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Reykjavik: Half-Day Whales and Puffins Cruise Combo Tour

Activity provider: Special Tours Iceland
Bundle

Reykjavik: Half-Day Whales and Puffins Cruise Combo Tour

Activity provider: Special Tours Iceland

From US$ 117.94 per person

Eco-certified

Go whale and puffin watching in gloriously beautiful Reykjavík. Feel amazed at how many different types of whales you'll see.

About this activity

Free cancellation
Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund
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Covid-19 precautions
Special health and safety measures are in place. Check your activity voucher once you book for full details.
Duration 4 hours
Check availability to see starting times.
Live tour guide
English

Experience

Highlights
  • Sail from Reykjavik on a large boat to see the whales
  • See the puffins up-close on the little boat Old Skuli
  • Rest assured, if there are no whales you get another ticket for free
  • Stay warm and cozy with overalls supplied by the crew
Full description

Discover adorable puffins on a cruise from the Old Harbor in Reykjavík. Search for local whales on a second cruise from Reykjavík to Faxaflói Bay. Stay warm with inside seating and overalls. See local wildlife clearly with the use of binoculars on the puffin tour.

Travel by a small boat named Skúlaskeið (Old Skúli), perfect for puffin watching, since it has a shallow draught, and therefore can get really close to the small islands where the puffins live. The guides are very knowledgeable about the thriving bird life in Reykjavík's surroundings. Benefit from this combo tour's included classic whale watching tour, operated on the Andrea boat, lasting 3 to 3.5 hours. The Andrea is the biggest whale watching boat in Iceland, and has an educational and interactive focus. It is also family friendly and spacious with a cafeteria on-board. If you choose to, you can switch to the express tour leaving 1 hour later on a faster boat that gets you out to the whale watching area quicker than the other whale watching boats, but still allows you to have plenty of time. Most common whale sights in Faxaflói Bay are minke whales, humpback whales, white-beaked dolphins and harbor porpoises. Note that these are two separate tours and you don't have to do them on the same day.

Includes
  • Cruise trip
  • Warm inside seating
  • Warm overalls
  • Binoculars for the puffin tour
  • Guide on both tours
  • 100% sightings guarantee for the puffin tour
  • App in English, German, French, Spanish, and Chinese
  • Hot drinks and refreshments (available for purchase)

Select participants and date

Participants

Date

Meeting point

Meet at the Special Tours office in Reykjavik’s old harbor.

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Important information

What to bring

  • Warm clothing
  • Comfortable clothes

Know before you go

  • Please consider the best time for whale watching in Iceland is during the summer months (from April to September)
  • The chances of spotting whales may be lower at other times of the year
  • If nothing is spotted on the tour, get a free ticket to try again
  • Tours are dependent on correct weather conditions; your captains will make their decision to sail based on many years of experience, always keeping in mind passenger safety and comfort
  • Please note that the Express Whale Watching tour is a faster boat, so this option is 2-2.5 hours for whale watching. You spend the same amount of time in the whale watching area
  • The 9:00 AM departure is the Classic Whale Watching followed by the Puffin Express tour at 12:30 PM
  • The 10:00 AM departure is the Express Whale Watching followed by the Puffin Express tour at 12:30 PM
  • The 12:30 PM departure begins with Puffin Express, followed by Express Whale Watching at 2:00 PM
Customer reviews

Overall rating

4.3 /5

based on 131 reviews

Review summary

  • Guide
    4.8/5
  • Transportation
    4.7/5
  • Value for money
    4/5
  • Safety
    4.7/5

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The combination offered by Special Tours was a really good choice, especially choosing the faster tour for the whale watching. Less time travelling to the area, same amount of time to spot the whales, perfect! Going to watch puffins afterwards was great. Good explanations on both tours, a downloadable app with more info, binoculars to borrow for free to spot the puffins, everything was great! Also, despite the many tourists they have every day, they remembered me and gave me a discount for booking a second tour with them to go sea angling, lovely.

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September 6, 2022

it was absolutely highlight on our trip ---Seeing puffin was ok as they are shy birds and don't come close---so the only way we saw them close was through overhead flying with a fish in their mouth----which was loads of fun and learning about their nest was awesome--they keep it very clean --- whale watching for us was once in a lifetime experience ---we got 2 humpback whales close to the boat where we heard their sound, breach, tail fluke ---almost unbelievable ----weather co-operated a ton ---innumerable Minke whales ----staff very knowledgeable and courteous

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August 21, 2022

The tour was very well organized, all guides were on time and there was a lot of information about the animals and their habits. You could always speak to the guides and ask questions. The only stupid thing was that nobody told me at the ticket check that the puffin tour would take place on another boat afterwards. Luckily I checked again. On both tours, once whale watching, then puffin tour, you don't see much, because the boats don't drive that close so as not to unnecessarily burden the animals. Especially on the puffin tour you hardly see anything, but it's not a zoo either.

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July 30, 2022

Product ID: 74963