Premium Puffin Tour

by Whale Safari · Puffins · cruise-excursion · Reykjavík

4.70(212) · operator on Google
Premium Puffin Tour — Whale Safari

Would this be cheaper direct? No — we sell at Whale Safari's own price and take our commission from them, not from you. What you get here is one checkout across operators, one confirmation, and one place to change or cancel it. If you ever find it cheaper on their own site, tell us and we will match it or explain why we cannot.

More photos of Premium Puffin Tour

Premium Puffin Tour, photo 6Premium Puffin Tour, photo 7Premium Puffin Tour, photo 8Premium Puffin Tour, photo 9Premium Puffin Tour, photo 10Premium Puffin Tour, photo 11Premium Puffin Tour, photo 12Premium Puffin Tour, photo 13Premium Puffin Tour, photo 14Premium Puffin Tour, photo 15

15 photos from Whale Safari. Tap any one for the full-size original.

  • Duration

    1 hour

  • Difficulty

    Easy

  • Season

    May – Sep

  • Starts in

    Reykjavík

  • Meeting

    Meet on location

  • Languages

    EN, DE, SV, PT, IS, FR, PL, ES, ZH

  • Departs

    09:00, 09:30, 10:00, 10:30 …

  • Minimum age

    10

  • Cancellation

    Free until 24h before

About this experience

Leaving from the Old Harbour in Reykjavík, this is the ultimate puffin adventure tour operated on our RIB speedboats. 

The summer is the best time to experience the birds and wildlife of the bay and islands just outside Reykjavík City. Puffins, auks, gannets and an incredible variety of other sea birds dominate the skies and sea cliffs just a few minutes sailing from the Old Harbour. 

But that is not all: this tour is operated in our custom made RIB boats. Each boat can only seat 12 passengers so this is a personal tour where you travel with a small group. 

The boats are specially designed to get you as close as possible to the islands and when possible we can switch the engines completely off to give the birds (and you) some peace and quiet to enjoy nature. During the tour your guide and captain will tell you interesting facts and tales about the puffins and the surroundings. 

On this up close & personal tour each boat only seats 12 passengers so you have plenty of time to ask your guide any question you have about the charismatic puffins and the other Icelandic sea birds. 

Our RIBs are also the fastest boats in the harbour, meaning that on a short tour you will spend the majority of you time with the birds.

Description from the operator, Whale Safari. Prices and availability in the booking panel are live.

Where you go

  1. Check-in at our ticket office
  2. Visit the Puffins on their Islands
  3. Back to the Harbour

Included

  • One hour expertly guided puffin watching tour in a 12 seater RIB boat. 
  • Small Group - Only 12 passengers with expert guide & captain
  • Our RIB's are fast and small so we get you extra close and extra quickly out to the islands.
  • Reykjavík sightseeing with panoramic views off the Sun Voyager & Harpa Concert Hall. 
  • Binoculars included for each passenger
  • We supply warm overalls, gloves, goggles and all necessary safety equipment.

Good to know

Dress warmly for our northern ocean, so if you have it, bring warm outdoor clothing like a wool or fleece sweater, some warm headgear and gloves. Sturdy shoes are recommended. And of course bring your camera.

  • Please arrive 30 minutes prior to your chosen departure. If you arrive later then 10 minutes prior to the departure we can not guarantee that you can join the tour. 
  • This tour has a minimum of 4 passengers. If the minimum is not met, we will offer you to reschedule or get a full refund.
  • The tour has an age limit of 10 years & height limit of 145 CM
  • This tour may not be suitable for pregnant women. Consult your doctor before signing up.
  • This tour is not recommended for those with history of back and knee problems or severe heart conditions. Consult your doctor before signing up.
  • This tour may not be suitable for those over the age of 65 years.
  • Puffin season is from approximately April - August

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.

  1. 1Whale Safari 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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 this one and not the cheaper one?

The nearest cheaper Guided Tour from SEA LIFE TRUST Beluga Whale Sanctuary is €49 — €43 less. Here is every difference we can actually measure.

Whale Safari · €92SEA LIFE TRUST Beluga Whale Sanctuary · €49
How long it runs1 hour0.75 hours

The €43 buys you 0.3 more hours out. Whether that is worth it is your call — but that is what the difference is.

Sold out on your date?

Seats come back — a cancellation, or the operator adding a vehicle. Tell us the date and we will check once a day and email you if one opens. One email, then we delete the address; nothing else is ever sent to it.

Who this is not for

  • Children under 10 cannot join this one.
  • 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

Whale Safari is one of 154 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 Whale Safari

Read all 212 reviews on Google →

Operator rating 4.7/5 from Google — these are reviews of the company, not this specific tour. Shown as Google returns them, unedited.

  • Dan Foulston

    ★★★★★ · 3 months ago

    We joined Whale Safari for their puffin and whale excursion on 19th May 2026 and it was absolute perfection. We were extremely lucky to be blessed with clear blue sunny skies, a flat ocean like glass and no wind, and were lucky to see hundreds of puffins and other seabirds, a pod of white beaked dolphins (including one who followed our RIB for a while), a minke whale, plus a humpback whale (with spectacular tail fluke). Our guide Maria was excellent, very knowledgeable, and who really made the trip perfect, pointing out all the seabirds for us along the way (including her beloved gannet!). I would highly recommend using Whale Safari and the RIB trips in particular. Thankyou!

  • Maria Constantine

    ★★★★★ · 3 months ago

    We went on the Premium Small Group Puffin Tour this afternoon and it was excellent. The boat ride was great fun. We saw dozens and dozens of puffins. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and pleasant. They provided all necessary gear. Highly recommend!

  • Arvind Aravindhan

    ★★★★★ · 4 months ago

    We had a fabulous ride a few hours after we landed in Reykjavik. We saw a ton of dolphins, a huge humpback whale and a couple of Minki whales. Then we ended the trip by seeing the Puffins. Emily was the guide and she was so good at leading us with the sighting of the wildlife and also with real knowledge. Captain Miguel was great with coordinating the sightings with other boats. Right from Sarah at the check in point to the very end was class all the way. Highly recommend this company.

  • Carla Almeida

    ★★★★★ · 2 months ago

    This tour was AMAZING!! The staff was very friendly and helpful and the experience was truly one of a kind. They made sure we saw as much as we could. We had Sam as our guide. She was great! Would definately book this tour again! We saw puffins, a minke whale, dolphins and a humpback whale. Truly an indescribable experience!!

Reviews from Google · updated 13 Sept 2026

Read before you 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.

No reviews yet from our travellers on 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.

  • One checkout, any number of operators

  • Rankings are not for sale

  • 153 operators vetted, and not all of them accepted

  • If it falls short, we fix it

Pairs well with

Everything here goes into the same basket and the same single payment, however many operators it comes from.

from

€92 per person

Check dates & book