Thursday, 6 August 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 Whale Watching tours from Reykjavík is On schedule. Remember to dress according to weather and feel free to borrow our thermal overalls if needed!

Report from Eldey: We headed out from the harbour in the rain, unsure of what the day would bring. Not long after leaving the harbour, we spotted the unmistakable blow of a humpback whale. It was feeding at a relaxed pace, surfacing calmly between dives and giving us a wonderful start to the trip. After spending some time with this whale, we continued on and found another humpback. This one was even more relaxed, slowly travelling through the area with unhurried, graceful movements. Soon, we spotted the blows of two more humpback whales in the distance. As we approached, one of them suddenly transformed the calm morning into an unforgettable spectacle. It launched into an incredible breaching display, leaping completely out of the water more than 20 times in a row. Each breach was as impressive as the last, leaving everyone on board amazed and cheering. Watching such an energetic performance against the rainy backdrop made for a truly unforgettable whale-watching experience.

-Aleksandra Lechwar
 

Report from Hafsulan: They say there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing. Nowhere in the world is this statement more true than in Iceland! We set out in pouring rain and luckily most of us came prepared with rain gear and lots of layers. We didn`t have to go far for our first sighting. After 30 minutes we spotted our first blow! A humpback whale was sleeping and resting at the surface. After a very relaxing encounter, this whale went for a beautiful fluke dive and we recognized her as Neila! A regular here in Faxafloi and one of our favorites. We left Neila rest and went for a loop around the bay. Then we spotted a second humpback whale! This one was slapping its impressive pectoral fin on the surface and coming close to the boat! Even though we could have stayed there forever, time was running out so we waved our whale goodbye and headed in to warm up with hot chocolate, enjoying the ride home. 

- Ricardo Almeida Mendes 

Report from Eldey: On this rainy afternoon we sailed into Faxaflói in search of whales. A RIB told us about a very social minke whale, who had been circling their boat for a long time - very unusual behaviour for this normally elusive species. When we got to the individual, it also started swimming around us, almost touching the boat as it came up right in front of the bow and on the sides of our boat. Our next sighting was of a humpback whale. This individual also came very close to us, and we could see its full silhouette through the water as it surfaced beside us. When we though the tour couldn´t get any better, we spotted another humpback whale much closer to the harbour. We recognised this individual as Neila, a humpback that has visited the bay for many years and is always particularly gentle. This encounter was incredible, as Neila was very relaxed around Eldey and rolled around a bit and sometimes gently slapped her tailfin. It was so difficult to leave after this touching interaction, but we were already late so after one last beautiful fluke dive we headed straight back to harbour. 

-Eline van Aalderink

Report from Hafsulan: Throughout the afternoon, we continued having overcast weather with a bit of rain, but the sea itself was quite calm. We sailed west into the bay and soon had a sighting of a humpback whale, which was socializing by continuously slapping one of it's pectoral fin on the water surface. We didn't stopped long with this whale though, as we had previously received report of another humpback whale in the bay, which had been seen performing amazing behaviors. After sailing into the area of this second humpback whale, we slowed down our ship and enjoyed the presence of the whale. It was an amazing individual which, at one point, breached it's full body out of the water, close to our boat. After having such good whale sightings early on during the tour, we used our remaining time to visit some of the islands north of Reykjavík, which are home to thousands of Atlantic puffins. We had some good views of the plentyfull seabirds and the amazing landscape, and then headed back home to Reykjavík.

-  Janiek Schrijer

Report from Eldey: We began the tour by spotting a calm humpback whale just outside the harbour. It was resting peacefully, but with several boats already gathered around it, we decided to leave it undisturbed and continue our search. Later, we found the humpback whale known as Neila. She was moving calmly through the area, giving everyone on board excellent views as she surfaced and dived at a relaxed pace. The highlight of the trip came towards the end of the tour. We discovered a mother humpback whale travelling with her calf, accompanied by a lively group of 5 white-beaked dolphins. The dolphins stayed close to the whales, creating a wonderful scene of different species travelling together. The calf was especially playful, surfacing frequently and showing off with energetic movements, delighting everyone watching. It was a perfect ending to a memorable whale-watching trip.

-Aleksandra Lechwar

Report from Hafsulan: Another tour under the rain, but thanks to our waterproof layers, we sailed back into the bay with high hopes of having some great encounters with its marine life. We headed north, and despite the low visibility, we spotted a huge blow in the distance. A humpback whale was feeding in the area and gave us an amazing show, including several pectoral fin slaps and a few beautiful tail displays.After this magical moment, we continued sailing farther north and reached another area where we found a large pod of around 10 white-beaked dolphins. They weren't alone,a humpback whale was also there, which meant there was plenty of fish in the area. Every species, even the seabirds, was incredibly active and constantly changing direction. t was wonderful to see the dolphins and the giant whale together at the same time. It felt like a real National Geographic documentary moment. What a privilege!

Northern gannet, northern fulmar, razorbill, eider duck, Atlantic puffin, great black-backed gull, lesser black-backed gull, great cormorant, herring gull