Sea angling with a barbecue from Reykjavík — the tour people don't know they want
Three hours on Faxaflói Bay with a rod, and your own catch grilled on deck before you're back on the quay. Why it beats a second whale watch.
Nobody arrives in Iceland planning to go fishing. Then you watch the boats come back into the Old Harbour on a summer evening with people eating grilled cod off paper plates, and you realise you booked the wrong thing. Sea angling is three hours on Faxaflói Bay, a rod in your hands, and your own catch cooked on board before you’re back on the quay. It’s one of the most Icelandic things we list and almost nobody knows to look for it.
What actually happens
The boat leaves the Old Harbour and motors out into the bay to a spot the crew know. Engines off. Everyone gets a rod and a quick lesson — drop the line, feel the bottom, lift it a metre, wait — and you fish. Cod and haddock mostly, mackerel in late summer, sometimes something stranger. Most people catch something. The crew fillet what’s edible and cook it on a grill on deck, and you eat it standing at the rail, still in your overalls, with Reykjavík behind you.
Warm overalls are provided. It’s colder on the water than on the quay. Wear a hat and gloves.
The two we list
Elding Adventure at Sea’s Reykjavík Sea Angling Gourmet is three hours from €162 — the one where the on-board grill is the point of the trip, from the same Old Harbour dock as their whale watching. Reykjavik Sailors’ Sunset Fishing in Faxaflói Bay is two and a half to three hours from €131 and leaves in the evening, so in June and July you fish under a sun that barely sets.
The downside: no fish, no barbecue. Some evenings the bay is quiet. The crew are honest about it and you still get the boat trip, but it can turn into a bring-a-sandwich night. And it’s a boat — if whale watching makes you seasick, so will sitting stationary in a swell with a rod.
Why it beats a second whale watch
Elding’s Reykjavík Classic Whale Watching is €103 for three hours from the same dock. If you’ve never seen a whale, do that first. But if you’ve already done one whale trip, or you’re here in a week when sightings have been thin, sea angling is the better second boat. You’re doing something rather than watching for something, and you’re fed at the end. The €60 difference is the meal.
Who it suits
Families with children over about six — the rods are simple, and landing a fish is a bigger memory than a distant fin. Groups who’d otherwise book a dinner. Anyone who wants a Reykjavík evening that isn’t a bar. Not for vegetarians, and not for anyone who wants to stay dry and warm. You’ll be neither.
Our honest take
Book Elding’s Sea Angling Gourmet, in the evening if the schedule allows, and treat it as dinner. It replaces a restaurant meal you’d have paid a similar amount for and adds three hours on the water. The tradeoff is that the fish are not certain and the weather can cancel the whole thing — Faxaflói gets rough — in which case you get a full refund or a new date and still need to find dinner. Have a fallback restaurant in mind. Most nights you won’t need it.
