Thursday, 10 July 2025

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

Report from Eldey: We headed out under cloudy skies, with a light rain misting the sea—a moody, peaceful start to our journey. After a long stretch of travel across open water, distant blows broke the horizon. Humpback whales—at least ten—were scattered across the area. We first spent time with a pair: a mother and her calf. They surfaced regularly, moving in a calm rhythm that felt almost meditative. Watching the little one stick close to its mother was heartwarming. Later, we moved on and came across a group of three humpbacks that gave us an unforgettable experience. They swam right up to the boat, curious and calm, almost as if they were checking us out. Their size, so close, was awe-inspiring. In the distance, we also spotted three minke whales. They made only brief appearances, slicing quickly through the water before vanishing again into the gray. Despite the rain and the long travel, the day was magical—full of presence, wonder, and the quiet company of giants.

-Aleksandra Lechwar

Report from Hafsulan: We left the harbour in drizzling rain and a bit of wind. We headed out into the bay, fighting against the swell, determined to see cetaceans. We spotted some blows in the distance, and headed closer. It was a pair of humpback whales! But not just any pair, it was a mother-calf pair! They were calmly resting near the surface, giving us a good view, showing the size difference between mother and baby. We spent a lovely time admiring these two, before heading to another 2 adult humpbacks which were resting a few miles away from us. Overall, we spent an amazing time with the humpback whales, having a good glimpse of them and their behaviors, before returning to Reykjavík.

- Ricardo

Report from Elding: We set sail into the rainy bay with high hopes. After about 45 minutes of sailing, we encountered a pair of humpback whales! We watched them move in synchronicity and awe, before moving onto another pair of humpbacks. This time, it was a mother-calf pair! They were swimming together, with the baby even coming close to us and swimming under us, rolling about beneath the waves. Then, the mother suddenly lifted her flukes and began tail slapping! After this spectacular encounter, we moved on to find a huge gathering of white-beaked dolphins! There must have been 4-5 pods present, with 6-10 individuals in each pod. In total, there were over 30 dolphins jumping about, porpoising, even bow riding with us! Whilst all of these encounters were happening, we could spot at least 3 minke whales in each area, which totalled to over 10+ for the whole tour! Then, on our way back home, we encountered yet another humpback whale much to our surprise! We watched this whale fluke before we returned home. What a tour!

-Sigrún Helgu

Report from Hafsulan: We set sail for our afternoon tour still in somewhat choppy waters, clouds beginning to clear and sunshine peaking through. Both our crew and passengers were excited to find whales, so we set out scanning the water for signs of cetaceans together. Our first sighting was thanks to these vigilant passengers, a minke whale making a brief appearance. We them headed towards a blow in the distance, indicating a larger animal, a  humpback whale! Showing off their characteristic fluke dives, this individual disappeared for minutes at a time, coming up for a sequence of quick shallow dives, before diving deep once more. As this whale was clearly very busy, we headed deeper into the bay, hoping to find more busy, feeding whales. It took us a while to find our next blow, but when we did, we became overwhelmed with choices, as there where blows in the distance in nearly every direction. So, we headed to the one closest to us and came across another humpback. But, a rather brave and curious minke actually stole the show by surfacing rather close to the boat multiple times! What a treat to see them one so up close! We headed over to yet another blow in the distance and were pleasantly surprised to see not one but 2 humpbacks in the area, both presumably feeding. As we turned to face towards the harbour, we saw many blows and flukes in the distance and headed over to our final humpback of the tour, also showing us the marvelous fluke dives they are known for, and of course, coming across some more minke whales as well. Such a lucky tour, absolutely overwhelmed with choices in cetacean sightings!
 

- Orsi Stipsicz

Report from Elding: After an overcast and wet day we went out for our tour in best sunlight. On our way out we came across an elusive harbor porpoise that was traveling fast and just appeared a few time before we lost sight of this small whale. After a while we spotted the first minke whale a few hundred meters away. Since it was traveling quite fast we did not stop for it since we also spotted the blows of several humpback whales further ahead. Little did we know what was about to happen during the next hour. As we got closer it turned out to be three humpback whales feeding on the surface using their famous bubble net technique. It was a massive mother, a smaller individual approximately three quarters of her size and a "small" calf. To see these massive animals just a few meters away from the boat was a thrill but as it turned out the feeding was in full swing and we had more and more humpback and minke whales actively feeding, fluke diving and rolling around on the surface. Total chaos! Counting all the blows and surfacing whales that where visible around us, we estimated that we were surrounded by up to 15 feeding humpback whales and at least 5 minke whales at the same time. Also on our way back to Reykjavik we saw additional humpback and minke whales in the distance. Whale watching can not get better than this!

- Knut Albrecht