Monday, 20 July 2026

• 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, 20:00

Today's Classic Whale Watching tours from Reykjavík are on schedule as shown above!

Report from Elding: On this foggy morning, we bravely headed out into the growing swell, eager to spot some cetaceans. Though visibility was limited, we kept our eyes peeled for any and all signs of whales, dolphins or porpoises. We soon had our first sighting, the blow of a humpback whale! As we got closer, we realized there were actually 2 humpbacks in the area,  but they were being a bit tricky as only one would be up at the surface at one time, so we only noticed they were a pair when we got to see the patterns on the bottom of their flukes as they went for their majestic fluke dives. All of a sudden, one of them breached, showing off the rare acrobatic behaviour humpbacks are rather famous for. Happy with this sighting, we started turning back, and heading for the harbour.

- Maria Ana Ernesto

Report from Eldey: We departed this morning for our whale-watching adventure with a foggy, mystic sky. The fog made it slightly more challenging to spot wildlife, but it didn't stop us. Our first sighting was a group of two or three curious white-beaked dolphins who approached our boat to ride our bow, and also did a couple of awesome breaches, in front of us. After doing a boat inspection, the dolphins left us and moved away. Some 15 minutes later we were surprised by a new group of three white-beaked dolphins who surfaced right in front of our ship, before moving towards our port side. Among these three, there were a very cute and small calf (a baby dolphin), possibly only a year old, due to it's size. By the 2nd hour of the tour, we still had not seen a whale, and started to head back to Reykjavík. However, less than five miles before reaching the city, we encountered a juvenile humpback whale. This whale was feeding, and we could see it a few times plunging it's head out of the water, full of fish in it's mouth. At one point, the whale got very curious with our presence and approached less than 10 meters from our boat. As time was running out, we returned to harbour, happy to have seen whales and dolphins during our tour.

-  Ricardo Mendes

Report from Elding: In the afternoon, we headed out into the dense fog and heavy winds ahead, which had stirred up quite the swell ahead of us, creating big waves with white-caps. Needless to say, conditions were not exactly optimal for spotting whales, but we were determined to find whales for our brave passengers who dared to face the challenging conditions with us today. Our first sighting was a humpback whale, which was very difficult to follow, as it only came up for a couple of quick breaths before disappearing below. We could not rely on spotting their exhale, the blow, as the strong wind carried it away rather quickly. So,  we followed this whale as best we could but soon had our eyes on another blow, which turned out to belong to a fin whale, a rare visitor in this bay! We didn't get to see much of this whale as it only surfaced a couple of times, and it was moving away from us fast, displaying the speed they are famous for. But we continued on, and spotted another humpbacks, which was moving very quickly towards an area that had a couple of big distant splashes. As we followed this whale, we soon realized we were entering a feeding frenzy, as we began seeing more and more blows ahead, 5-6 more humpback whales! We suddenly saw dark pointy shapes bursting through the surface, the whales had begun lunge feeding! We got to see their mouths wide open as their faces shot out of the water, gobbling up the sand eels! We even got to see lines and spirals of bubbles appear, they were bubble-netting! What luck to find such a sighting on such a difficult and challenging tour! As we were quite far, we had to say farewell and start making the rocky journey back to dry, stable land.

- Orsi Stipsicz

Report from Eldey: Well, this was a rough one. The wind from the south west pushed quite some swell into the bay and gave us a good tumble. Even though the thick mist, or more of low flying clouds, reduced our search radius to mere a kilometer, we were able to find the whales. First we spotted a single blow and some white water, then seconds later it turned out to be 5 humpback whales feeding at the surface. Two pairs and a single whale were working hard to corral the tiny sand eel with their bubble nets. It was an awesome sight seeing these giants surfacing mere meters away from our bout with their jaws wide open to catch hundreds of liters of water containing thousands of tiny fish in one gulp. This allowed us to get good looks into their mouths and see the baleen plates. Without doubt a challenging, but rewarding tour.

- Knut Albrecht

Report from Elding: In the afternoon, we set out once more onto the choppy waters of the bay under a dense fog and persistent drizzle. We donned out overalls to brave the Icelandic weather, and headed out, eager to spot some whales. Though it took a while, we got to a spot where we had seen whales earlier in the day, and it did not disappoint, as we soon spotted a humpback whale lunge feeding, and bubble-netting in this area! We had entered quite a busy area, as we soon spotted 4 more blows in the distance, and as we headed closer, we got to see a trio performing a synchronized lunge in their beautiful spiral of bubbles. We then noticed a total of about 7 whales in the area! And out of nowhere a jump! One f the whales breach out of the water. it was the perfect time to finally say goodbye to the whales and head back to the harbour.

- Maria Ana Ernesto

Report from Eldey: We headed out into wavy seas this morning, full of hope that the conditions wouldn't stop us from finding whales. Fortunately, it didn't take long before we spotted the unmistakable blow of a humpback whale in the distance As we approached, it quickly became clear that this wasn't just a single whale. There were around ten humpbacks spread throughout the area, all feeding in a spectacularly chaotic scene. Everywhere we looked, whales were surfacing, diving, and lunging through schools of fish We focused our attention on two whales that were bubble-net feeding together, while several other individuals continued feeding independently around them. It was incredible to watch the coordinated behaviour unfold. Before long, two more humpbacks joined the pair, and we were treated to the remarkable sight of four whales collaborating in a bubble-net feeding event. Watching them work together with such precision and timing was an unforgettable experience, and easily the highlight of the trip Despite the rolling seas, the incredible feeding activity made for a truly memorable outing. Days like this are a reminder of just how rewarding whale watching can be.

-Aleksandra Lechwar
 

Northern gannet, Northern fulmar, black guillemot, common guillemot, purple sandpiper, Atlantic puffin, Arctic tern, black-legged kittiwake, arctic skua, great and lesser black-backed gull, herring gull, common eider duck