Saturday, 30 August 2025

• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 09:00, 11:00, 13:00, 15:00, 17:00, 19:30
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR |10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 15:00, 19:00

Report from Eldey: This morning offered some of the best sea conditions that we have seen in a while. It was almost completely flat and almost no wind. After not too long some small triangular dorsal fins popped up. It turned out to be about 5 harbour porpoises. These animals are very cute but quite elusive so we did not make a stop, but admired them from a distance. After this encounter we had roughly 6 minke whales coming up now and then around the boat at various distances. However, some big repeated splashes caught our attention in the distance. This was a breaching humpback whale!!! As we got closer it switched behaviors and started to do pectorial fin slapping. It kept going and going and rolled on its back and circled the boat extremely close. It was one of those moments were I (the guide) stopped talking and we all just soaked in this gorgeous moment with this playful young individual. Sometimes it disappeared for a bit and then did a full breach. One of them was right next to us on the right side which completely chocked all of us. It did not seem like this young one had any spatial awareness. After seeing more boats approaching we headed off in order to see something else. It did not take long until two more humpback whales appeared, where one repeatedly did tail slaps. We did a quick stop, and as we headed back to the harbour, one of them started to breach in the back. We did a little loop to get closer, but as it started to do pec slapping again, we continued. I do not think that any encounter can beat the one we got with the first individual. We felt very satisfied with this tour as we set sail towards Reykjavik. This tour was absolutely incredible!!!

- Frida Skarfors

Report from Hafsúlan: The weather could not have been better as we went out to Faxaflói. Just a slight breeze from the north and no waves. The clouds helped to keep the glare at a minimum. Not the last due to this conditions we were able to spot a large group of around 20 harbour porpoises. It was amazing to see so many of these small and elusive whales in one spot, probably hunting fish together. Shortly after, we saw a total of 7 minke whales around the boat in the distance. They were all traveling fast, so we went on. As we spotted a big blow towards Akranes, we went closer and it turned out to be not one but 2 humpback whales. One of them seemed in a bit of of show off mood and greeted us with some impressive slapping of his pectoral fins on the surface. Both individuals showed a playful attitude by rolling on the surface. The best surprise was a spectacular beach out of nowhere just around 30 meter away from our boat. The sight of a 30 ton animal leaving the water and the sound of it crashing back never fails to impress. Not to be said, we returned with great pictures on our cameras and memories in our hearts. 

- Knut Albrecht

Report from Eldey: This afternoon we sailed out far into a smooth bay, with a chilly breeze blowing towards us. On our way out we saw 3 minke whales, for which we stopped rather shortly, because big splashes on the horizon had already caught our attention. As we eventually reached them, we realised it was a pair of humpback whales! One of them was clearly in a very playful mood as we saw it pec-slapping, tail-slapping and peduncle throwing multiple times! We stuck around for a while as they were playfully diving around us, until we had to go back towards port. On the way back we did see 4 more minke whales as well as a shy pod of 2 white-beaked dolphins that disappeared as quickly as it appeared. All in all, we again had a great trip out at sea today!

Milan Vansteelandt

Report from Hafsúlan: The wind had picked up quite a bit but therefore the sun made it through the clouds as we went out. After a bit of searching we came across the first of a total of 8 minke whales that we encountered during this tour. They were all traveling fast and keeping their distance to the boat so we were happy to see them whenever they appeared. Then we spotted some well known dorsal fins. It was a pod of around 10 white-beaked dolphins. This pod was not in the mood to stay with the boat and decided to take off into the distance. We kept on searching and had the luck to come across a very playful humpback whale. It rolled on the surface, blew bubbles, spy hopped several time and performed what can just be described as subaquatic ballet as it twirled around on the surface right in front of our boat. Leaving us all in total wonderment. 

- Maja Andersson

Report from Eldey: The wind had picked up a little since the morning, but we were still spoiled with flat seas. Not too far away from land we found a big spout. A humpback whale appeared and we got to follow it for quite some time. It was an easy whale to follow; not down for too long and did not move too far in between surface sequences. However, it decided to stay down for a long time once fish appeared on the boat's fish finder - so we carried on. We noticed blows in the distance and found three more humpback whales. They split up so one was by itself and two created a pair. They started off with showing their beautiful flukes, but as time went by the interaction got more intense. All of a sudden one of them did a massive peduncle throw close to us. After this, one of them did some repeated peduncle throws followed by many tail slaps. As we focused on the tail slaps, the other one did a full breach next to it. The tour really ended with bang, and as the sun started to set with beautiful colours, we sailed back to Reykjavik. What a lovely tour!

- Frida Skarfors

Report from Elding: This evening we had a gorgeous sunset at sea. However, the ocean was a bit more wavy than this afternoon. We spotted a humpback whale that was swimming from one side of the boat to the other and even rolling a little bit on the surface from time to time. Also in the same area there was a minke whale that one time came very close to the boat and surfaced right next to us. After spending some time with the humpback we saw one last fluke dive before heading back to the harbour while we enjoyed the beautiful sunset behind us.

- Guillermo

Northern fulmar, greater and lesser black-backed gull, common guillemot, black guillemot, Northern gannet, purple sandpiper, black-legged kittiwake, black-headed gull, common gull