Thursday, 27 August 2026

• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 09:00, 11:00, 13:00, 15:00, 19:30
• CLASSIC WHALE TOUR | 17:00
• PREMIUM WHALE TOUR | 9:00, 10:00, 12:00, 13:00, 15:00, 16:00, 19:00

Today's 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: Our tour started under sunny skies with a cool northern Breeze. We set course between Engay and Akurey island with direction towards the open waters. The first sighting was a pod of three harbour porpoises that surfaced close to our boat filled us with excitement and disappeared in the ocean. The visibility was surprisingly good, we could clearly see Snaefellsjokull. Towards the direction of this 700000 years old Glacier we spotted the first blow. This misty blow was coming from a big humpback whale that treated us with a sequence of fluke dives close to our boat. It was a female humpback named Niela that is coming in Faxafloy bay the last ten years. After this amazing encounter we started our way back to port. The sightings thought continued with a pod of four white beaked dolphins that surprised us with there playful energy and made our tour even beater.

-Anna Richter

Report from Hafsulan: On this chilly yet sunny day we sailed out in Faxafloi bay hoping to find some whales, dolphins and porpoises. We put on warm overalls and learned about the possible signs to look out for, so everybody could join the search! After an hour of sailing, a small cloud appeared in the distance. Coming closer, our suspecion was confirmed: a humpback whale was resting at the surface! Not just any humpback, this was Neila, a whale we know very well. Neila was coming up quite often and very close to the boat. We kept seeing the shape and the huge pectoral fins just below the water. After enjoying Neila´s company for a while, we decided to leave her on her nap, and just in that moment Neila lifted her beautiful fluke out of the water! A perfect ending to this sighting and our whale watching adventure. 

- Eline van Aalderink

Report from Eldey: We continued to enjoy the bright sunshine on this chilly day. We put on our red overalls to brave the cold wind blowing from the North, creating some waves and whitecaps ahead. We soon spotted a blow up ahead, the exhale of a humpback whale off in the distance. As we approached, we saw this whale raise its fluke and disappear beneath the waves, reappearing at the surface much further away and going for a fluke dive very quickly. Clearly, this whale was quite busy beneath the surface, so we decided to continue on, and leave it to continue its day in peace. We soon spotted another whale, this time it was a minke whale which we were very lucky to see surface closer and closer to our boat. Normally, they can be quite shy, but this one didn't seem to mind our presence, and we got to see it nice and close. We continued on, heading deeper into Faxaflói, and soon spotted another blow ahead, the second humpback whale of the tour. We actually recognized this whale immediately, it was Niela, a well-known and well-loved whale in this bay. We got to see many surfacing sequences from her, as well as some beautiful fluke dives. We stayed with Niela until our time ran out, and we had to head back towards the habour. On our way back, we even got to see the first humpback whale of the tour, still hanging our near the islands surrounding the harbour.

- Eleftherios Manioudakis

Report from Hafsulan: This afternoon the sun was fully out, but the strong wind made it quite cold so we put on the overalls and drank a lot of hot chocolate. Not even 20min out of the harbour, big splashes got our attention. In the distance, a humpback whale was breaching! When we got closer, the breaching stopped and the whale went for the dive. When it came up, we could get a good look at this whale and we observed it surfacing and diving a few times. After that we did a big loop around the bay, eventually spotting a second blow! This humpback whale was coming up a bit faster and even went for some beautiful flukes dives! The highlight however was the whale surfacing right next to the boat and it amazing to see such a big animal coming so close! On the way back, we had the wind from behind and the sun in the sky, which made it the perfect sunny end to our tour. 

- Janiek Schrijer  

Atlantic puffin, Arctic tern, Northern gannet, Northern fulmar, greater black-backed gull

Report from Eldey: We headed out into the beautiful midnight sun, surrounded by calm seas and the soft golden light of an Icelandic summer night. It didn’t take long before the first whale appeared. Our first encounter was with a minke whale, and what a show it gave us! It was lunge feeding just metres from the boat, repeatedly charging through the water with its mouth wide open as it gathered food. Being so close, we could see every movement as it surfaced and disappeared again beneath the waves. It was an incredible start to the trip. As we continued on, we spotted another minke whale along the way, but something much more exciting had caught our attention. In the distance, we suddenly saw four blows from humpback whales rising into the air. We headed towards them and first encountered two solitary humpback whales, both busy feeding. We were able to spend some wonderful time watching them surface, dive and blow, getting a great look at these magnificent animals in their natural surroundings. But the best was still to come. Further ahead, we approached a pair of humpback whales accompanied by around 15 white-beaked dolphins. The scene was spectacular. The dolphins travelled alongside the enormous whales, surfacing and moving energetically around them, creating a truly unforgettable wildlife encounter. With the humpbacks feeding and the dolphins racing alongside them, all beneath the glow of the midnight sun, it was one of those moments that makes you stop and simply take it all in. A beautiful evening at sea, filled with whales, dolphins and the magical light of Iceland’s endless summer days.

-Aleksandra Lechwar