We motored out for about an hour to a deep reef about 15 miles south of Alvor. The Danzela is a very comfortable vessel.  Captain Miguel gave very clear instructions on the jigging technique that we were going to use for red snapper. He worked very hard to put us on fish. While we were marking fish they didn’t seem interested in our offerings although we did manage to catch several small mackerel.  The Captain continued to move us around and changed the color of the lures. We were rewarded with two beautiful red snapper that put up quite a fight on fairly light spinning gear. The Captain was just as excited as we were that we caught our target species. He gave us a recommendation for a restaurant right at the marina who took our catch and prepared it for us that evening on the grill whole fish style. It was amazing. Overall fantastic experience with Captain Miguel and Nelson on the Danzela.

Never good customer service to start the trip two times in two years but I figured that’s Portugal culture. It’s not, it’s just these two guys and the way they don’t do things in regards to customer service.

If you like being told you’re doing things wrong in a rigid atmosphere perfect for you. It’s not about safety, it’s about them knowing everything and making people feel uncomfortable when all I / we wanted was to relax. I asked the captain if we could bring beers (3 light beers each person during a 4 hour trip) and a cigar to celebrate a marriage and he said Yes. Then, we get on board and he acts like it’s a problem. Then, (to the only black guy on board) starts scolding him for holding the rod the wrong way. Okay fine, whatever. Then he starts saying we may go back due to the cigars even though is colleague smokes cigarettes every 30 minutes. Then he scolds the same friend again for holding the rod the wrong way. Holding a rod is not rocket science. We caught some fish but as the captain stated at the beginning so upbeatly, “the afternoon is terrible for fishing”. Thank for the encouragement and good start for the trip! No one was drunk despite his reply. I don’t know how anyone can get drunk off of 3 light beers in Portugal.

miguel and his colleague had a bad experience with some other guys on board previously and treated us (grown men) like children. It was VERY uncomfortable and one of my very cool and mild mannered friends (not the black friend that was singled out) commented on the lack of customer service and how he felt uncomfortable. He never feels uncomfortable so for him to say that is a tell tale sign this fishing trip is a problem.

The small catch we did get could not be cooked as 6 pm was the cut off time. Thanks for the heads up miguel.

I wish miguel just said no to the 3 beers and 1 cigar if his sensibilities made him so uncomfortable and we could have done something else, rather than us waste money on a weird trip. Maybe the customer service will be better in the future, however considering it’s been 20 years like this I don’t think it’ll change. Look elsewhere for a more personable experience.

Booked a four hour trip through Fishing Booker, received great communication with Capt Miguel about the day and what we needed to bring onboard. Capt Miguel and Nelson (first mate) were really patient as a few of the party were novices, they talked us through everything at length, giving us their expert on every aspect of sea fishing. All the party managed to catch some bream and had a memorable day, thank you guys 🙏🎣🇵🇹