Whale Watching in Akureyri: Every Tour Compared

The Big Boats

Elding's Akureyri classic tour uses the catamaran Holmasol, which carries up to 190 passengers on a 2.5-3.5-hour cruise with a heated indoor area and a naturalist guide. Special Tours sails the fast cruising catamaran Lilja on a 2.5-hour trip from Oddeyrarbot 1, with warm floatable overalls and heated indoor seating. Ambassador runs 3 hours from the Oddeyrarbot pier with warm overalls, blankets and a heated indoor cabin with toilet facilities.

Big boats suit families with small children and anyone who wants a toilet and a warm cabin close by.

The RIB Express

Elding's express tour uses the small boats Solfar I or II with 12 passengers and 2 crew, on a 1.5-2.5-hour ride that runs 1 April to 31 October. Passengers must be 10 years old or at least 145 cm, and there is no toilet on board. Overalls, neoprene gloves, goggles and a life vest are included, and riders sign a waiver on arrival.

Ambassador runs the same idea on its RIB: 12 passengers, 2 hours, the same minimum age of 10 years or 145 cm, and if no whales show, the retry is on the big boat instead. The two RIB tickets sit side by side at $189 for Elding RIB Express Whale Watching and $180.62 for Ambassador RIB Whale Watching Express. Neither includes pickup.

The Oak Boats

Whale Watching Hauganes sails renovated oak fishing boats that have worked the fjord for over 30 years, with warm overalls, blankets and homemade cinnamon buns. North Sailing's Arskogssandur boat is a traditional oak vessel, a former whale catching boat converted to whale watching, about 2.5 hours on the water. In Husavik, North Sailing and Gentle Giants both use traditional Icelandic oak ships on 3-hour trips.

Hot chocolate and cinnamon buns come on most of these boats.

Retry Terms by Operator

Whales are wild animals and no trip can promise them. What you get with an empty sea depends entirely on the operator, so read the table before you book. The terms below come from each operator's own conditions and tour listing.

Weather and Cancellations

Weather is a different matter, and cancellations by the operator are refunded or rebooked. If Elding cancels a trip due to weather, a full refund is offered with no fee. Arctic Sea Tours leaves weather calls to its captain, and a cancellation means you reschedule or get a full refund.

Gentle Giants offers a full refund or a change of departure when weather cancels a sailing. On every tour in this guide you can cancel free up to 24 hours before departure for a full refund. Two small print items to note: late arrivals with Elding get no refund or rescheduling, whatever the reason, and North Sailing's Arskogssandur tour needs at least 6 passengers to sail.

Humpbacks, Minkes and Dolphins

The fjord does the feeding, the boats do the finding. Eyjafjordur is one of the country's longest fjords, according to Visit Akureyri, and the Arctic Circle sits only 60 km north of Akureyri. Elding lists humpback whales, minke whales and dolphins on its classic tour, Special Tours adds seabirds to humpbacks, minkes and dolphins on the catamaran Lilja.

Arctic Sea Tours in Dalvik lists humpback whales, white-beaked dolphins, minke whales and harbour porpoises, and says blue whales or killer whales appear on occasion. No operator guarantees a sighting, so treat every species list as a possibility rather than a promise.

Puffins

One trip on this coast adds a second species to the target list. Hauganes Whale and Puffin Watching sails the boat Puffin from Hauganes for 2 hours, listing humpback whales, minke whales, white-beaked dolphins, harbour porpoises and puffins. Puffins are present during nesting season, the operator says, and the ticket includes a warm flotation suit plus coffee, hot chocolate and pastries. It costs $113 per person.

Responsible Whale Watching

How the boats behave matters as much as what they find. IceWhale is the Icelandic platform for whale watching companies, and its partners follow a strict code of conduct that prioritises the wellbeing of whales and the marine environment. The code aims to minimise impact on cetaceans and keep whale watching sustainable in Iceland.

Elding puts it plainly: every sighting happens on the animals' terms, so no boat can promise a close encounter.

Side by Side

The two bays are different trips, and the figures below set them side by side. Akureyri figures come from the tour listings, Husavik species from the Husavik Whale Museum. The fjord harbours between them start at $74, the lowest price on this site.

Pick your bay first, then your boat.

Booking Husavik from Akureyri

You can book every Husavik tour here while staying in Akureyri, but none of these listings includes pickup, so plan the 1-hour journey yourself or take bus 79, which Visit Akureyri says travels there. North Sailing Whale Watching in Husavik is 3 hours on a traditional oak ship for $80, with a free tour if no whales. Gentle Giants Whale Watching in Husavik costs $78, lends overalls and rain jackets, and gives a free tour voucher instead of a refund if no whales show. Friends of Moby Dick Whale Watching in Husavik runs the fast boat Vinur with a heated indoor area, $95 per person, with a standby return voucher valid 2 years if no whales or dolphins are sighted.

Which Trips Run When

Whale watching in Akureyri runs all year on the big boats. Elding's classic tour sails from 1 January to 31 December, and Ambassador runs all year too, though its 11:00 departure only operates from 1 December to 31 January because of limited daylight. The fast RIB boats and the summer operators keep shorter seasons, so match the table below to the month of your trip.

Every row links to the tour card with prices and meeting points.

What Month Is Best for Whale Watching in Iceland?

Summer brings the most choice. The long daylight hours mean more departures a day, and operators such as Arctic Sea Tours run evening midnight sun trips from 20 May to 10 July. Elding also sells an evening cruise in the summer light, Midnight Sun Whale Watching from Akureyri, 3 hours from the Hof pier.

Winter has short daylight and fewer departures, so you will mostly be looking at the big boats from Akureyri. The reward on clear dark nights from late August through April is a chance of northern lights, according to Visit Akureyri. Sighting rates are not published, so no month comes with a promise, but humpbacks are seen in Eyjafjordur throughout the year.

Winter on the Fjord

Pack for the season, not the forecast on your phone. Akureyri reaches summer temperatures up to 25°C, while winter averages sit around 0°C, according to Visit Akureyri. Elding warns that it is often chillier out on the water than on land.

Every tour on this site lends warm gear, from thermal overalls on the big boats to full flotation suits on the RIBs and the Hauganes boats. Wear a warm layer underneath and you will enjoy the fjord in any month.