Reykjavik Wildlife Adventure: Puffin and Whale-Watching Tours
4.8
13 Ratings
Reykjavík
Experience the ultimate wildlife adventure in Reykjavik! Join our thrilling puffin and whale-watching tours, where you'll witness these magnificent creatures in their natural habitat and enjoy breathtaking views of the city and landscape.
Duration:
4 hours
Cancellation:
1 day
learn more
Highlights
- Elding Whale Watching - Book this tour for a chance to encounter whales in the wild and puffins in their natural habitat! This deal includes two separate tours; a 1 hour puffin watching tour (starting at 10:00) on a 40 passenger boat and a 3 hour whale watching tour (starting at 13:00) on a 200 passenger boat.
Schedule:
1 June - 15 August / 08:00 Puffins & 10:00 Whales
1 May - 15 August / 10:00 Puffins & 13:00 Whales
1 June - 15 August / 12:00 Puffins & 14:00 Whales
(Summer of 2020 1 July - 15 August 09:00 / Whales & 14:00 Puffins)
Puffin Watching: We will take you out on one of our smaller passenger boats and sail up to one of three islands that are home to thousands of Puffins during breeding season. Borrow our binoculars or bring a zoom camera to get a good view!
Whale Watching: Sailing out into the biggest bay in Iceland, Faxaflói, we will search for minke whales, humpback whales, porpoises and dolphins. Our tour has a sighting guarantee, which means that in the unlikely event that you don’t see cetacean on our tour, you can try again another day free of charge!
We suggest spending lunch at one of the many restaurants at the charming Old Harbour. Ask our staff for recommendations!
What's Included
- Heated indoor saloon with large viewing windows
- Excellent Live Commentary in English
- Two tours (3 hr. whale watching & 1 hr. puffin watching)
- Complimentary WiFi onboard
- Use of protective clothing and binoculars
- Whale guarantee (or try again for free)
- Access to Wildlife Exhibition
What's Not Included
- Food & Drinks (available to purchase on board)
- Pickup / Dropoff (available to arrange for a fee)
Additional Information
This special combo tour gives you the opportunity to observe whales and puffins in their own environment. Start with a 1-hr puffin spotting voyage followed by a 3-hr whale sighting journey. Immerse yourself in the wildlife knowledge of Reykjavík imparted by our exceptional team and enjoy stunning sights of the city and adjacent landscapes from a distinct vantage point.
- Children under 13 years are required by law to wear life-vests for the duration of the tour.
- 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.
Location
Elding Whale Watching
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.
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.8
(13 Ratings)
5 stars
4 stars
3 stars
2 stars
1 star
Gerald_m
Aug 18, 2023
Great day on the water. - Saw a large number of puffins on land and on sea. Very cute animals. Also saw a large number of whales, a couple even showed us their white bellies.
Review provided by Viator
Davegk5353rl
Aug 1, 2023
Awesome experience, guaranteed to see whales! - We went on both the puffin watching and whale watching trips. Seeing the puffins fly around the island was really cool, and the guide gave us all information as we watched. Pictures are tough to take with a standard iPhone given the speed of the puffins and their small size, but the guide takes professional pics of the birds and you can email them to receive digital copies free of charge.
The whale watching was amazing, but we had an abnormal experience in that a hump back whale (Davy Jones) came right up to our boat and breached the water about 8 ft. away-so cool to see up close. However, even without that experience, you could see numerous whales and dolphins throughout that were not that far away. It was also great to hear the care that the company takes in looking after the whales/dolphins while exploring.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Rebecca_p
Jul 19, 2023
A Nice Time - My most memorable part of the two-in-one excursion was seeing a hump back whale which had just swum under our boat. The puffins were a disappointment as they were too far away to see easily or even to photograph with a zoom. From the advertisements on line, I thought we would be closer to the puffins. Despite that, we had a nice time and found the company’s instructions easy to follow. We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this excursion to others.
Review provided by Viator
Yannick_m
Jun 17, 2023
Salty tears - The guides were incredibly informative and the trips were comfortable. The whales were so majestic that my partner literally cried
Review provided by Viator
Sailorgal12345
May 11, 2023
Fabulous whale watching experience! - We did both the puffin & whale watching tours. The puffin tour is shorter; we were on a smaller boat. You are taken to an island where the birds are nesting. They are very small, but the crew offer binoculars to the guests. You can see the puffins flying, diving for food & bobbing on the ocean. They are so cute! There was a marine biologist on board to answer any questions. In the afternoon we boarded a larger ship for whale watching. The crew offered warm weather gear, blankets, etc for warmth. We were actually blessed with a sunny and warm afternoon. The humpback whales were feeding. We viewed 20 flukes as the whale were diving for food. It was not our first whale watching experience, but by far the most exciting. There is a marine biologist aboard, as well as a photographer. We received great info about the whales as we watched. I chose to watch the whales and put my camera away. At the end we were offered the photos taken by the photographer… no charge! Bonus! I emailed right after the tour, and the photos came right away. They are fabulous. Please be aware the photos I am including were not taken by me, but by the Eliding photographer. I highly recommend Elding for your whale watching. They can’t guarantee sightings, but they probably are pretty good at knowing how to find them!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Lindahusf
Sep 5, 2022
Premium Whale Watching Tour - First, we were on the RIB boat tour (we knew there were no puffins as they have already migrated, so the two hour premium whale watching tour). Highly recommend you make sure the boat is equipped with seats with shock absorbers- ours was and it was very comfortable and fun! We saw it all! All four species that come into the bay made an appearance for us! We had two amazing sitings of humpbacks with one being very close to the boat. She slapped her tail and then stayed close to the surface to check us out. Unforgettable experience! Our driver and guide were fantastic - I don’t remember their names but we did the 4pm on Sunday, sept 4th - very knowledgeable and engaging. I would highly recommend this company!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
J5534jusamuelk
Jun 24, 2022
Loved it - We really had a great time. The whole team was very nice and we saw a few whales and a lot of puffins.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Rebecca_s
Jun 18, 2022
Fun wildlife tour of Iceland - Loved that the guides were marine biologists. Was a pleasure to talk to them and experience their enthusiasm for wildlife.
Puffin tour was very cool and we were closer to island than I expected!
Whale watching we saw a minke whale that breached several times. Appreciated that we were able to get seasickness tablets ahead of the tour as seas were rough in the afternoon.
Review provided by Viator
Adam
May 9, 2022
Great afternoon on a RIB - lots of whales about! - We took the two hour RIB tour for whale watching and also visited the puffins just off Reykjavik harbor.
The crew was polite and knowledgeable, we were lucky to have nice weather and more so to see a number of whales and porpoises.
Thank you very much for a wonderful afternoon!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Amy_b
Jun 11, 2023
Book tours separately. - Ship took group close to island where the puffins nested. Separate ship took group further out to see the whales. Our tours got rescheduled so we needed to kill time between ships. If tour is to be advertised as a puffin/whales tour is should be during one excursion/ one ship. Information on the tour operator should be on ticket, no embedded on links that can not be accessed without Internet. We had a difficult time figuring out what tour company ran the tour.
Review provided by Viator
More activities from this operator
