Puffin Cruise with Expert Tour Guide from Reykjavik
Badge of Excellence
Reykjavik, Iceland
- 1 hour (approx.)
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Get up close and personal with puffins on this eco-cruise from Reykjavik. With your local nature guide, step aboard a custom boat that lets you glide right up to Akurey Island's jagged shore to watch the seabirds in their natural habitat. Enjoy engaging commentary about the puffins' biology and behavior from your guide. Includes the use of binoculars for viewing birds and a multi-lingual audio guide app.
- See a side of the Reykjavik region many other visitors miss
- This efficient tour is perfect to fit in a busy day of sightseeing
- Pick from a range of departure times to suit your schedule
- Get as close as possible to Akurey Island for prime puffin viewing
What's Included
- Expert guide
- Binoculars on board
- Gratuities
- Food and drinks, unless specified
- Hotel transfers (can be added for an additional cost - please contact supplier directly).
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Geirsgata 11, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland
Please make your way to the Special Tours ticket office. There you will check in and meet your guide, who will take everyone to the boat just before the departure time. Please arrive at least 10 minutes prior to the departure.
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Itinerary
Following pickup (if option selected), head for the shoreline and hop aboard the express boat to Akurey, an island just off the coast of Iceland's capital that boasts a healthy population of puffins. You have the choice of numerous departure times throughout the day to suit your Iceland itinerary.
During your trip, learn from your expert guide about the puffins as well as other local seabirds, such as northern fulmars, gulls, arctic terns, and black guillemots. Watch the seabirds nesting and diving into the water after their next meal.
Between May and August every year, the puffins nest on the island. The rocky outcroppings and slopes that form protected areas are perfect for hatching and raising young puffins. Riding on a custom-designed boat means you can get as close as possible to the birds. Use of binoculars on your tour is also included. When you reach the island, you'll circle it a few times before the captain turns off the engines, allowing you to enjoy the birds in peace.
Your tour ends with drop-off back where you started (if selected).
During your trip, learn from your expert guide about the puffins as well as other local seabirds, such as northern fulmars, gulls, arctic terns, and black guillemots. Watch the seabirds nesting and diving into the water after their next meal.
Between May and August every year, the puffins nest on the island. The rocky outcroppings and slopes that form protected areas are perfect for hatching and raising young puffins. Riding on a custom-designed boat means you can get as close as possible to the birds. Use of binoculars on your tour is also included. When you reach the island, you'll circle it a few times before the captain turns off the engines, allowing you to enjoy the birds in peace.
Your tour ends with drop-off back where you started (if selected).
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Hotel pick up: Available to book directly with supplier (extra fees apply)
- Wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- Infants must sit on laps
- Most travelers can participate
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 33 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Featured review
lyoder289
You cannot go wrong with this tour. We had a beautiful day and saw many puffins. Our tour guide, Patrick, made this one of the best experiences we had with our stay in Iceland. He was so knowledgeable and his presentation was not only educational but extremely entertaining. You can tell that he really cares about his job and his puffins! Still smiling :-)
Reviews
4.5
based on 642 reviews
Shellie_S, May 2026
Very full and really terrific. The guide and captain were very knowledgeable and pleasant and the boat navigation was excellent.
Henry_B, May 2026
Justine and Captain Patrick were awesome. We left on time and had plenty of time to get pictures and video’s of the Puffins. They were on land and on the water fishing. We got a bonus by seeing seals and a pod porpoises. These two made the trip fun and informative. Highly recommend.
Chloe_W, May 2026
We had a great time! Our tour guide was really informative, knowledgable and friendly, who was also more than happy to answer any questions. The boat ride there was an experience in itself too!
DEVIN_F, May 2026
Great experience, plenty of Puffin and other birds, the water was a little rough which was even more excited! Short enough to fit into your day.
Response from Host, May 2026
Thank you for your review! We’re glad to hear that you enjoyed the puffins and other birdlife during the tour.
Sea conditions can vary, and while it can be a bit challenging for some guests, others find it adds an extra sense of excitement to the experience. We’re happy it contributed positively to your trip overall.
We appreciate your feedback and hope to welcome you on board again in the future!
Ellen_H, May 2026
Great and effective trip, the boat took ca 20 minutes out to reach an island where various sea birds stay, including the star of the show, the puffins! This was day two of the season, and a great deal of puffins had arrived just over night. Exceeding my expectations, superb guide with humor and knowledge of Iceland nature and birds. Binoculars on board. If you bring a proper camera you can get good pictures, I travelled light but the person next to me got wonderful close up pictures.
Response from Host, May 2026
Thank you for your wonderful review! We’re delighted to hear that you had such a great experience and that the tour exceeded your expectations.
It’s wonderful that you joined us at the beginning of the season. We carefully time our tours to coincide with the puffins’ return, ensuring the experience is worthwhile! We’re also very pleased that you enjoyed the guide’s humour and knowledge.
Thank you as well for mentioning the onboard binoculars. We always aim to make sure everyone gets a good view of these amazing birds.
We hope to welcome you on board again in the future!
Lilin_Z, Dec 2025
Great guide. She has a PhD with research on oceanic studies. Cery in depth discussion not just on puffins. My kids love the tour.
Response from Host, Dec 2025
Thank you for your kind review! Our guides share a deep knowledge of the ocean and its wildlife, and it’s great to know that you and your kids enjoyed the tour so much. We hope to see you again!
Marina_U, Aug 2025
We went on the last day of Puffin tours so there were not many puffins left. They offered us a refund but it was a beautiful day so we decided to go anyway and enjoyed the boat ride. Our tour guide was lovely and informative.
Response from Host, Sept 2025
Thank you for sharing your experience! We’re glad you enjoyed the beautiful day and the boat ride, even if there were fewer puffins at the end of the season. It’s great to hear that your guide made the trip enjoyable. We hope to welcome you again for a full puffin experience next time!
Kevin_O, Aug 2025
We had the opportunity to see some puffins on this trip. It was a good time, the only issue was we could not understand the gentleman who was talking about the puffins.
Response from Host, Sept 2025
Thank you for your feedback! We're glad to hear you enjoyed seeing the puffins. We’re sorry to hear that it was difficult to understand the guide during the commentary. We’ll make sure to pass this along to the team so we can improve the clarity of our presentations in the future. We really appreciate you joining us and hope to welcome you back again!
mallorywalters, Aug 2025
It was fun! Patrick was a great guide. We only say about 100 puffins since puffin season is coming to an end, but they were great at warning us about that before getting on the boat.
Response from Host, Sept 2025
Thanks for joining us! Glad Patrick made the trip fun. Yeah, the puffin season wraps up quickly, but we’re happy you still got to see them. Hope to see you again next season for even more puffins!
Rosalind_M, Aug 2025
Tour guide, older gentleman, was knowledgeable and engaging. Boat was very crowded, difficult to see Puffins and sights because of crowding. Volume of speaker was erratic.
Response from Host, Sept 2025
Thank you for your honest feedback. We're glad to hear you found our guide knowledgeable and engaging! We’re sorry that the boat felt crowded and that it made spotting puffins and other sights challenging. We’ll definitely look into ways to improve crowd management and speaker volume for a better experience. Your comments help us improve, and we appreciate you sharing them. Thanks again for joining us!
Jo_A, Aug 2025
Great tour. We did see the puffins. Wish we could have seen them closer but we did see them. Glad we got to see them before they leave the area.
Response from Host, Sept 2025
Thanks for joining us! We’re happy you got to see the puffins, and glad you caught them before they headed off! Hope to see you again next season for a full experience :)
Alodie_S, Aug 2025
We were warned at check-in that we were at the end of the season and we wouldn’t see a lot of puffins. We saw a fair number of puffins plus a few seals. Our captain was great as well as our guide! Definitely recommend but just be aware that mid August is low number of puffins.
Response from Host, Sept 2025
Thank you for your review! We’re glad you enjoyed the puffins, seals, and appreciated our captain and guide. You’re right—mid-August is quieter for puffins, so we always try to set expectations. Thanks for recommending us, and we hope to see you again next season for even more puffin sightings!
SABA_A, Aug 2025
Cruise was good, our guide Patrick was quite the showman and made the best of a rainy day with few puffins left. I do think this tour is probably not worth it after the first week in August because there weren't too many puffins to see-- we saw maybe 20 if I'm being generous. However, not at all the fault of the tour operator at all, just wanted to let future travelers know that mid-August is slim pickings for puffin sightings.
Response from Host, Sept 2025
Thanks so much for your honest review! We’re glad Patrick helped make the rainy day more enjoyable — he really knows how to keep things lively! The peak puffin season is in July, and by mid-August the numbers tend to decrease. We appreciate your honesty, as it helps us improve and better inform future guests. Hope to see you again next year!
Muguru_C, Aug 2025
OK tour, guides were knowledgeable and seemed very interested in educating the passengers on the boat about puffins and their behavior. Unfortunately, the sea state was rough and this made for a bit unpleasant ride as well photographing the birds hard.
lhvierow, Aug 2025
We expect to get a refund seeing as we were given no directions on getting to tihis remote location. We finally took take a cab we charged
35.00 to find the office. We were 2 minutes late a trip had left with out us. It left early as we saw nothing in the parking lot someone must have taken our spot. Plus all other tours were filled for the rest of the day. I am happy to say we have been happy with Viator up to this point. Very reliable maybe it was this office plus personnel was very flippant. Helen and Larry Vierow
Barbara_S, Aug 2025
Our guide, Peter, was informative and funny! The puffins had mostly started migrating, but the ones we saw were interesting and cute.
Erin_A, Aug 2025
You do see puffins but they are small and very far away. Also, if you want to hear the tour guides you have to sit in the cabin, which makes it harder to view. Bring a powerful camera-even a 5x zoom isn’t enough to get a photo. The binoculars provided didn’t work that well. Overall, it was nice to be out on the water and learn some history of Reykjavík.
Brad_T, Aug 2025
Quick, easy and relatively inexpensive tour from Reykjavik to see the puffin island just off shore. Commentary was good and whole operation was professional and punctual. We weren’t able to get very close to the birds, so it was difficult to see them without binoculars or a zoom lens. Our guide broke into song on the way home to sing us some traditional Icelandic songs.
Rushella_G, Aug 2025
So many puffins! The tour guide was very knowledgeable and the tour was very kid friendly. We had a blast!
Paula_H, Aug 2025
Fun trip out to see the puffins! The captain and the guide were both very knowledgeable. I learned a lot about the sweet little birds. We saw so many puffins! Only about an hour, but that is enough time. It was a really fun trip!
Aleksandar_R, Aug 2025
Tour guide Joe from Ireland was terrific. Got to see a huge # of puffins flying around, nesting, and swimming/sitting on the water.
Deborah_K, Aug 2025
On time, excellent captain and staff. Quite knowledgeable about puffins. Very personable. Convenient to get to from Hotel Borg.
Sunne_M, Aug 2025
We saw TONS of puffins. Waters were a bit rough and the boat driver did his best to minimize it. The boat made sure to turn and try to give everyone the best view. Hard to hear the guide outside. We loved every second of the tour!
Britnie_M, Aug 2025
We saw lots of puffins. The boat was very full. I had a hard time taking pictures because of all the people.
Richard_B, Jul 2025
They pack to many people on the boat to give everyone a good picture taking area, otherwise it was good.
Maria_M, Jul 2025
The boat was very over crowded. You could not get to see to have room to take photos.
You did get to see the Puffins but not a well as the add makes it seam. The Capt old man Capt was a grouch but the young fellow made up for it with his antics.
Would not do a second time
Sue_T, Jul 2025
Great experience. Guide very knowledgeable. I will definitely recommend to family and my friends!!!!
Randy_H, Jul 2025
Had a great time on the puffin boat tour and got to see plenty of puffins up close, which was the highlight! The guide was informative and the trip itself was enjoyable. However, the price felt a bit high given the condition of the boat — it was outdated, and the windows were quite dirty, making it tough to get decent pictures unless you were outside. Unfortunately, the only outdoor viewing area was at the stern, and with how many people they book, it was almost impossible to secure a good spot out there. Would love to see the boat updated or at least cleaned better, especially for those relying on indoor views for photography.
Thomas_F, Jul 2025
I was seeing the birds all through Iceland and this trip was perfect to get to see them up close! 10/10 would go again!
Merilyn_N, Jul 2025
You do see puffins but not close enough for any decent iPhone pictures. Would love a more in depth and longer trip.
From $63.35
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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