Friday, 19 June 2026

• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 09:00, 11:00, 13:00, 15:00, 20:30
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 17:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00, 20:00

Today's Classic Whale Watching tours from Reykjavík are on schedule. Remember to dress according to weather and feel free to borrow our thermal overalls if needed!

Report from Eldey: This morning offered slightly chilly breezes and half clear skies with glimpses of sunshine - typical weather for the middle of Icelandic summer. We had a brief sighting of three harbor porpoises on our way out, then after about 30 minutes of sailing, we were surprised to have ended up in an area of full feeding frenzy! There was plenty of seabirds flocking around, and the closer we came, we also discovered that there seemed to be a lot of humpback whales, telling by their tall, bushy blows. We stopped by the closest one, soon discovering that they were not only one, but two! We were able to watch this duo do some lunge feeding under the surface, then coming up to the surface to exhale. What an amazing sight watching these big animals in full feeding action! As there seemed to be more humpback whales around, we decided to leave this duo be to see what else the bay had to offer. We did not have to sail long, until discovering more tall blows ahead (around 8 for the whole tour!), but we decided to stop by one that we also could tell was actively feeding. When we arrived, a second humpback whale showed up with a big exhale just at our front. What a surprise! We were able to also watch this pair actively fluke diving and lunge feeding for quite some time - and suddenly, a minke whale also popped up in the feeding area, only to be spotted once. We were being so spoilt! After some time here it was time to head back to Reykjavik, full of wonder after such a fantastic tour. 

- Maja Andersson

Report from Hafsúlan: The conditions were nice with a slight overcast sky and a breeze from the north. After some time searching the bay and enjoying the great view of the mountain Esja covered in low clouds we spotted the first blow not far away. It was a humpback whale! We managed to get closer to the animal and take some great pictures as it went down again with a graceful fluke dive. We waited a while until the whale came back to the surface and continued our search in the area as it went down again. We did not have to search for long as all around us blows of humpbacks could be spotted several hundred meters apart. We got closer to another animal and this time we got lucky. After it went down with a fluke dive it breached without warning and those of us who were quick enough had the chance to document this awesome sight of a 30+ ton animal slamming back onto the surface.

- Knut Albrecht  

Report from Eldey: In the afternoon, some more clouds had come in, however it was still quite warm - and after the morning full of activity we dared to have our hopes quite high for what the afternoon would bring. After about 20 minutes of sailing, a small pod of 4 harbour porpoises surprised us by surfacing close to our starboard side. Some of us were lucky to see them, however true to their shy nature they swiftly swam of. As we continued, it did not take long until we spotted a tall bushy blow - it was a humpback whale! Then another on our left! We stayed in this spot to see them once again but it seemed both made a move and therefore so did we. As we moved we saw a minke whale right next to the boat! It was a quick but very close surface. As we kept seeing more blows in the distance we decided to head on over and that´s when we got into the chaos! There was 3 humpbacks feeding around us, 2 together plus another one that popped up here and there. That wasn´t it though there was also a pod of 4 white beaked dolphins that joined the feast! And (!) a lot of hungry birds! They were great indicators to where we should look as they were following the whales. The duo would roll on occasion, show their pecs and even do some bubble-net feeding. There was lots to see, and clearly lots to feed on. Slowly we saw other boats approach so decided to leave them in peace. As we were homebound we saw 3 more humpbacks! Again 2 together and 1 near by. These seemed to be travelling much more clearly so we saw them a few times before heading home! We also on the way back saw another pod of harbour porpoises, these were a little bit easier to see and were travelling as a 3. After all this it was time to enjoy the sail back, some hot chocolate and some nice tunes!
 

- Anna Richter

Report from Hafsúlan: In the afternoon, we sailed out in similar conditions. It was windy at times, but the sun came out now and again, and conditions were generally really pleasant. We already had a blow in sight after searching for a short while, when a humpback whale surfaced next to the boat for a beautiful fluke dive. We checked out this individual another few times until we moved on in search of others. From afar, we saw a humpback fluke-slapping and surrounding this one, we started seeing blows all over. It turned out, we reached an area that was essentially packed with humpback whales. They were everywhere! We found Davy Jones II with a companion. They were swimming very close to the boat and busy feeding. We even saw them blowing some bubbles and eventually bubble-net feeding. Absolutely incredible! In the same area, we encountered another solitary whale, another pair and then another solitary whale. They were everywhere! Because we had so many birds around, we learnt to anticipate where the whales might surface based on the birds aggregating near the surface. A moment before the whale would pop up, the birds would go there hoping to steal some escaping fish. They have a really good sense of smell and detect them before we can. We stopped by so many humpbacks and there was even more around based on all the blows, we could see. It was an incredible!

- Hannah Carstens

Atlantic puffin, Northern gannet, Northern fulmar, black-legged kittiwake, lesser black-blacked gull, great black-backed gull, black-headed gull, Arctic tern, Arctic skua