Thursday, 18 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 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: It was bright and calm in the harbour, but it turned out to be a different story at sea. We were getting some waves and everybody got a good core workout trying to stay upright. Nonetheless, we were all very excited to see what the ocean had in store for us today. After an hour of sailing we spotted a cloud coming from the water. It was a blow of a humpback whale! The first of many. The boat´s fish-finder (echosounder) showed lots of fish below the surface and this whale was enjoying the buffet. Diving over and over again, even surfacing very close to the boat! After a while, we left this whale with their breakfast and continued in the direction of another blow. This humpback whale was so kind to do a wave, or a pectoral slap, so it was easy to find. This one was also in on the feeding frenzy and showed their fluke many times. All the while, we kept spotting blows in every direction of feeding humpback whales, even an elusive minke whale popped up! On the way back, a few harbour porpoises also made their appearance. Busy morning here in Faxaflói!

- Ricardo Mendes

Report from Hafsúlan: What a great and warm (!) morning at sea! We started sailing out in the bay with eager eyes looking for cetaceans. Within about 30 min of sailing we spotted a pod of 2 harbour porpoises and then about 5 minutes another pod of 4. Fast as they are it was a bit hard to keep on track on them, so we continued our trip as their continued theirs. We then spotted a big blow in the distance! There was a humpback whale splashing and giving away its location. This individual was clearly feeding so we stayed and watched a little. The humpback often came extremely close to the boat and we could see the pectoral fins through the water. Eventually the whale moved a bit further and so we did the same. We then spotted another blow and when we went to investigate, we realised Davy Jones II was around - a humpback we love and know well!! When Davy surfaced, it was pairing up with a 2nd humpback! A great surprise for sure. The 2nd whale continued disappearing and coming back to Davy, which allowed us to enjoy and take load of pictures. Davy at one point was rolling so it was a really great show. We continued sailing and we saw a lone young adult minke whale not too far from the last encounter! This one was very small and we were able to see it a few times and even smell it (!) before starting running out of time. In the same moment we also encountered a small pod of 5 white beaked dolphins! They were feedind and changing direction, so after a few sightings we decided to start our return journey. On the way back, we slowed down to a very calm 4th humpback! We could see its tail swaying under the surface, beautifully swimming. We also spotted 3 other harbour porpoises, these were porpoising, super quickly! We then continued our way home, enjoying the sunny day and good weather.

- Anna Richter

Report from Eldey: An almost flat sea greeted us out of the harbour as we made our way out to Faxaflói. Just as we had passed Grótta lighthouse, we spotted two separate humpback whales milling around close to each other! We watched one of them take a few dives, giving us an amazing look at its fluke. Then, we headed further out in search of more wildlife. The further out we got, we started to experience some waves. But that didn't stop the whales! Soon enough, we spotted not one, not two, but three blows further away. When we got there, we were practically surrounded by humpbacks on either side, and one more humpback had seemed to appear there too, so we were watching a total of four humpbacks in the same area! Two of them surfaced incedibly close to us, almost within touching distance, and surprised passengers! In this area, there was also one lone minke whale who was travelling. As we turned and made our way back to the harbour, we made one final stop close to Reykjavík, and met up with the same humpback whale that we first saw on the tour, to end the day!

-Sigrún Helgu

Report from Hafsúlan: This afternoon the wind had dropped and as we set sail we also decided to try to head a bit more North. This meant the boat was quite nice and steady for the duration of the trip. As we were sailing out we spotted a minke whale, which surfaced a few times but as we were so close to the harbour still we decided to head on and just watched it as we passed. We also spotted 3 small pods of 2-4 harbour porpoises! Due to the calmness of the sea they were very easy to spot! We usually don´t see so many of them and so easily so this was a nice surprise. We headed further out and then saw a big blow on the horizon! We had found a humpback whale! This was a lovely individual, showing the fluke and coming very close to the boat! We stayed together for a bit, just us and the whale enjoying each others company! Eventually we headed on and found another humpback! This one was pec-slapping on arrival! In the same spot we saw another one in the distance - this seemed like a good spot to stop! While we were waiting for one whale we saw two more humpbacks, one quite far and one quite close. We decided to investigate the closer one who came up extremely close to us, and then went for a beautiful fluke dive. On the way back we still spotted 2 other porpoises and then we happily arrived home after a calm and full afternoon!

- Milla Brandao

Report from Eldey: OH. MY! What an evening!! The sea was a bit choppy for our midnight tour, we got more fresh wind coming onto our faces, but it was totally worth it after experiencing so much going on. After about 40 min of sailing, we spotted 2 fast white-beaked dolphins, that vanished as quick as they appeared! Then we spotted a pod of 3 harbour porpoises and 1 minke whale. We decided to change directions to see what was out there in the bay, when we started seeing many blows. And I mean it when I say many. We've got to an area where we spotted at least 15 humpback whales in different distances, but ALL of them feeding with the birds!!! WOW!!! They were everywhere, including our beloved Davy Jones and Mr. Bubbles. We couldn't believe what we were seeing, we were just surrounded. There was another minke coming to join the party and we were just there watching the feast. The birds were very chaotic, always taking advantage of the whales and giving away their location even before the whales would come up!! We then needed to start heading back, but we still spent a while watching the whales in the distance. Definitely a night to remember!

- Milla Brandao

Atlantic puffin, black guillemot, Northern gannet, Northern fulmar, herring gull, black-legged kittiwake, common eider, common guillemot, black-backed gull, lesser black-backed gull