Reykjavik Shore Excursion: Whale-Watching Cruise
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Reykjavik, Iceland
- 3 hours 50 minutes (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Realize your dream of spotting wild whales in their natural environment on this half-day shore excursion around Faxaflói Bay. Departing right from Reykjavik, opt for a high-speed cruise or a relaxed, slower-paced cruise to facilitate your whale-watching adventure. You'll scour the sea for an incredible array of wildlife—look out for minke whales, white-beaked dolphins, porpoises and humpback whales as you cruise the Land of Fire and Ice.
- Enjoy illuminating commentary from an expert guide
- See Icelandic marine life up close, like porpoises, white-beaked dolphins and humpback whales
- Learn about the different species of whales that frequent the waters around Faxaflói Bay
- Warm up with waterproof coveralls on the boat, if you wish
What's Included
- Free ticket to try again if nothing is seen on your tour
- Use of thermal overalls - also available in children's sizes!
- Free WiFi
- Complimentary sea sickness tablets, if needed
- Roundtrip transfer from Skarfabakki Harbour: pickup 1 hour before departure and dropoff after
- Gratuities
- Food and drinks, unless specified
Meeting and Pickup
You can head directly to the meeting point, or request pickup
What To Expect
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Near public transportation
- Transportation is wheelchair accessible
- Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Most travelers can participate
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 189 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
Reviews
4.3
based on 73 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
The boat, Andrea, was about the right size, clean and enough room and choice of viewing locations. Luckily, for us we had a great day, the weather was right. We were able to see a few whales and also dolphins.
Our guide was great on providing information about the whales.
It was a great experience for me and my family.
Recommend doing this tour.
Response from Host, Sep 2026
Thank you for your wonderful review! We're delighted to hear that you and your family had such a great experience with us.
It's fantastic that Andrea provided plenty of space, was comfortable and clean, and offered a variety of viewing spots for wildlife watching. We're also glad the weather cooperated and allowed you to enjoy sightings of both whales and dolphins during the tour.
Thank you as well for your kind words about our guide. We're pleased that the information shared about the whales helped make the experience even more enjoyable and memorable.
We truly appreciate your recommendation and are grateful that you chose to join us. We hope to welcome you and your family back on board for another unforgettable adventure in the future!
The commentator was a great speaker. Full of enthusiasm and very knowledgeable! Described things very clearly. Showed us she really loves her field!
Response from Host, Jul 2026
Thank you for your kind review! We are glad you enjoyed our guide's enthusiasm and knowledge; this is very important to us!
Good weather for whale watching. The boat did a great job of calling out sightings and maneuvering so all guests could see.
Response from Host, Jul 2026
Thank you for your kind review! We are glad you enjoyed your tour, and the captain did a great job offering everyone a good view!
We are so lucky to go with this boat. What a experience. Seen a couple of whales from close. The other boats came later
This was brilliant, the pickup from the ship was on time, the day perfect, lovely sunny day, flattish sea, and amazing whales, dolphins, diving gannets, puffins for over an hours show. Great boat with all facilities , excellent commentary , drop of back at the ship. I'd highly recommend this tour although we were very lucky as the day before they had to cancel all tours as the weather was too rough so check the weather.
If you are been picked up from the cruise terminal
Make sure you know what time they will pick you up
We had a pick up time of 8:45
They did not arrive until 9:25
Because we didn’t want to miss the trip we got a taxi
They refused a refund
Whose fault?
The whale watching trip was excellent
Just the pick up!
I had a great trip, but unfortunately the whales were gone. The weather was great and the guide did what he could to fill out the dissapointnes that the whales were gone.
Response from Host, Sep 2024
Thanks for the review, Niels! It's unfortunate that you didn't get to see any whales on your cruise, they come to meet us on most of our cruises but every once in a while, they are busy with other things.
Great trip, guide was very knowledgeable with a good sense of humour. We where lucky as weather was lovely & sea was calm. Wish there would of been more whales around, but trip was very enjoyable and would recommend.
The tour was well-organized, we boarded and left on time and there were warm, waterproof jackets available for those that were underdressed. It was easy to hear the guide throughout the boat with the installed speakers and she made a point to orient us to the position of the animals so we could all find them quickly no matter where we were. Dominiki was our guide and she had a lot of great information about the local whale and other cetacean species, local geography, and we felt like we learned a lot despite having taken other whale-watching tours in the past. The captain did a great job of making sure people on the port and starboard sides had a good view, and we were able to see so many species- minki whales, harbour porpoises, white-beaked dolphins. Would definitely recommend this tour, we were out on the water for the full promised 3hrs.
Saw lots of Whales and the guide was knowledgeable. Took care to stay a distance from the whales whilst still giving us a memorable experience. The warm clothing and sea sickness tablets were welcome. Would definitely recommend.
We had a great time. The boat was nice, the tour guide was a very knowledgeable biologist and we were able to see some whales up close!
The cruise itself was fine. A nice boat. Plenty of space to move around.
On the down side, the boat was not really handicapped accessible. Many people were getting seasick along the way.
And, oh yeah, there were no whales. We got an offer to go on another whale-watching cruise in the futurebut will we ever return to Iceland to take them up on the offer?
I doubt whether many of these trips actually discover whales and mine did not. But it did not matter because for 3 1/2 hours I was on the same body of water that Vikings once sailed. The ship was just fine. If you needed a snack or hot coffee, you had a snack bar. If you wanted to jump into thermal overalls, there was plenty to go around. If you wanted to stay warm inside, there was plenty of viewing room inside. We ran into several groups of dolphins, but to me, to be there in Iceland, sailing far out and away from Reykjavik, that was all I needed to thoroughly enjoy this tour. I highly recommend.
It's a must do when in Reykjavik.
The thing is you have to be in the front of the boat to see anything. The water was a bit too bumpy and even with the seasickness pill it's still a bit rough to move around the boat.
I was behind and to go all the way to the front without throwing up was too tough, sadly.
Luckily, because not everyone saw whales, they gave us a new ticket to collect whenever we're back in Reykjavik.
A rather disappointing trip as we didn't see any mammals apart from birds. They do not guarantee that you will see anything so we were well prepared not to see anything. The staff were very helpful and gave us all a free voucher for another trip, which compensated for the lack of viewing and wildlife. At least we had a boat trip of around three hours
Unfortunately we missed the tour because of a long transfer from the airport to the hotel.
Nice boat, helpful crew, lovely guide, but limited viewings-none of minke whale apparently spotted, dolphins only
Didn't see the whales however nice trip and gorgeous tour guide with amazing sense of humour
Time indication for pick up as inaccurate. We were told pick up noon, meant was however between noon and 12.45. We had to call once again to clarify. Crew did excellent in spite of the rough sea. Actually date was bad for whale watching as most big whales were already gone. We did only see a little bit of a mink whale.
We only saw a tip of whale's spine. We did enjoy our tour guide and boat ride but you could see other passengers getting frustrated and queezy. The boat kept driving in circles chasing down a whale that barely surfaced once.
I recommend showing a real status of the tour. I was expecting to see what you advertise with this whale leaping out of the water. This did not meet our expectations.
it was a nice trip on the boat from reykjavik harbour, but spotting a whale is down to your luck, its not 100% or even 50% sure you will see a whale in that 2 hours trip...if you dont get to see a whale tour operator will give you another voucher to try, but that does not guarantee either, so it's more of searching whale, if you find it you are lucky otherwise just a boat trip to the shore..
great trip got to see some minky and dolphins,my expectations were to high thought i would see a whale like in the trip photo,use their warm gear its brill we were like toast all day
had a great time did not see any whales but did see dolphins. the trip was very good , we were picked up on time no problems.
Brilliant, the weather was kind to us and we saw two Minky Whales and also Dolphins, wrap up warm as it does get cold but a lovely trip.
quite disappointing. we saw a grand total of four (4) dolphins! Weather was rainy,damp and cold..the cover-alls were much appreciated. The boat had a full 'crew' of young people hoping to see whales,many of these folks became sick as the ship tossed and turned in the rough waters. There was no offer of a beverage as is listed in your tour bio. Finally we were informed that they used no sonar-radar devices to spot the whales merely relying on human sightings. I've been on several whale watch cruises before and thought this was a standard used by all boats offering this tour.
Paper work needed more details for the meeting arrangements. The van that picked us up had the wrong card on display so we were left checking every vehicle that arrived. We did not really see any whales, a brief glimpse of a minky whale. The boat was good and high speed with warm wet proof suits available. Good value and worth doing but viators need to improve the collection instructions and arrangements with the operators.
Poco avistamiento de ballenas
Creo que no vale la pena lo que se paga y el esfuerzo de ir en el barco tanto tiempo
Vimos ballenas y delfines en la excursion del dia. Pudimos usar monos chubasqueros por si llovia, pero hizo buen tiempo.
Vimos bastantes delfines y dos ballenas. Una excursiòn que merece la pena. El tiempo se pasa muy ràpido.
Excellente expérience, avec une guide passionnée
Pour les croisiéristes, une navette vient vous chercher au point de débarquement de votre bateau et vous y ramène à l'issue de l'excursion, donc aucune inquiétude !
Nous avons eu la chance de voir 6 baleines de 2 espèces différentes, une qui a entièrement sauté hors de l'eau : c'était magique ! Le tout a un prix très raisonnable bien moims cher que si nous avions réservé auprès de la compagnie de croisière
Bref, une sortie inoubliable que nous recommandons sans aucune hésitation
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