Whale watching tours in Iceland
| country: | Iceland |
| departures: | Two departures per day in May and September. Three departures per day from June to end Aug |
| price: | From K4100 (approx £29) (half day) per adult and from K1800 (approx £13) per child (6-15 years) excluding flights. Additional K500 (approx £4) for pick-ups |
the amazing things you'll be doing
The whales most frequently seen on tours with us are the Minke whales, Humpback whales, Dolphins and Porpoises other species are sometimes spotted.
We have excellent guides to tell you about your trip and describe what you can see and where to look, together with an introduction and safety guide. We tell you about the seabirds and nature in the Faxaflói bay. How much we see depends on the sea conditions and season, but our qualified guides are always happy to try to answer all your questions.
Depending on the tide and sea we start or end the trip by going to either Akurey or Lundey islands, to watch the puffins (May 15-Aug 15). No two whale watching trips are the same. We have to be flexible and organize your trip taking sea conditions, weather and seasons into account. We rarely have to go further than 15 km from the harbor.
For your comfort and warmth, we have special suits on board we can lend you to keep warm, but we do advise you to wear your warmest clothes - hats, scarves, gloves etc – as it can get very cold (even on the warmest days) when the boat is moving to follow the whales. We also offer hot drinks and soup in our on-board café. Alternatively, you can sit inside the boat in the warmth, with large windows to watch the whales outside.
Each trip takes about 2.5 - 3.5 hours. Do join us. We look forward to seeing you!
Fun for the children: Elding wants to make sure that the children are entertained during the trip. Therefore, there is a special children’s area inside the boat where they can play. The young ones can have fun playing with plush whales, puffin toys, coloring books and children’s books on whales and sea birds in many languages.
We have excellent guides to tell you about your trip and describe what you can see and where to look, together with an introduction and safety guide. We tell you about the seabirds and nature in the Faxaflói bay. How much we see depends on the sea conditions and season, but our qualified guides are always happy to try to answer all your questions.
Depending on the tide and sea we start or end the trip by going to either Akurey or Lundey islands, to watch the puffins (May 15-Aug 15). No two whale watching trips are the same. We have to be flexible and organize your trip taking sea conditions, weather and seasons into account. We rarely have to go further than 15 km from the harbor.
For your comfort and warmth, we have special suits on board we can lend you to keep warm, but we do advise you to wear your warmest clothes - hats, scarves, gloves etc – as it can get very cold (even on the warmest days) when the boat is moving to follow the whales. We also offer hot drinks and soup in our on-board café. Alternatively, you can sit inside the boat in the warmth, with large windows to watch the whales outside.
Each trip takes about 2.5 - 3.5 hours. Do join us. We look forward to seeing you!
Fun for the children: Elding wants to make sure that the children are entertained during the trip. Therefore, there is a special children’s area inside the boat where they can play. The young ones can have fun playing with plush whales, puffin toys, coloring books and children’s books on whales and sea birds in many languages.
travelling with a local operator
This holiday is operated by a company based in the holiday destination and they will be able to provide expert local knowledge. They will be able to tailor make your holiday to suit your requirements not only concerning the dates of travel but also typically the standard of accommodation, and thus price. It is rare for local operators to be able to help with the booking of your flights.how this holiday makes a difference
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On our whale watching tours through the magnificent Icelandic nature we place a heavy emphasis on our leave no trace policy:
At the start of every trip we will provide participants with information on how best to pass through with out leaving their mark, so future generations can visit these special places in their natural state. On every trip all participants are instructed not to remove anything from site and try their utmost not to disturb wild life. When we need transport between places or transfer of people, luggage or supplies we offset the carbon emission through the Icelandic Carbon fund. We take part in the Icelandic Nature Conservation organization and through them take an active part in supervision over constructions in the highlands of Iceland. The organization is public forum that issues statements and gives their opinion on all matters concerning construction in the Icelandic nature. We recycle as much of our waste as possible. Both at our office, at our base camps, in our restaurant and on tours we take all waste with us and dispose of it after the trip. We only use local guides, Icelanders that are passionate about their environment and its conservation. We run our own guide school here in Iceland. There we train all our own guides. Environmental matters are kind of imprinted in all Icelanders. We are the only nation that depends solely on renewable energies for heating our houses and creating electricity (no fossil fuels except for cars). The conservation of electricity here in Iceland is therefore not the same big issue as else where in Europe. We also have an abundant supply of water since we have very much rain- and snowfall. In addition to that the Icelandic nature is so unspoiled that all running water in Iceland is fit for drinking, right out of the rivers and streams. Hence bottled water is not an environmental concern, it is not used on any of our trips. Every single trip we operate is genially Icelandic, packed lunches are made with Icelandic ingredients such as cabin smoked lamb from Húsavík, dried fish from Vestfirðir. If we dine in restaurants we eat, for example, at Rauða Húsið or Hafið Bláa Icelandic seafood restaurants in the small towns of Eyrarbakki and Stokkseyri on North Atlantic coast. All our services are performed in the countryside or highlands and we are fiercely local, using only hostels, guesthouses or hotels where we have a personal relationship with its owners and staff. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |