2-Hour RIB Boat Whale Watching Tour from Reykjavik
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Reykjavik, Iceland
- 2 hours (approx.)
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Increase your chances of seeing whales in the wild—and, in summer, puffins—on this guided boat tour from Reykjavik's Old Harbor. Riding in a Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) with no more than 12 people aboard, your intimate craft can travel more quickly and more nimbly than larger vessels, getting you closer to the best whale-spotting sites. In summer months, there will be a bonus stop at Akurey Island, a popular breeding ground for Iceland's cutest mascot: puffins.
- Traveling aboard a RIB means you can get between sights quickly
- Greatly increase your chances of seeing whales with an expert guide
- This small-group offers a more personal experience
- Includes all necessary waterproof gear and safety equipment
What's Included
- Warm overalls, lifevests, gloves and goggles
- A visit to Akurey, the puffin island, during the summer months
- Expert guide - guidance in English
- Suspension seats for extra comfort!
- Hotel transfers (can be added for an additional fee)
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Ægisgarður 5, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland
Please make your way to the Special Tours ticket office (Aegisgardur 5E). We kindly ask that you arrive at least 30 minutes prior to departure, as you will need time to go over the safety waiver, get dressed in the overalls and go over instructions with your guide before boarding.
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Itinerary
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Not recommended for travelers with back problems
- Please note that sightings of wildlife cannot be guaranteed - if there are no sightings on your tour you will get a complimentary ticket to try again on our Whale Watching Classic or Whale Watching Express tours!
- We recommend dressing warmly and wearing good shoes
- Not recommended for children under the age of 10, or under 145 cm
- Near public transportation
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- Please arrive at least 30 minutes prior to departure for check-in to go over safety information with your guide.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 12 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Featured review
Maps68308270256
This was such a great experience for me and my partner! The lead guide Jonathan was super knowledgeable about the animals that we saw on the way, including the puffins "running" across the water and the other sea birds! We managed to see three humpbacks during our tour out and it was AMAZING! We were literally meters away from a humpback and her calf, spraying water and displaying the flukes! The boat experience was one of a kind, such a smooth ride considering! The shock resistant seats really made all the difference. I highly recommend this for anyone looking for something fun to do outside in Iceland in their free time! And the visit to the Whales of Iceland museum afterwards was also good! It is an obviously great place to take kids, and even though we don't have any, we found the museum to be interesting and so cool to see models of the whales we saw on tour!
Reviews
4.5
based on 101 reviews
Kathy_A, Aug 2025
We understand but were very disappointed that our tour had to be cancelled due to bad weather. I would have definitely rescheduled if they had the availability.
Clinty_C, Jul 2025
It was an amazing experience seeing a whale Mom and a calf interacting with a pod of dolphins in their natural habitat.
Racheal_M, Jul 2024
Amazing! My wife and I had an awesome experience with Special Tours. The smaller boat allows for a more personal experience as well as a closer look at the sea life. We were lucky enough to see many dolphins and a humpback whale! Special shout out to our Captain, Yoda as well as Blanca, our guide. Thank you for the great adventure!
Response from Host, Aug 2024
Thanks for the review! Yoda and Blanca will be thrilled to hear that they could give you this experience!
Michele_S, Jun 2024
It was a great time! Even the boat ride to get to our whale watching spot was a blast. We were lucky and saw some whales! Wish we could have a gotten a tiny bit closer to the puffins they were hard to see from the distance we were.
Response from Host, Jul 2024
That sounds great! The RIBs are so much fun! Thanks for the review!
Chris_P, Jul 2023
Service was great. Equipment was good but only 1 whale sighting. That was my second trip and saw nothing the 1st trip.
Marlon_M, May 2023
Excellent service all throughout by the crew. Really passionate and knowledgeable about whale spotting
Ivan_N, Sep 2022
Finally saw a whale! (minke whales) :)
Tour guide was friendly and very informative.
"Adventure seats" were extremely adventurous and packed with adrenaline.
Memorable ride. Would go again.
Nathalie_K, Aug 2022
Lifetime experience with expert guide and captain. So fortunate for the sightings, thrilling experience.
Sean_F, Aug 2022
We had a great trip - the boat ride was fun and beautiful and the seats were comfy. Our boat driver Yoda did an amazing job and we got super close to the whale! We even saw puffin island which was nice at the end!
Laurie_L, Jul 2022
Phenomenal! We saw 2 different whales performing acrobatics in the water thanks to our excellent tour guides. Thanks for the amazing experience
Anne_W, Jul 2022
Went with my 80 year old mother. The boat ride is really fast and a bit bumpy, so if you have a heart condition or a bad back, this might not be for you. But my mum loved it and we highly recommend.
Gary_S, Jun 2022
Trip was fun, boats are amazing.
Got a few quick glimpses of whales. Saw Puffins. Crew was good. Helpful and informative
Felt safe tge whole time. Recommend this trip.
Pamela_N, Jun 2022
Such an amazing experience. Being on a small RIB boat, you get close up to the whales and dolphins, which was magical. Tons of puffins everywhere.
Malay_V, May 2022
A must go for all travellers to Iceland. We were fortunate enough to spot hump back whales out there. A lifetime & memorable experience.
Maiyu_C, May 2022
Wow! What a fantastic experience. The boat ride was exciting - the forecast was that the sea was "very rough" but it didn't seem that bad once on the boat. Bouncy but not enough to cause seasickness. We saw a humpback whale several times and also some porpoises! You have to check in half an hour before the tour starts and get suited up in waterproofs and life jacket etc. When you check in they tell you where to go to get ready but a sign on the building directing people to the other hut which was branded a different tour company would have been really helpful! I definitely recommend this tour.
Ellen_P, Apr 2022
Average experience but I found the guides to be quite rude and impatient. The building where you get changed was far too cramped, there was not enough room for everyone. There was no safety demonstration or anything even remotely close.
I have also used Whale Safari and they were much better (in my experience).
Cedric_S, Sep 2021
Amazing experience. We saw many humpbacks and dolphins…and also both interacting in a fascinating way. Our guide was very knowledgeable and explained a lot. Thanks to the quick and competent maneuvering of our captain, we could get so close that it almost felt like touching the whales.
Response from Host, Sep 2021
Thank you for your review! We're glad that to hear that you enjoyed your RIB Whale Watching tour, and we will pass the compliments along to your captain and guide. Humpback whales and white-beaked dolphins are two of the four most common species that we see in the bay, and they are usually the most active as well.
Thank you for sailing with Special Tours, and we hope that you enjoyed the rest of your stay in Iceland!
Kind regards,
Special Tours Crew
Susan_M, Sep 2021
Great guide and captain. Saw some whales but was hoping to see more or some breaching. Learned a ton!!
Response from Host, Sep 2021
Thank you for your review! We're glad to hear that you enjoyed your RIB Whale Watching tour with us and we will pass the compliments along to your captain and guide.
Thank you for sailing with Special Tours, and we hope that you enjoyed the rest of your stay in Iceland.
Kind regards,
Special Tours Crew
jean_w, Aug 2021
great guide. fun ride. humpbacks and dolphins!
(Viator should not require a 100 character minimum text)
Response from Host, Sep 2021
Thank you for your review! We're glad to hear that you enjoyed your RIB Whale Watching tour with us. Humpbacks and white-beaked dolphins are two of the four most common species we see in the bay, and it's been a great season for humpback sightings.
Thank you for sailing with Special Tours, and we hope that you enjoyed the rest of your stay in Iceland!
Kind regards,
Special Tours Crew
Lauren_M, Aug 2021
Your guide was funny and knowledgeable and also spoke like 5 languages!
We saw lots of dolphins and a mink whale up close! Such a fun boat ride too, very calming!
Response from Host, Sep 2021
Thank you for your review! We're happy to hear that you enjoyed your tour with us and we will pass the compliments along to your guide. Minke whales and white-beaked dolphins are two of the four most common species we see in the bay, and the dolphins are often the most active :)
Thank you for sailing with Special Tours, and we hope that you enjoyed the rest of your stay in Iceland.
Kind regards,
Special Tours Crew
Christopher_C, Aug 2021
One of the best things we did in iceland! The guides were amazing and so friendly and zipped us where we found so many whales and we were so close to them too! A pod of dolphins were swimming right next to our boat. We had two kids with us and they loved it!
Response from Host, Sep 2021
Thank you so much for your review! We're happy to hear that you enjoyed your tour with us, and we will pass the compliments along to your captain and guide.
Thank you for sailing with Special Tours, and we hope that you enjoyed the rest of your stay in Iceland!
Kind regards,
Special Tours Crew
Kelly_H, Jul 2021
We had great guides and had quite an adventure! We were able to track 2 humpback whales for about an hour and saw a huge pod of dolphins.
Response from Host, Aug 2021
Thank you for your review! We're glad that you enjoyed your RIB Whale Watching tour with us and will pass the compliments along to your guide and captain. Humpback whales and white-beaked dolphins are two of the four most common species that we encounter, and it's been a great season for sightings.
Thank you for sailing with Special Tours and we hope that you enjoyed the rest of your stay in Iceland!
Kind regards,
Special Tours Crew
Peter_Z, Jul 2021
I highly recommend this tour! We found and then followed a humpback in the Reykjavik bay for around an hour. We even got to see its tail twice. Amazing! There's no guarantee that there will be whales in the bay. But I think the RIB boat gives you the best chance. We had a very friendly and knowledgeable guide and pilot!
Another bonus of this trip is they also have a short stop at a puffin nesting island .
The RIB boat ride is the way to go, with a few caveats: if you have mobility issues, it may be difficult to get in the boat. Also, when they say the water is rough, they aren't kidding. We got bounced around a lot, which we found exhilarating but is definitely not everyone's thing. Under calm conditions, it's probably no big deal. But if you have back or other joint problems, you can get jarred quite a bit in the rougher sea.
Special Tours also did a great job of equipping us against the cold wind with big thermal coveralls, gloves, goggles and flotation vests. The bay is windy to start and the boat goes close to 30 knots.
I'm so glad we chose to do this and very happy we chose Special Tours.
Response from Host, Jul 2021
Thank you so much for your lovely review! We're so glad that you enjoyed your tour with us and we will pass the compliments along to your guide and captain. The RIB is a staff favorite and it's an exhilarating ride, but you are correct that it is not always a suitable option for everyone - we recommend that children under 130cm and people who are pregnant or have back problems not join this tour. Otherwise it's a great option to have a fast-paced ride and see wildlife up close!
Thank you for sailing with us and we hope that you enjoyed the rest of your stay in Iceland!
Kind regards,
Special Tours Crew
Maren_B, Jul 2021
Boat was great. Puffins were so fun to see. Unfortunately we did not see any whales but they gave us the opportunity to go on a different boat to give us the chance to see them a second time at no charge. The boat was a fun experience in it self.
Response from Host, Jul 2021
Thank you for your review! We're glad that you enjoyed your tour with us but are sorry to hear that you didn't see any whales. The offer to come again for free never expires, so whenever you know the date you'd like to try again just send us a message.
Thank you for sailing with us and we hope that you enjoyed the rest of your stay in Iceland!
Kind regards,
Special Tours Crew
Devi, Jul 2021
This is an intense, fun ride. Whether you see the whales or not, just the boat ride itself is worth it. Our guides were super patient with us and even accommodated my wife who was a bit scared at the back of the boat. We saw several mink whales and the guides patiently went around the spots to find them. Overall, a great experience and we’re glad we did it.
Response from Host, Jul 2021
Thank you so much for your review! We're glad that you enjoyed your RIB tour with us and we will pass the compliments along to your guide and captain. Minke whales are one of the four most common species that we encounter and the RIB makes it easy to get extra close to the wildlife while still following the IceWhale code of conduct.
Thank you for sailing with us, and we hope that you enjoyed the rest of your stay in Iceland!
Kind regards,
Special Tours Crew
Federico_C, Jun 2021
We had an amazing experience with our tour. The service was magnificent, from the registration process to the goodbyes. We were lucky and saw plenty of whales, specially since the crew knew not only how to track them but also how to follow them. Paying extra for the RIB boat is totally worth it. The gear they give you for the cold and safety is clean and in perfect shape. The boat looked better than new too. It's just a great experience that feels far from being a tourist trap.
Response from Host, Jul 2021
Thank you for your review! We're glad that you enjoyed your RIB Express Whale Watching tour and we will pass the compliments along to our guide, crew, and reception team. Our RIB boat is quite new and was custom-built for us in the UK - it's great to hear the compliments about her :)
Thank you for sailing with Special Tours and we hope that you enjoyed the rest of your stay in Iceland!
Kind regards,
Special Tours Crew
Maps68308270256, May 2019
This was such a great experience for me and my partner! The lead guide Jonathan was super knowledgeable about the animals that we saw on the way, including the puffins "running" across the water and the other sea birds! We managed to see three humpbacks during our tour out and it was AMAZING! We were literally meters away from a humpback and her calf, spraying water and displaying the flukes! The boat experience was one of a kind, such a smooth ride considering! The shock resistant seats really made all the difference. I highly recommend this for anyone looking for something fun to do outside in Iceland in their free time! And the visit to the Whales of Iceland museum afterwards was also good! It is an obviously great place to take kids, and even though we don't have any, we found the museum to be interesting and so cool to see models of the whales we saw on tour!
Ana Sofia R, Oct 2018
Had a great time on the RIB boat! They had overalls for us, along with the life jacket, gloves and goggles. Great guide who explained lots about the whales, we saw a minke whale but only for a little while so they said we could come back again for free another day. It was like a roller coaster, so much fun!
Peg B, Sep 2018
Beware. Prior to going out they told us that it was kind of rough out there, so I asked how big the swells were and got an answer of about 1-2 feet. The swells were 3-4 feet and having had a 34' boat I know we should not have been out on a 20 feet boat in 3-4 feet swells. About halfway into the trip the boat came down so hard down on the seat my back took the brunt of it and it felt like all of my discs had been smashed together. I've not had any back trouble up until this point, but I do now. I figured I'd tough it out despite the pain, but there was a child behind me who was crying and one behind him who was whimpering so I raised my hand and asked if they could slow down. Their response was that they couldn't. Needless to say, they cancelled the next tour, but they should've cancelled ours. The rest of my trip to Reykjavik required lots of ice and heat on my back.
They have had a bad season so I suspect they took us out because they needed the tour, but it was completely irresponsible on their part.
CRISTINA_V, Jun 2025
After disappointment with various tours cancelled in other places due to bad weather, we managed to do this the last day before leaving and it was worth it. Fun the boat ride and we were able to see dolphins and 2 whales. Friendly and competent guide
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