Experience the magic of whale watching on a cruise from Reykjavik. With a knowledgeable guide, cruise the coastal curve of Iceland to marvel at whales in their natural habitat. Scour the sea for sightings of porpoises and dolphins as you listen to fascinating facts surrounding the majestic creatures that inhabit the Icelandic ocean. Heighten your chances of seeing whales on this tour, the success rates of which are 95% in summer and 80% in winter.

Whale watching tour from Reykjavik
Learn about the fascinating wildlife that inhabits Iceland's ocean from a knowledgeable guide
Scour the see for sightings of other creatures like dolphins, porpoises and rare sea birds
Choose from multiple departures to best suit your schedule

What's Included

Excellent live guide
Overalls, raincoats and blankets
Admission to Wildlife Exhibition
Free WiFi on board

Food and drinks
Gratuities
Hotel pickup and drop-off

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

Ægisgarður 5
Ægisgarður 5, 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.

What To Expect

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Wheelchair accessible
The tour may sometimes depart from other harbours when the conditions in Reykjavík are rough. In this case, the tour may be 1-2 hrs. longer than advertised.
Stroller accessible
Service animals allowed
Near public transportation

Infants must sit on laps
No whales or dolphins on your tour? Try again another day for FREE!
Most travelers can participate
Please note that our fleet is not completely wheelchair accessible 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.
Wheelchair users are welcome to bring a foldable chair onboard our bigger boats, but if possible, please advise our office prior to departure as we may need to assist with boarding.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 150 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Traveler Tips

The weather was okay but we wore the heavy clothes offered and it was worth it!

Reviews

4.5

1,122 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

Showing 1-10 of 1,122 reviews

WOW ....what an experience

Andrew_D, Mar 2023

WOW .... an unbelievable experience to see Whales in their natural environment. We'd seen the Northern Lights on Saturday which were an amazing natural experience but to go Whale watching and actually see 10 Whales made our whole Icelandic Adventure complete. It was amazing to look out to sea and see these animals happily swimming near to the boats diving below the surface and coming up for air again, they were all around us. We even witnessed a Humpback jump out of the water twice!!! What a sight! The crew and our guide were great, pointing out the Whales location everytime they sighted them .... six o'clock, four o'clock half past twelve they were everywhere. We were lucky to see them but what a privilige it was to see these beautiful animals in the wild. Something you will never forget. Simply Amazing

Amazing

Graham_R, Mar 2023

Amazing. Highly recommended! Great tour with a number of whale and dolphin to be seen! Tour guide was very good and easy to here.

Hardly seen anything!

Maha_S, Mar 2023

The staff at Elding are super nice and helpful! BUT we hardly seen anything ; one humpback whale from afar and that’s it !

Excellent

Lynette_w, Mar 2023

After the first trip being unsuccessful for spotting we were given the option to try again. We went again and saw a Humpback whale out of season. It gave a performance and made our trip. Tour was easy to locate and gain tickets. The whole team were faultless and very well educated. Multiple marine biologists on boat to ask questions.

Did not see any whales

Susan_P, Mar 2023

Disappointed did not see any whales, would not have spent the money if I knew that, great boat ride in the harbor but know you may not see the whales.

We did this trip 3 times!

Gemma_S, Mar 2023

We did this trip 3 days in a row as we loved it that much. We were very lucky and saw harbour porpoises, white beaked dolphins (real close, too) and a brief minke whale surface. We tried again twice more in hopes of finding a humpback but sadly we didn’t see one. We will def be back again though :-) The guide was very knowledgable and the whole experience was lovely. Thank you!

The most amazing whale watching experience

julie_c, Mar 2023

The guide was so knowledgeable and interesting - boat trip alone was so enjoyable and when we saw a humpback whale in its natural habitat it was breathtaking. Memories made for life on this trip.

Ok trip

Nanna_R, Mar 2023

The trip wasn’t bad but in hindsight I’d rather done something else than sit on a boat for three hours. We saw the backs of a few whales. I didn’t understand why the captain always turned the boat so that only the few people in the front could see… the guide was ok.

Response from Host, Mar 2023

Dear Nanna_R, Thank you for your honest feedback, although we are sorry to hear that you feel that way (sailor's life isn't for everyone, we suppose). We're glad you were able to see the whales during your time with us and enjoyed the rest of your stay in our beautiful country! All the best, The Elding team

Whale watching

Steve_S, Mar 2023

Great trip, information from the guide was amazing. Organisation of the tour was great, changes of schedule were emailed and made clear what was happening.

February whale watching

Olivia_C, Feb 2023

Great time out on this trip, travel sickness tablets are provided at the check in desks, the staff were all friendly & helpful. We saw a few whales in the 2 hours with them resurfacing every few minutes, great experience.

Highly recommend. Saw...

Christine_F, Feb 2023

Highly recommend. Saw loads of activity from some whales. Lovely staff, they were very knowledgeable.

Great trip - Saw 4 Whales!

Hayley_B, Feb 2023

Brilliant trip! We did have a call the night before to say our tour at 1pm was cancelled due to bad weather but we could move onto the 9am trip - I ma glad we did! At first it seemed we were the only boat going out and I was certain it was a pointless trip! But I was wrong - turns out most of the others just cancelled but ours were determined and it did pay off! The team were great and we saw 4 humpback whales and witnessed one breach! The journey back to the harbour was VERY rocky so glad we returned when we did!!! We were all given sickness tablets before we got on as it was obviously expected but other than that - a really great experience with a company that persisted when others simply cancelled!!

Brilliant

Janet_D, Feb 2023

Great morning out saw two humpbacks bucket list ticked fantastic crew very knowledgeable and friendly

Very enjoyable

Christopher_M, Feb 2023

Memorable experience just a shame we wasn’t informed that you would only see the young humpbackwhaleafter it had been fed so wasn’t very lively

Whale of a time

Gary_T, Feb 2023

A nice boat ride to see the coastline, and more importantly got to see one whale. It's a wildlife tour, so might not always see one.

Great trip with two humpback sightings

Lilly_O, Feb 2023

Great trip out for a few hours where we were lucky enough to see two humpback whales by the harbour! The boat has everything you need and our guide was really interesting and great at directing people where to look to see the whales.

One the most memorable experiences

Scott_P, Feb 2023

I loved every minute of this experience and could have continued all day. The sea is my happy place and it certainly catered for that. The scenary is amazing but wildlife was sparce but the crew managed to track down a couple of Humbacks. Although these weren't in their most playful mood and we only saw their backs and blow holes sprouting water. No jumping out or tail splashing. But that was okay by me, they're in their natural habitat and are not performing circus animals. I feel privileged to have seen what I did of them. It did get choppy and cold at times. But like anywhere in Iceland the weather can vary from minute to minute so wear appropriate clothing. There is a warm indoor area with a bar but I spent the entire time on deck so cannot comment on this. My daughter was sea sick and the staff were really attentive providing advice, herbal tea & regularly checking up on her. They even cleaner up her sick despite my insistence that I would do it. I didn't live this experience through my phone camera and glad that I didn't because the crew take photos for which they will share a link for free which was a nice bonus. All in all this was one of the most memorable days of my life. Thank you.

Whales experience

Fatima_M, Feb 2023

Amazing trip, all the crew was very attentive and they knew where the whale's were. We saw two whales. Amazing pictures and videos.

We saw whale's you have...

Johann_R, Feb 2023

We saw whale's you have to be fast with your camera before they go back under the water ,it can be very cold so wrap up warm ,but they have a shop on board so you can buy hot drinks ,they also provide sick bags has it can get a little choppy, there was a lot of people on board, but overall a great experience,very informative and lovely staff

Great day I would recommend!

Becky_C, Feb 2023

Such a good experience! We seen a few humpback whales slightly a few hours in, as well as porpoises and a seal. The staff were very friendly and informative and tried their best to spot any wildlife and let us know. Lovely views from the boat, it was pretty rocky sometimes and I suffer with sea sickness so I would definitely take tablets, they worked wonders for me. I took my own but the staff also have free sea sickness tablets on the boat. We went on a really lovely sunny day but was still absolutely freezing a few hours in so I would wrap up! The staff also let you know at the end that you can email them to let them know which tour you were on that day and they will email you any professional photos they took of the whales if you didn’t manage to get any good ones. Great day over all we loved it :)

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