Tuesday, 25 August 2026

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

Today's Whale Watching tours from Reykjavík are on scheduleas shown above. Remember to dress according to weather and feel free to borrow our thermal overalls if needed!

Report from Eldey: On this beautiful, chilly morning, the dense cloud cover above began breaking, giving way to some much needed sunshine. We donned the red overalls to brave the cold, and headed out of the harbour. As we were passing between Engey and Viðey, our trusty captain Otto spotted a tiny minke whale. Based on the size, most likely it was a juvenile. We got to see this young minke for a couple of good, close surfacing sequences before continuing out into the bay. On our way, we also got to see some Atlantic puffins, some of the last ones we get to see this season as they are heading out into the open ocean until next spring. As we continued out, our captain once again caught sight of another cetacean, the blow of a humpback whale. As we began heading over, this whale started putting on quite the show for us, breaching, head slapping and pectoral slapping at the surface! While this species is famous for these acrobatic behaviours, we certainly don't get to see them often, so it was very special to see! Once this whale was done putting on a show, it stayed nice and close to us, surfacing for breaths and raising the fluke before going for deeper dives. Happy with this incredible sighting, we started making our way back towards Reykjavík, still in awe of all we got to see on this tour!

- María Huamán

Report from Hafsulan: This morning we were very lucky with the weather because the rain stopped right before the tour started. Even though it was still cloudy, the visibility was great so we all could enjoy the view of the beautiful landscape around us. As we were sailing out onto the bay we spotted a dark back. It was a minke whale! This species is generally shy, so we could only see it a couple of times before it disappeared underwater. Another one appeared but it was also shying away. We carried on our journey and a big blow in the distance caught our attention, followed by a black back and a fluke dive. This could only mean one thing - a humpback whale! As we waited for it to appear it came right in front of the boat with a loud exhale that startled us all. We got a direct view over the whale, being able to see it from above with its huge white pectorial fins. It continued to come close to us on the following surfacing and it was just great. At the same time we were surprised to have a pod of about 6 harbour porpoises traveling closely to us in front of the boat. This species is generally shy, but not this time. We could get quite nice looks of them. What a wonderful day out at sea! 

- Frida Skarfors

At the afternoon tour, we headed out from Reykjavík harbour under sunny skies, although the wind had picked up and made for a much chillier ride! As we made our way out, we were lucky enough to encounter the same humpback whale that had been spotted during the morning tour. The whale was still in the area, giving us some lovely views as it surfaced for breaths and lifted its fluke before disappearing on deeper dives. A little further out, we spotted another blow roughly one mile away. As we approached, we realized there were two humpback whales travelling together! They were incredibly close to us, very calm, surfacing side by side and giving us some fantastic views of these magnificent animals. Having two humpback whales together so close to the boat was a truly special sight. After enjoying some wonderful moments with them, we began our journey back towards Reykjavík, feeling very lucky to have shared such an incredible afternoon on the water! But just before entering into the harbour, an amazing surprise, a minke whale! The perfect ending for our adventure!

-Orsi Stipsicz

Report from Háfsulan: This afternoon was slightly less wavy than this morning, which made the conditions for whale watching so much better. Even though there was still a little bit of swell, it wasn't completely cloudy so we could enjoy the afternoon sun from time to time. While we were sailing, we arrived to an area where there were a lot of birds feeding. It was a good sign! It didn't take us very long to find a humpback whale. Also, as soon as we got closer it even did a peduncle throw which is always something very beautiful to see. After a couple of fluke dives, we decided to check another blow in the area, which turned out to see another humpback whale. We were able to spend more time with this whale since it was surfacing quite often. While it was feeding underwater we could also observe some blows in the distance of other humpback whales, so this place was definitely a good spot for them to gain some weight before starting there migration. After a while, we went back to Reykjavik while we enjoyed the beautiful view of the landscape around us. 

- Guillermo

Report from Eldey: We suited up once more to face the frigid wind out on the bay. The sun was consistently peeking out from behind the clearing clouds, warming us a little in this cold breeze. As we were heading out, we got to see some of the adorable little Atlantic puffins fluttering around. We soon spotted some large blows far away in the distance. We headed closer, and we soon found that it was multiple humpback whales! At first we managed to differentiate 3 individuals, but we later found out there were a total of 4. Two of them we were able to recognize. One of the larger flukes further away belonged to Niela, a well-known and beloved humpback in this bay, and the whale that came closest to us, we dubbed the 'harbour humpback'. This individual seemed quite interested in our boat, as it surfaced mere meters from our bow, and we know it is quite comfortable around boats, since it was seen inside the old harbour in Reykjavík last week (hence the nickname)! We got to see all of these whales from varying distances for a good long while, until it was time to start making our way back towards Reykjavík. So, with a final fluke dive from 'harbour humpback', we turned and headed back, admiring the setting sun behind us. What a peaceful evening tour.

- María Huamán

Report from Hafsúlan: On our last tour of the day, we sailed out facing the beautiful sun in between the clouds. There was a bit of blue in the sky, mixed with clouds, light rain and a beautiful rainbow! We started sailing and, although it took a while and it was a bit of a bumpy ride, we came to an area where we spotted 2 blows together! We came closer and found 2 humpback whales beautifully going down for deep dives, showing off their flukes. Not far from there, we also spotted another blow, and we went to investigate. There were also another 2 humpback whales together! They were not swimming alone, though: a pod of about 15 white-beaked dolphins, interacting with these 2 whales! While the whales went for a dive, the dolphins were taking over, bow riding, jumping, swimming so close to us! Then, the humpbacks would come back and the dolphins were basically jumping on the top and head of the whales! It was crazy to watch everything so close, but we realized we were running out of time and had to say goodbye to the humpbacks and the dolphins. On the way back, the sun had already set and it began getting darker and darker as we enjoyed the sail back home after an amazing day at sea.

-Sigrún Helgu

Atlantic puffin, Northern gannet, Northern fulmar, black legged kittiwake, great black backed gull, great cormorant, Arctic tern