Whale Watching

by Special Tours · Whale watching · Reykjavík

4.50· 721 TripAdvisor reviews of this tour 4.30· 1,468 Google reviews of the operator

Fine on your own

from €106.37 per person

Next departure: Thu 22 Oct

Book Thu 22 Oct · €106.37 Other dates

1 / 16

16 photos from Special Tours. Tap any one for the full-size original.

Duration
3 hours and 30 minutes
Difficulty
Easy
Season
All year
Starts in
Reykjavík
Pickup
Hotel pickup available at extra cost, or meet at the start point
Starts at
Special Tours Ticket Office
Geirsgata 11, Reykjavík
Guide
Guided in English
Departs
09:00, 10:00, 13:00, 14:00 …
Cancellation
Free until 24 hours before

Meeting point, in Special Tours's words: Please note: 09:00, 13:00 & 17:00 are Whale Watching Classic departures (3-3,5 hours) Please note: 10:00, 14:00 & 21:00 are Whale Watching Express departures (2-2,5 hours) Please meet us at the Special Tours Ticket Office 30 minutes before departure: Geirsgata 11, 101 Reykjavík

About this experience

Whale Watching Classic (2.5-3.5 hours) – Operates Year-Round

Our most popular option, operated on Andrea, our largest and most comfortable vessel.
Family-friendly with spacious indoor and outdoor viewing areas.
Educational experience with onboard displays of whale bones, baleen plates, and teeth.
Guided in English year-round, with German guidance available from May 1st – September 30th.

Whale Watching Express (2-2.5 hours) – June 1st to September 30th

Operated on Lilja, a high-speed vessel that gets you to the whale watching area faster.
Perfect for those with limited time who still want a thrilling experience.
Guided in English June 1st - September 30th, with Spanish guidance available at 10:00 on Fridays.

Wildlife You May See:

Expect to spot minke whales, humpback whales, white-beaked dolphins, and harbour porpoises in their natural habitat.

Departure Times:

Whale Watching Classic (All Year)

09:00 – March 1st - November 15th
13:00 – All year
17:00 – May 15th - September 30th

Whale Watching Express (June 1st - September 30th)

10:00 – June 1st - September 30th
14:00 – June 1st - September 30th
21:00 – June 15th - July 31st (No transfers available for this departure)

Description from the operator, Special Tours. Prices and availability in the booking panel are live.

Where you go

Whale Watching Andrea

Included

A comfortable indoor seat for every passenger
Professional guides and a skilled, friendly crew
Snack bar on board
Warm overalls (available in children's sizes)
Free WiFi on board

Not included

Hotel transfers (available on request for an additional fee)
No transfer for the 21:00 departure (June 15th - July 31st)
Food and drink

Good to know

We recommend wearing warm clothing & sturdy shoes.

Dress warmly and wear sturdy shoes - it can get chilly out at sea.
Don't forget your camera to capture the experience
Hotel transfer can be booked for additional fee (except the 21:00 tour)

Cancellation for this tour

Free cancellation until 24 hours before departure; no refund after that. If the operator cancels for weather or safety, you get a full refund or a new date.

If the weather cancels this tour

Iceland's weather is real. What usually stops this one is sea state — the skipper decides an hour or two before departure; in winter this happens often. Here is exactly what happens to your booking.

1Special Tours decides, and tells us. Operators cancel when it is unsafe or pointless, and we back that call every time — we do not ask them to run anyway.
2We contact you by email, and by phone if your tour is the same or next day. You choose: another date if there is one you can make, or a full refund. There is no fee and nothing to argue.
3The refund goes back to the card you paid with, through Stripe, usually visible within a few working days. If this tour was one of several in your booking, the others are untouched.

What you do not get is the day back. If this is the only free day in your plan, put a spare day next to it — the planner leaves days free with the rest-day option. And if you want out because the forecast looks bad, that is your own cancellation: free until 1 day before departure, the operator's policy after that.

Questions on the day: [email protected] · +354 497 1373. How cancellations work in Iceland →

Why we list it

Special Tours is one of 204 operators we work with — chosen for reliability, honest descriptions and how they treat guests when weather changes plans. We don't list everything; we list what we'd book ourselves. The six checks every operator passes →

What travellers say about Special Tours

Read all 1,468 reviews on Google →

Operator rating 4.3/5 from Google — these are reviews of the company, not this specific tour. Shown as Google returns them, unedited.

Tatum McNamara
★★★★★ · 4 months ago
Tour was great! Learned lots about puffins and their funny little quirks. Alessio was a great tour guide! He was very knowledgeable on puffins and other wildlife in the area. Very engaging and funny. Alessio also gave awesome recommendations on where to visit next. The captain Patrick was a man of few words but they were wise and he captained the ship well. He also had a funny little hat.
Ali Good
★★★★★ · 4 months ago
We did 2 tours with Special Tours. The first tour was sea angling. Captain Bishop and the crew were great and so helpful. We caught several fish and they grilled them on board. It was delicious. The only thing I would suggest is sitting on the water for a few minutes to eat before heading back to shore because several people got motion sickness while trying to eat. The water was rocky so not sure if that would have helped or not. The second tour we did was the RIB whale watching which was my favorite. We were able to get so close to the whales. The captain handled the boat well getting us quickly to the whales. We were so close we could smell their breath! The guide Alex was very informative and kind. They were a great team and we had a wonderful experience. They gave us suits to wear over our clothes that kept us warm and dry. The only things I would do different next time is sit closer to the front instead of the back (my own fear of boats I chose a seat in the back but the middle or front looks more exciting) and I would bring a second pair of gloves to change into as my first pair felt to wet as it was raining some during our trip.
Piotr Kuszewski
★★★★★ · 3 months ago
Puffins Express is outstanding experience. The boat is REALLY close to the puffins, way closer than I expected. Puffins are really small but you can see that it’s possible to take a picture with just regular camera. Our guide was really friendly is energetic and Captain Patrick navigated us safely and showed us some puffin noises. It was incredible experience. Boat is small and might feel crowded at first but once you reach the puffin island everybody can see the puffins freely. Binoculars on the deck are a nice touch too. Highly recommend for everyone. Just make sure to use Special Tours as they have they special boat, other companies don’t have it.
J Nerosa
★★★★★ · 5 months ago
wow 😲 what an experience 🐋 Captain Yoda and tour guide Jitka were brilliant and very friendly. Jitka was very knowledgeable and shared lots of information about the whales. Never experienced anything like it! Definitely would advise booking the smaller boat rather than the bigger one for a better chance of seeing and getting closer to the whales (no guarantee of course, but we struck gold 🏅)

Reviews from Google · updated 21 Oct 2026

Read before you book

Whale watching with kids: age limits and toursWhale watching with children from Reykjavík: Elding and Reykjavik Sailors take any age on the big boats; the RIB speedboats start at 7 to 10.
What to do on your arrival afternoon in ReykjavíkFood walk, whale watching or bed on the afternoon you land — which one survives a red-eye, which one wastes the day, and the combo we'd actually book.

Reviews from our travellers

Only people who booked this tour through us can write here. We publish every review in full — good or bad.

Reviews arrive the day after each trip — none yet for this one. After your tour we send one email asking how it was, and what you write goes here, unedited.

Whale watching — questions people ask

When is the best time for whale watching in Iceland?

April to October, with June to August the most reliable. Humpbacks and minke whales feed in Faxaflói off Reykjavík and in the northern fjords all summer, and white-beaked dolphins and harbour porpoises turn up on most trips. Winter boats still sail from Reykjavík, but sightings drop and the sea is rougher. If whales are the point of your trip, come in summer and book an early departure; seas are usually calmer in the morning.

Can you see whales from Reykjavík in December?

Sometimes. Boats run from the Old Harbour all year, and winter trips do find whales, mostly humpbacks and the occasional orca. But December means short daylight, cold wind and a higher chance the operator cancels for weather. Sightings are noticeably less frequent than in summer. If you are here in winter, go anyway, but treat it as a sea trip with a chance of whales rather than a whale trip. Most operators offer a free second trip if nothing shows.

Is Húsavík or Reykjavík better for whale watching?

Húsavík, if you can get there. Skjálfandi Bay in the north sees humpbacks close to shore from May to September, and the small family-run boats like Friends of Moby Dick (/experience/752602/) keep group sizes down. Reykjavík is more convenient: boats leave the Old Harbour five minutes from most hotels and run all year. Akureyri and Dalvík in Eyjafjörður are also strong. If you are only in Reykjavík, go from Reykjavík and do not feel short-changed.

Will I get seasick on a whale watching tour?

You might. Faxaflói is open sea and the boats roll, especially in wind. Take a tablet an hour before departure, stay on deck in fresh air and watch the horizon rather than your phone. Morning trips tend to be calmer than afternoon ones. If you know you suffer badly, a two-hour RIB trip (/experience/155331/) is faster and bumpier but shorter, or pick a northern fjord like Eyjafjörður, which is more sheltered than the bay off Reykjavík.

Hotels

Where to stay for this tour

From the cheapest to the top end of what is near Reykjavík, from our hotel partners. Rooms are booked on our hotels site.

All hotels in Reykjavík →

One checkout, any number of operators
Rankings are not for sale
203 operators vetted, and not all of them accepted
If it falls short, we fix it

from

€106.37 per person

Special Tours's own price. 3% off the whole trip when you book two or more tours together, in one checkout.

Your date

The next departure we can see — change it if this tour is for another day.

Pick a date to check departures.

Departs09:0010:0013:0014:0017:0021:00

Reykjavík: light 08:37–17:48, 9 h 11 min of daylight.

✓ Free cancellation until 24 hours before
✓ Instant confirmation by email
✓ If Special Tours cancels for weather or safety: a full refund, or another date
✓ Card — Apple Pay or Google Pay where your device offers it — through Stripe; the charge is made in Icelandic krónur
✓ Price promise: Special Tours's own price, or we refund the difference
✓ One checkout, even with tours from several operators
✓ Vetted operator — the six checks every operator passes

Pairs well with

Add any of these to this tour and 3 % comes off both at checkout — about €6 on the cheapest pair. One basket, one payment, however many operators they come from.