Classic Puffin Watching Cruise from Downtown Reykjavík
Recommended by 94% of travelers
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Reykjavik, Iceland
- 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes (approx.)
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Because they tend to nest on rocky cliffs close to water, seeing puffins in their natural habitat is sometimes tricky. Increase your chances on this tour from Reykjavik that takes you out on a boat to to either Akurey or Lundey, two islands that are well known for their plentiful birdlife. In addition to puffins you have the opportunity to view eider ducks, arctic terns, guillemots, and cormorants.
- Get as close as responsibly possible to the puffins' nesting areas
- Learn about birdlife from your guides
- Borrow binoculars to see the birds up close: No need to bring your own
- Choice of departure times to suit your schedule
What's Included
- Use of raincoats
- Use of binoculars
- Excellent Live Guidance in English
- Photos taken by crew (if any)
- Pickup / Dropoff (available for a fee)
- Food & Drinks (bring your own or purchase on board)
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Elding Whale WatchingÆgisgarður 5c, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland
Meet us in the ELDING ticket office located at Ægisgarður 5c by the Old Harbour district in Reykjavík. Once at the pier, simply follow the red colour to find us! Be sure to arrive at least 15 min. before departure to ensure enough time to check in and to board the boat.
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Itinerary
Old Harbour (Pass By)
1
Puffins of Reykjavik
1 hour • Admission Ticket Free
Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre (Pass By)
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- As the birds are small in size, we recommend bringing a tripod and a good zoom lens for 'close up' photography and/or binoculars (also available to lend on board)
- The deck on the boat can be slippery. We recommend wearing good sturdy footwear. For optimal viewing and a more enjoyable cruise this tour is weather dependent.
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
- Please note that our fleet is not completely accessible for low mobility as there are steep stairs between lower and upper decks and high thresholds to get from the decks into the saloon as well as from the saloon to the toilets.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 30 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
This one hour adventure was a wonderful way to see a different view of Reykjavík. The staff was personable and friendly. Binoculars and information provided. The boat got close to the island as also birds fluttered and flew around. Highly recommend Elding Tours.
Reviews
4.7
based on 381 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
I have wanted to see puffins forever and when I saw we had a 16 hour layover in Iceland on the last day of the puffin tours, I booked it immediately. I was worried there would only be a few puffins but thankfully there were still so many on the cliffs and bobbing in the water. We brought our own binoculars and they gave us a pair - both were very useful as theirs were VERY zoomed in, but ours gave us a more clear picture of everything. The tour guide was great and very knowledgeable and the crew was friendly.
We would highly recommend booking this if you want to see puffins and only have a short time in Iceland!
Crowded seats are not comfortable and if rough water cannot get close to see puffins. Not enough binoculars for everyone,
Tour guide was very friendly and keen to share their love of puffins! We saw many puffins and other sea birds.
Great tour! The staff was very knowledgeable and informative . We were able to get really close to the puffins.
We had a wonderful time, wonderful guide, and saw lots of puffins! Our guide was very knowledgeable and helped us learn more about puffins.
On a beautiful afternoon we set sail in search of puffins and were not disappointed. We saw so many - flying, some quite near to us, floating in the water and perched on the island. The tour was short but since the island was near the mainland, most of our time was spent watching these fun little birds. Highly recommended!
Well organised and easy as the location of the puffins is close. It is good to get photos taken by the experienced crew sent to you by email
I loved this tour. The guides took us out to the island where the puffins are. It was an amazing experience. I watched most of it with my binoculars. The guide emailed everyone his pictures for free! I highly recommend this tour.
It was wet but it was a nice trip and we saw lots of Puffins. Don't expect to take good pictures on the boat but they shared 4 great pictures that they took with us for free. They also have binoculars you can borrow which was very helpful.
We had a magical puffin tour with Elding Whale Watching - we saw so many puffins and other birds! It was great to be able to see these iconic birds so close to Reykjavík.
This boat trip to see puffins was certainly not a good use of money. On this big boat it could not get close enough to the island d to see muffins. Although they were flying all around and in the water, no one could get a picture of them even with cameras with good zoom lens. The "biologist" commenting on them was also average at best. If you want to try and get a better puffin trip then try one where you ride a Rib boat (like a Zodiac boat). I attached the best picture I could get with a phone camera. It stinks!
Watching the little puffins was a highlight of our trip to Iceland. The boat was great and the crew were kind and knowledgeable.
This quick tour was just great. The guide on the boat gave us great information about puffins while we made our way to a small island that was just teeming with the adorable little birds. We saw tons of puffins- flying, diving, swimming and nesting- it was just what we wanted- plus we got great photos taken by the guide with a professional camera after the tour.
Great tour especially if you’re looking for something to do that won’t take half a day. This was a quick 1-1 1/2 hour tour. Easy to find the meeting spot. Saw thousands of puffins!
We saw so many puffins! We enjoyed it. Especially appreciated having access to the photos the crew took of the puffins.
Nice way to spend an hour. Lots of puffins and other birds. Boat was a bit crowded but otherwise all good. Weather was overcast and seas were choppy but that didn’t interfere with a nice trip
We saw lots of puffins flying around & nesting on the island. Their little wings are like propellers!
The boat ride to see the puffins was very enjoyable. We checked in early at the office after taking a cab from the ship. It's quite a long walk from the ship so take a cab or the ship's shuttle. Our excursion was for 2 pm so we had plenty of time to check out the area. A nice plus was we were emailed photos of the puffins that were taken by staff on board our trip.
Take a long lens. You don’t get that close. Be aware about boat mo enemy and sea sickness. The guide is very informative
Disappointing experience. Boat doesn't go anywhere close to the puffins. Binoculars should have been handed out. Instead, after we left shore we were told we can get up and go downstairs to get them ourselves. Found crew to be unfriendly & unhelpful. Sorry we booked this.
We saw tons of puffins. The guide was wonderful. They provided binoculars. It was a quick tour-looking forward to seeing the photos they’ve promised to email.
Took the one-hour puffin tour. Exactly what I expected: easy boat ride, circled near the island (but not too close), used binoculars for better views of the puffins (provided on the boat), and got to see the puffins!
We rode on a comfortable decent-sized (with toilet) boat to 2 small islands near downtown. There were a ton of Puffins and other birds with much activity and a lot to see. The young tour guide, Janiek, (pronounced yannick - I think...) was a doll. She answered a lot of questions, explained everything, gave us binoculars, and was very
courteous and professional. This tour really exceeded our expectations. And we had a lot of fun! I highly recommend it.
Excursion was good, crew was friendly, ship was somewhat comfortable but clean and the biologist on the trip was very informative.
Fabulous one hour adventure. Saw a bountiful amount of puffins in all sorts of different adventure and activities. Guide was incredibly knowledgeable. Highly recommend this trip!
A short boat ride to a nearby island just covered in puffins! Plenty of time to gently circle the island and watch the birds.
The guide was very knowledgeable. I like that they send photos. The location to meet the boat is an easy walk from downtown.
Our guide was extremely enthusiastic and knowledgeable. She made everyone feel welcome.
It was really neat to see the puffin colony, in flight and on the water though we were still quite away from the island a camera is needed rather than a phone I think.
We took the puffin-watching cruise on June 17th at 2 p.m., and it was fantastic. The guide (who was actually a marine biologist) was incredibly kind and knowledgeable. She answered every question we had and made the experience even more memorable. We saw plenty of puffins up close, and it was a truly wonderful afternoon. They even sent us pictures of puffin she took with her professional camera. Overall, it was a great experience.
We had a fantastic time. Our guide Maria was very friendly, knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the Puffins and sea birds in general. There were thousands of Puffins and we even got to see the head of a seal! Would thoroughly recommend.
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per personWas $68.00(-5%)
up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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