get a sampling round every quarter. An activity that is brilliant in May can be a crowded queue in August, so the seasonal notes on each page come from being there in that season, not from extrapolating.

  3. Licence before listing

    An operator only appears here after we have confirmed its registration as a tourism animation agent (RNAAT) or, for boats, its maritime tourism licence. If the paperwork cannot be found under the legal name, the operator is not listed, whatever the reviews say.

  4. Prices from rate cards, not aggregators

    The "from" prices on this site come from the operator's own rate card or from what we paid. We do not copy prices from booking platforms, because platform prices move with commission and promotions. Every activity, town and price page shows the date it was last verified.

  5. Corrections within 7 days

    If a price has changed, an operator has closed or a trail has been rerouted, tell us and the page is checked and updated within 7 days. Corrections that change a verdict are noted on the page itself, not quietly overwritten.

What money cannot buy here

No operator can pay to be listed, to move up a list, or to have a verdict softened. Hosted or discounted trips are not accepted; if one ever is, that review carries a visible "comped" tag. Should we ever sell a clearly labelled featured slot, it will sit apart from the editorial picks and say so. How the site earns today is set out in full on the affiliate disclosure.

Spotted something wrong? Write to hello@algarvetours.org with the page address and what you saw on the ground.