Puffin, island, and volcano boat tour

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.

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.

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.

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.