Honest
Is whale watching in Reykjavik worth it? The honest answer
Three hours on cold water for the price of a good dinner, with no guarantee that anything surfaces. Put like that it sounds like a poor deal, and 18,403 reviews say otherwise. What makes it work here is the bay itself — a feeding ground twenty minutes from a city quay — and a refund policy most operators publish and mean.
Quick answer
Yes in summer, for most people, and with two conditions. Book early in your stay so a blank sailing can be repeated on the free second trip, and dress for the sea rather than the city. If you are here in November with one free afternoon and a low tolerance for cold, the honest answer is different: take the aurora cruise instead, or the puffin trip in May, and skip the three hours.
The honest numbers
- Cheapest whale sailing
- $97three hours, big boat
- Reviews on it
- 11,540at 4.5
- All ten sailings
- 18,403 reviewsaverage 4.5
- Sighting guarantee
- Noneand nobody honest offers one
- If nothing is seen
- A free second tripthe published policy on most boats here
- Time on the water
- 3 hours2 on a RIB, 1 on the puffin trip
- Distance from town
- 10 minutes on footthe harbour is central
- Best months
- Jun – Aughighest sighting rates
- Main risk
- Windcancels sailings, especially in winter
- Cancellation
- Free to 24 hon every sailing
What makes it worth it
Five things this bay does that most whale trips cannot
A feeding bay, a central quay, a real refund policy and a view that stands on its own.
It is a feeding ground, not a corridor. The animals are in Faxaflói to eat, which is why a boat leaving a city quay can find them twenty minutes later. Most whale watching in the world involves a much longer commute.
The harbour is in the middle of town. Ten minutes on foot from the cathedral. A three-hour sailing costs you a morning, not a day, and a cancellation leaves you in the centre of Reykjavík rather than stranded.
The free second trip is real. Most operators here publish it and honour it, usually with an open-ended voucher. It converts the fundamental risk of the product — that nothing shows — into an inconvenience.
The bay is beautiful even when it is empty. Esja behind the city, Snæfellsjökull on the northern horizon on a clear day, and the whole of Reykjavík from the water. Nobody sells the trip on that, and it is what the good reviews are actually describing.
The evidence base is unusually large. 11,540 ratings on one sailing is more than we see almost anywhere. It does not promise you a whale; it does tell you what the experience is like when there is not one.
When it is not worth it
Four situations where the answer is no
Winter afternoons, boat-haters, listing photographs and last days.
When it is your only free afternoon in winter. Sighting rates are lower, cancellations are commoner and the daylight is short. Book the aurora cruise instead, or come back in June.
When somebody in the party truly hates boats. Three hours is a long time in a swell. A one-hour puffin trip in summer is a much gentler introduction, and the RIB is easier on the stomach than most people believe.
When you are expecting the photograph on the listing. A breaching humpback is a real event and it is not the average sighting. If a rolling back two hundred metres away would disappoint you, this is not your trip.
When you have one day and it is your last. The free second sailing is the thing that makes the odds acceptable, and it only helps if you have another day to use it on.
Every trip, current fare
What each sailing costs, and what it goes out to see
If you have decided it is worth doing, this is the whole decision in one table: hull, hours and what the boat is actually looking for.
| Sailing | On the water | Price | What you see | Cost per hour | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reykjavik: Puffin Watching Boat TourAn hour to the puffin islands, May to August | 1 h | $60 | Puffins | $60.00 | 4.6 · 1,434 |
| Reykjavík: Whale Watching and Marine Life CruiseThe classic three-hour cruise, 11,540 reviews | 3 h | $97 | Whales | $32.33 | 4.5 · 11,540 |
| Reykjavík: Whale Watching Cruise on the Amelia Rose YachtThe same bay on a yacht, with fewer people | 3 h | $103 | Whales | $34.33 | 4.5 · 3,161 |
| Reykjavík: Northern Lights CruiseThe aurora from open water, Sep to Apr | 2.5 h | $104 | Northern lights | $41.60 | 4.1 · 106 |
| Reykjavik: Whale Watching Tour by RIB BoatA RIB that covers three times the bay | 2 h | $156 | Whales, close up | $78.00 | 4.7 · 426 |
| Reykjavik Cruise Terminal Transfers to/from Keflavík AirportKeflavík airport to the cruise terminal | 45 min | $159 | Your ship | — | 4.7 · 173 |
| Reykjavik: Traditional Sea Fishing with BBQ FeastHand lines, and your catch grilled on deck | 3 h | $164 | Fish, and lunch | $54.67 | 4.7 · 189 |
| Reykjavik: New Year's Eve Fireworks CruiseThe New Year fireworks from the harbour | 2 h | $169 | Fireworks | $84.50 | 4.4 · 56 |
| Reykjavik: Whale Watching by RIB SpeedboatWhale watching by RIB, at eye level | 2 h | $175 | Whales, close up | $87.50 | 4.6 · 841 |
| Reykjavik: Whale and Puffin Watching RIB Boat TourPuffins first, then out to the whales | 2 h | $186 | Whales and puffins | $93.00 | 4.7 · 477 |
Making it worth it
Six decisions taken before you reach the quay
Every one of them is free.
- Book early in your stay
So the free second trip is a real option rather than a theoretical one.
- Take the morning sailing
Wind builds through the day, and the morning boat is both calmer and less likely to be moved.
- Dress under the overalls
Hat, gloves, thermals. The people who stay on deck are the people who see things.
- Take the tablet on the dock
Half an hour before, not when the swell starts.
- Watch the birds
It is what the crew are doing, and it will give you the first sighting before it is called.
- Stay outside for the last hour
Most people go in and stay in. The best sightings on a three-hour trip often come late.
Cheaper things to do with the same money
Five honest alternatives in Reykjavik
If any of these appeals more, spend the money there instead.
- The Whales of Iceland exhibition
Life-size models of every species in the bay, in a warehouse ten minutes from the harbour, for a fraction of a sailing. It also makes a later trip land better.
- A day pass to a city thermal pool
Costs almost nothing, and it is what Icelanders actually do. Laugardalslaug or Vesturbæjarlaug rather than the Blue Lagoon.
- The Maritime Museum and the coastguard ship
On the same quay the boats leave from, and it explains the harbour you are standing in.
- An hour with the puffins instead of three with the whales
At $60 it is the cheapest way onto the water in summer, and the birds are a certainty in a way the whales are not.
- Dinner at the harbour
The fish restaurants in the old sheds on Grandagarður are the other thing this bay is famous for.
Common questions
Is it worth it, answered
Is whale watching in Reykjavik worth it?
In summer, for most people, yes: Faxaflói is a feeding ground twenty minutes from a city quay, sighting rates are high, and most operators sail you again free if nothing is seen. In deep winter with one free afternoon, the answer is often no.
Do you always see whales?
No. Nobody can promise a sighting, and the honest operators publish a free second trip instead of a guarantee.
Is Reykjavik a good place for whale watching?
It is the most convenient in Iceland — boats leave from the city centre — and the bay is a genuine summer feeding ground. Húsavík in the north has higher sighting rates and a five-hour drive.
How much does it cost?
From $97 for the classic three-hour cruise, $175 by RIB, and $60 for an hour with the puffins.
What is the biggest risk?
Wind, which cancels sailings, and a blank bay, which the free second trip is designed to cover. Both are worse in winter.
Would you do it again?
In summer, without hesitating, and on a RIB the second time. In January, only alongside an aurora sailing on the same day.
Go deeper
More on sailing from Reykjavik
Whale watching from Reykjavik
The three-hour cruise, what is out there and what nobody can promise.
The verdictWhich boat is best
Ten sailings ranked, and which one suits which traveller.
SeasonSeason and sightings
Month by month: what is in the bay and how likely you are to see it.
PuffinsPuffin tours
Akurey and Lundey, and the months the birds are actually there.
AuroraNorthern lights by boat
Darker than any bus tour, and cancelled more often. Both are true.
ComparedRIB or big boat
Speed and eye level against a heated saloon. Which suits you.
