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AH75  Whale Watching All year round

Highlights:
  • Whale watching


Tour Description:

On this fantastic whale watching tour you will observe the whales in their native environment which is an unforgettable experience.

We will sail on Faxaflói bay, home of a unique variety of Minke whale, the Humpback, Harbor Porpoise and the White-beaked Dolphins, which are all common sights on this tour.
The local bird life is also diverse, including such birds as the Puffin, Arctic Tern, Gannet and many varieties of Gull.

After the tour you can explore the Whale Exhibition Center that enables you to witness the mysteries of the ocean. It is situated in an old capelin-fishing vessel “Fífill” which has been transformed into an exhibition and information centre on whales and seabirds.

The entrance to the Whale Exhibition Room is free of charge for whale watching passengers. A return transfer is not included in the tour price. The harbour is just a "stones throw" away from the city centre, so it will only take you a few minutes to reach the city centre on foot after your tour. Local busses, taxis and a shuttle service (offered by the whale watching company Elding), are available to those who do not want to go downtown (extra charge).
 
Winter whale watching is scheduled daily from 1 October to 31 March at 13:00. The most common whales in the winter are dolphins, humpback whales and killer whales, hardly any minke whales have been seen from November through March. For your comfort and warmth, we have special suits on board we can lend you, but we do advise you to wear warm clothes. We also offer hot drinks and light refreshments in our on-board café. Alternatively, you can sit inside the boat in the warmth, where you can enjoy the view from large windows.
 
There are excellent guides on all tours who tell you about your trip and describe what you can see and where to look, together with an introduction and safety guide. We tell you about the seabirds and nature in the Faxafloi bay. How much we see depends on the sea conditions and season, but our qualified guides are happy to try to answer all your questions.
 
No two whale watching trips are the same, we need to be flexible and organize your trip taking sea conditions, weather and seasons into account. We rarely have to go further than 15 nautical miles from the harbour.
 
 
 

Itinerary Details:

Daily tour departures:
January - March at 13:00
April & May at 09:00 and 13:00
June - August at 09:00, 13:00 and 17:00
September at 09:00 and 13:00
October - December at 13:00
 
Included:
Guidance as shown under Guidance below
Transfer to Harbour
Whale Watching Tour
 
Excluded:
Transfer back to your hotel
 
Closeout dates:
February 2012
24 - bad weather conditions 
December 2012
25 - public holiday 
January 2013
1 - public holiday
 
Online Booking:
Until 7:00 PM the day before the tour with 5% online discount
 
 
 

Guidance:

English
All departures
 
 

 
 

 

Tour is Available:
 
 
Departure: 9:00 Apr-Sep / 13:00 all year / 17:00 Jun-Aug
Pick-up: 8:00 Apr-Sep / 12:00 all year / 16:00 Jun-Aug
Duration: 3 hours
 
Complimentary hotel pick-up service.
 
Children fares:
Infant (0 - 5): FREE
Child (6 - 11): 50% off
 
Price: 8.500 ISK
Book online and receive a 5% online discount
location of tour

Average rating:
Pages: 1 2 3 

O'Farrell wrote:
We went into the harbour with the water like polished glass. The sun was out and the view over the peninsulas either side of the Faxafloi bay was fantastic. Further out to sea it got a little choppy, and despite the sun the wind made it feel very cold. However there were teas and coffees below deck, which were a good way to warm yourself up. The guide was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the area and the wildlife. We saw many seabirds, a few puffins, and just the water throw up by the Minke whales - they were a little shy. However, the humpbacks were a lot more playful and came right up to the boat at one stage, where we got an amazing view of their backs and tails before they dove. Over all the tour was a great way to spend a few hours in Reykjavik, although some people on the boat found the rolling sea a little too much - though sick bags, blankets and life jackets were available for all passengers.
Rating:

Dodd wrote:
I enjoyed this tour, it was well run with decent facilities on the ship. I enjoyed seeing the whales and hearing all about them. My only suggestion for improvement would be to have some reinforced glass bottom boats so you can see more of the whale and whats going on below the surface, not just the occassional time when the hump or tail comes up. I think this would increase the likeliness of seeing more and would probably mean more people would do the tour. Thank you again for a reasonably priced and enjoyable morning.
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O'Farrell wrote:
We went into the harbour with the water like polished glass. The sun was out and the view over the peninsulas either side of the Faxafloi bay was fantastic. Further out to sea it got a little choppy, and despite the sun the wind made it feel very cold. However there were teas and coffees below deck, which were a good way to warm yourself up. The guide was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the area and the wildlife. We saw many seabirds, a few puffins, and just the water throw up by the Minke whales - they were a little shy. However, the humpbacks were a lot more playful and came right up to the boat at one stage, where we got an amazing view of their backs and tails before they dove. Over all the tour was a great way to spend a few hours in Reykjavik, although some people on the boat found the rolling sea a little too much - though sick bags, blankets and life jackets were available for all passengers.

Dodd wrote:
I enjoyed this tour, it was well run with decent facilities on the ship. I enjoyed seeing the whales and hearing all about them. My only suggestion for improvement would be to have some reinforced glass bottom boats so you can see more of the whale and what's going on below the surface, not just the occassional time when the hump or tail comes up. I think this would increase the likeliness of seeing more and would probably mean more people would do the tour. Thank you again for a reasonably priced and enjoyable morning.

Lynda Davis wrote:
Enjoyable trip in good weather - would have been awful in bad weather! Lucky to get a lot of sightings of whales. Would be good idea to warn people that sea can be very rough - not suitable for sea sickness sufferers or those not steady on their feet. Very nice crew, helpful and informative.

OCHOA wrote:
Saber el estar cerca de animales tan majestuosos como las ballenas es una experiencia maravillosa.
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Iceland Excursions:
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Thank your for your review and comments. Translated into English: "Being so close to these majestic animals is a marvellous experience"

Carlson wrote:
There was nothing wrong with the tour, only that we did not go close enough to the humpback whale we saw. I understand that they have to keep a distance so they don't disturbe the whale, but it is not too much fun just to spot the whale from 50 meters away. Really difficult to get god photos since we were so far away. Don't think I would chose Grey Line again, since there are other companies that go a lot closer to the whales.
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Iceland Excursions:
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Thank you for your review and comments on this tour on April 4th. As you rightly stated, the ship will never go too close to the whales but at a certain point will turn off engines and allow the whales to approach the ship. The following is from the whale watching diary that day and the sighting of a Humpback whale is not mentioned since it was not considered a sighting since it was so far away..
 
"Tour at 09:00 Report from Elding We sailed out from Reykjavík this grey April morning. We started the tour by finding a nice pod of breaching white-beaked dolphins! They were interacting with the boat, riding in the waves and swimming really close to us, under us and surfacing right in front of us. They even had calves with them, and they were jumping out of the water so we could take a good look at them, very cute! We decided to head further out. We searched for quite some time without any luck and our time was running out. On the way home we came across a small pod of harbor porpoises. They were in a hurry so we only saw them for few seconds. But then when we thought the tour was over another pod of white-beaked dolphins surfaced right in front of the boat. This one had calves as well with them, and it was very nice to end the tour just as we started it, with nice pod of dolphins"
 
Other whale watching companies are all in agreement that approaching the whales is with extreme care so as not to disturb their environment and living conditions.
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