Frequently Asked Questions

You‘ll arrive at our ticket office 30 minutes prior to your departure time. We start by putting on our special overalls, which also act as flotation suits, life vests and other equipment. Next, you will meet your expert guide and the captain of the boat you will be travelling on. They will introduce you to the safety procedures, and give you a general overview of how the boat works. Next up is the tour itself. During puffin season, we normally start with a short 5 minute ride over to the puffin island. There we take about 10-15 minutes to view the birds before heading onward to where whales are frequently spotted. We spend about an hour searching for and viewing/photographing the whales, dolphins and other wildlife, if we find them. We then cruise back in the direction of Reykjavík and ride along the coast, viewing the Sun Voyager sculpture and the skyline of the city. Our final stop is at the ocean side of the famous Harpa Concert Hall, before returning to the ticket office.

We frequently see on our tours; minke whales, humpback whales, white-beaked dolphins and harbour porpoises. A few times over the year, so quite rarely, we encounter Orcas or larger species such as the fin whale. You will also see a variety of seabirds, including but not limited to, gannets, fulmars, guillemots, skuas and Arctic terns. Not forgetting the Atlantic Puffin, which make a spectacle of themselves from approx. the 15th of May to the 15th of August.

Yes! But only when they are in Reykjavík, which is approximately the 20th of April until 15-20th of August.

For the Whales, Puffins & Reykjavík tour, we head out to Faxaflói Bay. The main search area is located out on the bay between Reykjavík and Akranes, though occasionally we head towards the direction of Keflavik, where the international airport is located. It usually depends on where the most recent sightings have been, as well as weather conditions on the day. For the Premium Puffin tour, we cruise off to islands that are located just outside of Reykjavík, called Engey, Lundey & Akurey. On the RIB boats it only takes us approximately 5 minutes from the harbour to reach these islands, and it varies between tours and sightings which islands and how many we visit on the tour.

Our RIB boots seat up to 12 passengers plus one captain and one guide.

Well, this is nature and nature is its own master, so sometimes we do not find any whales or dolphins. This happens rarely (we have a success rate of around 95%). In these cases, we will give you a return ticket to use on the larger boats, the Classic Whale Watching, that is valid for two years and can be used in both Reykjavík and Akureyri.

The Whale Safari Team will happily advise and assist you to reschedule your booking to a new departure date if possible, when the weather conditions have improved. No charge is made on our behalf if you cannot join our tour due to cancellation from weather. In other words, if you have booked directly with us, we will give you a 100% refund of your money if we cancel your tour due to weather and you can not go on another date.

They are designed to keep you warm on the boat as well as warm and floating in the ocean, in the extremely unlikely event that you go overboard. Wearing these excellent suits is compulsory by law in Iceland. They also make for some fantastic selfie opportunities - since they are very fashionable..

No, you wear them over your normal clothes. We recommend a fleece or warm wool sweater underneath. However, we kindly ask you to remove your shoes while getting dressed in the overalls.

We have some available in the office, but it is advised to bring your own. We have a hard time keeping them available, as they keep getting "lost" :). So bring your own gloves and hat if possible, they are recommended on all tours, even in the Summer.

Those limits are set for safety reasons. Each individual in our tour needs to be able to touch the bottom of the boat with their feet while sitting on our suspension seats. That is very important especially during the full speed of our scheduled tour as we will teach you a technique we all "riding" the waves to maximise your comfort and safety during the tour. If in doubt, you are always welcome to come visit us down at the Harbour and a member of our crew will escort you down to the boat to check if someone you are travelling with can sit safely on the boat. We also have a height marker in our ticket office.

Children under the age of 18 years cannot go alone on our boats unless we have some form of written permission from the parents. Children under 14 years cannot go alone under any circumstance, even with permission.

Yes, most definitely. We have a very limited number of seats on each tour (12 per boat!). So if you want to be sure, book and pay on our website or in the ticket office in advance. Having said that, you can always call us or swing by the office to check on the availability.

No, unfortunately not on our RIB tours. They only seat 12 passengers so the price is fixed per seat, with every passenger paying the same price.

Maybe! Please contact our sales office at info@whalesafari.is with your details and we will be happy to make you and your group an offer.

Hotel transfers in the Reykjavík area are available only for our Classic Tours on the larger boats, but unfortunately not for our RIB / Premium Tours. However, you should keep in mind that we are located at the Old Harbour in Reykjavík, easily within walking distance (0-15min) from all hotels located in zip code #101 in Reykjavík. We encourage you to walk - for the environment and for your health :)

Yes, there is a larger free gravel parking lot close to our office. This is located on the west side of the shipyard and the hotel Marina, on the street Hlesgata.

For bookings made directly with us, we operate a 24-hour cancellation policy for almost all scheduled tours. This means, as long as we receive notice that you would like to cancel a tour, by email, at least 24 hours before the scheduled tour start time, a full refund is offered. After this time, a 100% cancellation fee is charged. For private tour bookings, or special event tours - such as the Solar Eclipse RIB Cruise - a 48-hour cancellation policy is in operation, unless stated otherwise on your ticket. Please be aware that if you booked through a travel agent or third-party, they may operate with a different cancellation policy.

We reccommend wearing sturdy flat bottom shoes and dressing in warm clothing, maybe a wool sweater or fleece, as it is often considerably colder on the sea than on land. On board we use the warm floatable overalls along with a personal flotation device, both fitted and supplied by us. If you have gloves and warm hats bring them along. Please note in cases of heavy rain, our overalls are not fully waterproof, so some waterproof layers underneath are advised.

Wear just about any kind of shoes as long as they are not open (like sandals) or have heels (high heels). So that means that running shoes, hiking shoes, wellingtons, boat shoes (yes, like the hipsters wear) are all perfect.

Yes, you can wear your glasses and sunglasses on the tour. We can explain to you on location how to keep them safe. We also have special goggles that we supply, and you can wear these over your glasses if you prefer. If you have contact lenses, we recommend using them on the tour instead.

That is a tricky question! Of course, it depends on the ever-changing Icelandic weather. If there is heavy rain, or choppy seas, then you may get wet. Our fashionable overalls are water-resistant but not fully waterproof, so we do encourage you to bring waterproof layers (tops & bottoms!) to wear underneath. Water-resistant or waterproof shoes are also recommended in this case. On a calm day with no rain then you aren‘t likely to get wet.

You are of course welcome to bring your camera or phone along on the tour but it is always at your own responsibility. Most of our guests, as well as our crew members, do bring phones and cameras with them on the tours and some have captured unbelievable photos and videos. There are pockets on the overalls you wear that are ideal for storing smartphones and small cameras. Larger cameras or DSLR/ Mirrorless cameras are best taken onboard with straps around your neck, then you can tuck them under your suit whilst sailing on the boat. We do not want to risk it moving around while the boat is sailing. Your guide and captain can explain all of this and how to best keep the camera stored both safely and in a way that you can quickly grab it if something exciting starts happening all of a sudden!

No, our RIB boats are open boats made for agility and speed, and so do not have a cafeteria. Some people like to bring a small bottle of water or some refreshments with them to keep in the pocket of the suit. The tour itself is only two hours long so there is no need to bring anything with you.

It depends on the conditions on the day of the tour. In the ticket office you can get the current information about sea conditions. If you visit us on the day of the tour or the day before we will advise you what to do. We also offer free motion sickness tablets or ginger sweets if you want to take one before the tour. If we recommend that you do not do the tour on a particular day, we can help you alter your travel itinerary.

Yes, you are able to join the tour if you are pregnant in the first trimester, but we recommend consulting your doctor before doing so. Please keep in mind that pregnant women can often be more vulnerable to sea sickness. If you are further along than 3 months, we do not recommend going on the RIB boats. You can still go whale watching on our larger boats though!

Unfortunately our boats are not wheelchair accessible. However, we have fully accessible bathroom facilities in our ticket office if required.

No, our RIB boats are open boats that do not have toilets. We encourage customers to use the toilets in our service center before the tour starts and before you are wearing our fashionable overalls.