Jun – Aug
High summer
Everything at once: the highest whale sighting rates, puffins on the islands, and light so long that the evening sailings run in full daylight. The busiest months and the ones to book a couple of days ahead.
Season
Whale watching season in Iceland: month by month, and what is actually in the bay
Faxaflói works on three overlapping calendars — whales, puffins and darkness — and almost every disappointed review comes from booking the wrong one. This page is what is in the bay in each month, how the sighting rates move through the year, and which sailing to take when.
Quick answer
The best months for whale watching in Iceland are June, July and August, when the bay is full of feeding fish, the sighting rates are at their highest and the puffins are on the islands. April, May, September and October are quieter and still good. Trips run through the winter and still find whales, but the weather cancels far more sailings and the daylight is short. Puffins are here roughly May to August only; the aurora cruises run September to April.
The Icelandic sea calendar, at a glance
- Peak whale months
- Jun – Aughighest sighting rates of the year
- Shoulder months
- Apr–May, Sep–Octquieter boats, good sightings
- Winter
- Nov – Martrips run; more cancellations, short days
- Puffins ashore
- ~May – AugAkurey and Lundey, in the bay
- Northern lights cruises
- Sep – Aprdark, clear nights only
- Humpbacks
- Commonest late summerthe ones that lift the tail
- Minke whales
- All seasonthe commonest animal here
- White-beaked dolphins
- Year-roundthe most reliable sighting in winter
- Midnight sun
- Jun – Julevening sailings in broad daylight
- Busiest
- Jul – Augbook a day or two ahead
Month by month
When to sail from Reykjavik
Five stars means the sailing is both likely to go ahead and likely to find something.
May
Late spring
The bay fills with fish, the whale numbers climb and the puffins come ashore around the middle of the month. Cold on deck, quiet on board, and the best value of the year.
Sep – Oct
Autumn
Whales are still feeding, the puffins have gone back to sea, and the nights are dark enough for the aurora cruises to start. The one window where you can do two completely different sailings in the same week.
Nov – Apr
Winter
Trips run and still find animals — dolphins most reliably — but wind cancels far more sailings and the daylight is short. This is aurora season on the water, and the fireworks cruise on the thirty-first of December.
How the sighting rate moves
What the operators mean when they publish a percentage
Sighting rates are honest and the free second trip is the part that matters.
Several operators in this harbour publish a sighting rate: the share of sailings on which something was seen. The numbers are high in summer and lower in winter, and they are worth reading with two caveats.
First, a sighting is not a breach. A minke rolling through the surface two hundred metres away counts, and so it should — that is what whale watching mostly is. The photograph on the listing is a good day, not an average one.
Second, the number that actually protects you is not the percentage but the free-second-trip policy. Most operators here will take you out again at no cost if nothing is sighted, and the voucher is usually open-ended. If you are in Reykjavík for three days, that policy turns a blank sailing into an inconvenience rather than a loss.
The practical version: book early in your stay rather than late. A trip on your first morning that finds nothing can be repeated on your third. A trip on your last afternoon cannot.
Winter sailings are a different trip rather than a worse one — fewer people, dolphins instead of humpbacks, and the aurora on the way home.
Winter sailings→Booking by month
Six rules that come straight from the calendar
None of these is about the operator. They are about the bay.
- June to August: book a day or two ahead
The good morning sailings fill in high season, and so does every puffin trip.
- May and September: the best value
Sighting rates are still good, the boats are half empty and moving a booking is easy.
- Puffins: check the month before anything else
Roughly May to August. Outside that the islands are empty and the trips do not sail.
- Aurora: keep two nights spare
It needs darkness and clear sky. Two chances in a trip is the difference between seeing it and not.
- Winter: take the morning sailing
Daylight is short in December and January, and the afternoon boat may be sailing in the dark.
- Any month: book early in the stay
It is the single thing that makes the free-second-trip policy useful to you.
The midnight sun and the dark
Two things the latitude does to a sailing, and neither is obvious
No darkness in June, five hours of gold in December, and the shoulder months in between.
Reykjavík sits at 64 degrees north, which is far enough for the year to bend at both ends.
In June and July there is effectively no night. The sun dips below the horizon for a couple of hours around midnight and the sky never gets properly dark. Operators run evening sailings in what is functionally afternoon light, and a nine o’clock departure comes home in full daylight. Those late trips are often the calmest of the day and the least booked, which makes them the quiet recommendation of high summer.
In December the opposite holds. Sunrise is after eleven and sunset before four, and a three-hour sailing has to sit inside that window. There is usually one departure a day around midday, and it happens entirely in low gold light because the sun never climbs. Photographers who plan for it get the best light of the year; travellers who assume a 14:00 departure works come home in the dark.
The shoulder months are the sane compromise: enough daylight for two or three departures, enough darkness by late September for the aurora cruises, and half the passengers of July.
What to book in each month
A twelve-month cheat sheet
One line per month, from the boats that actually sail.
- January to March
Midday whale sailing on a calm day; aurora cruise on a clear night. No puffins.
- April
Whale numbers climbing, boats quiet, aurora still possible early in the month.
- May
Puffins come ashore mid-month. The best-value combination of the year.
- June to August
Everything: peak sightings, puffins, and evening sailings in full daylight.
- September to October
Whales still feeding, puffins gone, and the first dark nights for the aurora boat.
- November to December
Short days, more cancellations, the aurora season proper, and the fireworks cruise on the thirty-first.
Common questions
The Icelandic whale season, answered
When is the best time for whale watching in Iceland?
June, July and August, when sighting rates are at their highest, the puffins are on the islands and the daylight is almost endless. May, September and October are quieter and still reliable.
Can you see whales in Iceland in winter?
Yes. Trips run all year from Reykjavík and white-beaked dolphins in particular are seen through the winter. Expect more weather cancellations and short daylight.
When are the puffins in Iceland?
Roughly May to August. They nest on Akurey and Lundey in Faxaflói bay, about fifteen minutes from the Old Harbour, and spend the rest of the year at sea.
When can you see the northern lights from a boat?
September to April, on dark, clear nights. The cruises do not run in summer because there is no darkness to sail into.
Which month has the most humpbacks?
Late summer, particularly August, though minke whales are the commoner animal here in every month of the season.
Is September a good month?
It is one of the best-value months: whales still feeding, quieter boats, and just enough darkness for the first aurora sailings of the season.
Go deeper
More on sailing from Reykjavik
Whales
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.
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.
The harbourThe Old Harbour
Where the boats leave from, and what is around the quay.
