Puffin Express

by Special Tours · Puffins · Reykjavík

4.50· 842 TripAdvisor reviews of this tour 4.30· 1,468 Google reviews of the operator

Fine on your own

from €60 per person

Next departure: Sat 1 May

Book Sat 1 May · €60 Other dates

1 / 10

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

Duration
1 hour
Difficulty
Very easy
Season
May – Sep
Starts in
Reykjavík
Pickup
Hotel pickup available at extra cost, or meet at the start point
Starts at
Special Tours
Geirsgata 11, Reykjavík
Guide
Guided in English
Departs
08:00, 08:30, 09:00, 09:30 …
Cancellation
Free until 24 hours before

Meeting point, in Special Tours's words: Please meet us at the Special Tours Ticket Office 30 minutes before departure: Geirsgata 11, 101 Reykjavík

About this experience

The Puffin Watching tours with Special Tours, Puffin Express, have been popular for over a decade. Special Tours is a pioneer in Puffin Watching in Iceland.

Our expertise, more than 20 years of experience, and our especially designed boat, Skúlaskeið or “Old Skuli”, make us the leading expert in the area. The Puffin Express adventure starts at the Old Harbour of Reykjavík and they only take one hour. It is an inexpensive and charming option for everyone.

Lundey and Akurey are two small islands located in the Reykjavík bay area, only 15 minutes away from Reykjavík‘s Old harbour, from where we depart. The islands are covered with small hills and slopes and both are well known for their colorful birdlife. The island‘s shores are rocky but Old Skuli is especially designed to take us as close to the islands as possible due to its shallow draft. When we arrive to the islands we turn off the engine so our passengers can observe the birds and the beautiful surroundings. Our licensed guide tells all about the Puffins and other birds of interest that are often seen on the Puffin watching tours.

Other birds spotted include Northern Fulmars, Gulls, Arctic Terns, and Black Guillemots.

Our Puffin Watching Tours are very cozy and comfortable, and they only take one hour, which is convenient for Iceland‘s tourists’ precious time.

NEW

Special Tours Iceland app with 5 languages (English, German, French, Spanish and simplified Chinese) available for Android and Apple. It is available for all clients to download during their tour, with both text and audio information. The app is as close to an audio guided wildlife adventure as possible

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

Where you go

Puffin Express

Included

Special Tours offer 100% viewing guarantee

Binoculars are provided on board
Specially designed boat to get as close to the islands as possible 21 years of experience
Experienced guide & friendly crew on every tour.

Not included

Hotel transfers (available for an additional cost)

Good to know

We recommend sunscreen, sensible shoes and a long-lens camera if you want to photograph the puffins.

This tour is a great and inexpensive way to see the puffins during your visit in Reykjavík, and it gives you a great view of the city.

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. 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 →

Who this is not for

Not available in winter; the operator runs it roughly May to September.

Read off the operator's own conditions. If none of it applies to you, this is a good one.

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

Iceland in June: what tours runJune is when the Highlands open and the sun barely sets. Almost everything runs, but Landmannalaugar waits for mid-June and the lights are over.
Iceland in May: what tours runMay is light and quiet: puffin boats and rafting start, the lights season is over, and the Highland roads stay shut until June.
Puffin tours from Reykjavík: May to AugustWhere the puffin boats from the Old Harbour actually go, when the birds are there, what you see from the deck, and which one-hour tour to 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.

Puffins — questions people ask

When can you see puffins in Iceland?

Mid-April to mid-August. Puffins arrive at the nesting cliffs in April, hatch chicks in June and leave for the open sea by late August. July is the safest month for numbers and for chicks being fed. Outside this window there are none on land, and a tour sold as a puffin tour in October is a boat ride. Reykjavík puffin boats usually run May to August; check the tour page for the exact dates each year.

Can you see puffins from Reykjavík?

Yes. Two small islands in Faxaflói, Akurey and Lundey, hold puffin colonies ten to fifteen minutes by boat from the Old Harbour. One-hour trips like Elding's classic puffin watching (/experience/1299/) circle the islands slowly; you do not land. Bring binoculars, because the boats keep a respectful distance and puffins are small. It is the easiest puffin option in Iceland and a good fit for children or a spare hour before dinner.

Where is the best place to see puffins up close?

On land, at a cliff, not from a boat. Látrabjarg in the Westfjords, Borgarfjörður eystri in the east and Dyrhólaey on the South Coast let you sit a few metres from birds that ignore you. Vestmannaeyjar has the largest colonies. Reykjavík boat trips are convenient but distant. If you are travelling the Ring Road in June or July, the puffin tour from Seyðisfjörður (/experience/973294/) gets you to the eastern cliffs with a guide.

Are puffin boat tours good for kids?

Yes, mostly. They are short, an hour or so, and stay in the sheltered bay, so seasickness is rarer than on a three-hour whale trip. Children usually enjoy the boat as much as the birds. The downside is distance: puffins look like specks without binoculars, so ask if the boat has some to borrow. Combined whale-and-puffin trips (/experience/1569/) run six hours, which is long for under-eights.

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
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If it falls short, we fix it

from

€60 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.

Departs08:0008:3009:0009:3010:4511:0012:3014:0014:1515:0015:3017:00

Reykjavík: light 05:03–21:46, 16 h 43 min of daylight.

Labour Day — a public holiday in Iceland. Shops, pools and museums keep short hours or shut, and some tours do not run.

✓ 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 €4 on the cheapest pair. One basket, one payment, however many operators they come from.