Whale watching and puffins

We can provide our guests with whale watching tours, departing both from Reykjavik harbor and various fishing towns in Iceland, e.g. Husavik and Dalvik, plus Akureyri in the North and Olafsvik on the west coast. Therefore it is quite easy to include this activity in your wider tour.

Up north  in Husavik, one option not available elsewhere is going whale watching with Northsailing´s traditional oak sailing ship, experiencing the aura of past times in Icelandic maritime culture by hoisting sails or even assisting the skipper. The sailing ship takes you to Lundey, or Puffin Island, as well as the traditional whale watching areas.

Special tours in Reykjavík, a pioneer in puffin tours, also offers a special tour for puffins only. The Puffin Express and Lakitours in Olafsvik town offer one-hour plus tours for puffin lovers from Grundarfjordur to Melrakkaey island. All these tours are relaxed cruises around small uninhabited islands that give photographers golden opportunities to capture not only the puffins, but a great variety of birds on the islands through their lenses.

Whale watching is one of the most popular activities of our country´s visitors, which does not come as a surprise, as whales are beautiful creatures and one of nature’s most extraordinary sights. In Icelandic waters it is possible to find a total of 23 different species, 8 of which are frequently seen on whale watching tours. This is the result of Icelandic waters covering areas from the cold Arctic sea in the north, to the warmer north Atlantic Ocean in the south. The two mixing currents and the long summer daylight combined with the relatively shallow waters, makes an extremely favorable feeding area for the whales.

The various types of whales most commonly sighted include mink whales, white-beaked dolphins, harbor porpoises and the popular humpback whale. Additionally on a whale watching tour guests are frequently accompanied by sea birds such as gannets, puffins, guillemots, cormorants, gulls, kittiwakes, Arctic terns, and many more. Some places the tour will also sail past several islands inhabited by colonies of puffins – so all together a great photo opportunity.

No two whale watching tours are alike and conditions, weather and sightings call for flexibility, but rarely the boats go further than 45-60 minutes from the harbor.

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