Thursday, 25 June 2025

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

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

Report from Eldey: As we left the harbour, we were reminded of why this country is called Iceland. Cold rain, fog and chilly air made us dress up in cozy overalls, but nonetheless we were excited for an adventure! After an hour we spotted something in the fog; a minke whale! This big minke surfaced close to the boat a few times before swimming off. Shortly after, we ran into a pod of white-beaked dolphins. They were hunting, circling around each other and we even got to see a calf! It was a busy area, we kept spotting minke whales all around us, bringing the final total to at least 9 individuals. One of them even swam directly under the boat! On our way back to port, some splashes got our attention and we saw our second pod of white-beaked dolphins. We had a lovely time with them before we put on the music and sailed back home.

- Anna Richter

Report from Hafsulan: We headed out from under dense rainclouds, bundled up in overalls and raincoats, onto an otherwise calm, flat bay. On our way, the rain thankfully let up, so we only had to brave the wind in order to spot some whales. We had a rather long way out, as the whales were quite far, but soon had our eagle-eyed passengers spotting the first minke whales of the tour. We saw two of them in an area we were passing through. They were certainly living up to their reputation of being shy and elusive, as we only got to see a couple of surfaces from them before they vanished. Motivated by this sighting, we continued on, eager to spot more cetaceans ahead. We soon had our eyes on a blow in the distance, a sure sign of a humpback whale! As we approached, we saw that there were actually 2 blows, a small one and a much larger one, a mother-calf pair! Such a rare sight in this bay, we couldn't believe our luck! We spent the rest of our time with this enchanting pair, getting to compare the size of the momma and baby, getting to see their fluke prints on the surface side-by-side, completely awestruck by this duo. 3-4 minke whales also made brief appearances in the background, appearing and disappearing every now and then. We could also see 3-4 more blows way off in the distance, and some seriously excited seabirds, so it was clear that there was a feeding frenzy nearby. We were quite content with our mother-calf pair, so we decided to stay and admire them, and we were so glad we did. With a final fluke dive from the mom, and an arched back dive from the calf, we waved goodbye and headed back towards the harbour.

- Orsi Stipsicz

Report from Eldey: This moody afternoon we sailed out once more, eager for adventure! As we left tow we saw puffins fly out with us and enjoyed the views of the open ocean. Not long after we left, we spotted some splashes in the distance and headed in that direction. It was a lone white beaked dolphin jumping by itself. They were quite high jumps, but hard to interpret if this was for joy or for speed. We watched for a bit but eventually headed further out as we had spotted a big blow on the horizon! On the way there we spotted a minke whale! These can be pretty shy so we continued to the blow we saw in the distance. When we got closer we realised it was not one not two not three but four humpback whales in this location! Two were travelling together and on our right handside, and two were separate and a bit further. All of them were feeding and taking deep dives, showing their fluke. We stayed as long as we could but as we were quite far out at this point, we had to start heading back. On the way back we spotted 4 more minke whales and a pod of roughly 4 to 7 white beaked dolphins.

- Janiek Schrijer

Report form Hafsulan: We sailed out under calm seas and cloudy skies. The first sighting was at the beginning of our tour right next to Akurey island. A pod of four harbour porpoises that surfaced quite few times filling us with excitement for the day ahead. On our way towards the open waters we crossed course with many minke whales until we spotted our first big blow. A big humpback whale. The sighting started with a big show of tails slaps that left us speechless. We stayed with this individual until the time was up. On our way back we came across a pod of six white beaked dolphins that came really close to our boat and were jumping and playing with the waves that our boat made. After this amazing day we came back to port after we saw all the common sighting we host in Faxafloi bay.

- Eleftherios Manioudakis 

Report from Eldey: This late afternoon we sailed out once more, the wind had picked up a little and just as we left the harbour we encountered a huge rain cloud! After the storm passed a rainbow appeared and shortly after a minke whale! We were still quite close to land and wanted to make our way further out so just enjoyed seeing it on the way. This happened 2 more times and we saw two more minkes! Then we hit the jackpot and found a spot with 2 humpback whales! They were coming up super close to the boat and fluking regularly! What a gorgeous view. We watched for a bit and eventually had to turn and start heading back. Even though we were on the way back - doesn't mean the sightings are over! A pod of 6 white beaked dolphins found us! They were bow-riding and playing with the waves our boat was creating! Then as we headed on we saw 3 more minke whales! What a way back home!

- Janiek Schrijer

Report from Eldey: In the evening, we sailed out for our midnights whale watching. The wind was a bit chilly and there was some rain, but we braved the weather in our warm overalls. As we were sailing into the bay, we were surprised by a pod of 3-5 white-beaked dolphins! We had one individual approaching the boat and a few of them passing by quite closely. One of them even did a neat little leap in front of the boat. We moved on from the dolphins and kept finding minke whales all around. There were so many throughout the trip that we lost count. It must've been at least 8 of them. Some were also passing the boat quite closely, while others were busy cruising in the distance. We were just checking out two minke whales in an area that also had some dive-bombing Northern gannets when passengers started noticing a big slash at our three o'clock. It was a breaching humpback whale a few miles away! As we were on the move to get a closer look at it, it went from breaching to tail-slapping to pec-slapping, giving us a full array of behaviours. When we were closer we got to observe a few fluke dives and even some peduncle-throws. Finally, we had to start turning around to get back to port. On our way, wildlife kept showung up though. We saw a few more minke whales and even around 3 harbour porpoises for a very brief moment. What a lovely tour!

- Hannah Carstens

Atlantic puffin, Arctic tern, Artic skua, Northern gannet, Northern fulmar, black guillemot, greater and lesser black-backed gull, herring gull, black-headed gull, black legged kittiwake, common guillemot, razorbill