Special Tours
Special Tours
4.5
Boat ToursEco ToursFishing Charters & ToursDolphin & Whale WatchingNature & Wildlife Tours
8:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Monday
8:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Tuesday
8:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Wednesday
8:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Thursday
8:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Friday
8:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Saturday
8:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Sunday
8:00 AM - 9:00 PM
About
Special Tours operates sea adventures from Reykjavik city centre with over 20 years of experience. Whale Watching tours are operated year round, with additional tours consisting of Northern Lights by Boat, Puffin Watching, Sea Angling, RIB Express Whale Watching and a New Years Fireworks Cruise. Special Tours Wildlife Adventures is known among passengers and partners for its ambitious & hard working team, aiming for great adventures for every tour and for every client. Our main focus is comfort and personal service, while making sure we protect and respect the environment. We have a skilled & friendly crew, as well as an experienced guide on every tour.
Reykjavik, Iceland
Meets animal welfare guidelines

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Tours and Tickets by Special Tours
Travelers talk about

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles3,347 reviews
Excellent
2,126
Very good
674
Average
247
Poor
144
Terrible
157

NewcastleTerrier
newcastle3 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2020
Our boat trip was in early March 2020. We paid for aticket online which included entry to the Whale Museum a short walk away. (This was one of the options). We payed an extra fee of £12 each to have pick up and drop off from our hotel. Everything went smoothly. Luckily at that time of year the boat did not have a huge amount of people on it. The guide was so knowledgeable and explained everything carefully, as well as admitting it was not always possible to get a siting, but encouraging all to use the clock method or just shout and point if we saw a whale. In fact he was the one who did most of the work. We did not expect to see much at that time of year, but there were minke whales arching and blowing about 50 metres off the boat. On the return journey we were so lucky to catch site of a fin whale (second largest in world) further out. Warm saloupettes and jackets were offered if wanted, which some people took advantage of as it was so cold out in the bay.
On the return journey there was a small lecture with bones to show us in the little cafe on the boat. Would recommend and I would definitely do the trip again. Wanting to see the iconic humpback breaching or diving with flukes high in air. We didn't see that this trip. Be warned...whale siting not guaranteed...you take your chance.
Written March 27, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for your review! We're glad to hear that you enjoyed your tour and experience with our company. We will be sure to pass the compliments along to the guide and crew. Minke whales are one of the four most common species that we encounter, but the fin whale is much rarer to see in the bay. It occasionally happens once or twice per year, so this was an exciting trip for both our passengers and crew! It is true that sightings cannot be guaranteed as we are working with wild animals. If nothing is seen on a tour, we offer a free ticket to try again that never expires :) We are running our Instagram competition, so if you were able to get any good photos from your tour with us just use the tag #AhoyReykjavik to enter. We pick one winner each month and that person gets their ticket refunded. Thank you for choosing Special Tours, and we hope that you enjoyed the rest of your stay in Iceland! Kind regards, Special Tours Crew
Written April 9, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Beth M
New York City, NY29 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020
The Northern Lights by Boat tour from Special Tours was recommended to be by fellow passengers on another tour I was doing in Iceland. Their website made it easy to book via my mobile phone. The pickup from the hotel was on time, and once I arrived at the boat, I was given the option to wear one of Special Tours's cold weather suits over my clothes. The boat had an outside viewing deck as well as an inside, heated cabin with a cafe.

The guide told us what settings to use for our cameras, and informed us that as we were leaving the harbor, the Lights could already be spotted in the sky. This led to an incredible display that lasted the entire time we were out there, about 2.5 hours. In addition, the guide offered to take photos of any passengers with the aurora in the background, which were then posted on line the following day.

Obviously, the company cannot guarantee whether the Northern Lights will be visible, but they do an excellent job getting you out there, away from the lights of the city, and do whatever they can to make it a memorable experience.
Written February 5, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear Beth, Thank you for your review! We're happy to hear that you enjoyed your Northern Lights by Boat tour with us and we will pass the compliments along to our crew. We are running our Instagram competition, and we would love to see any photos that you took! To enter, just use the tag #AhoyReykjavik to enter. We pick one winner each month and that person gets their ticket refunded. Thank you for choosing Special Tours, and we hope that you enjoyed the rest of your stay in Iceland! Kind regards, Special Tours Crew
Written February 17, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Morten F
3 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2020
We did a 3 hour whale watching tour from Reykjavik end of June 2020, so right after Iceland opened up to tourists again. You could barely notice that Covid19 was around apart from the available hand sanitizers.

Everything on the tour was perfect. The guide was very fluent in english, very knowledgeable and a great whale spotter.
We were told about the different species of the harbour, how to point them out, and about their lifestyle.
We saw a lot of minke whales, a couple of humpback (even with 1 of them breaching out of the water) and a bunch of puffins! (The small little fat birds, that can barely take off again from the water)

On the boat there was a small cafe, where you could sit indoors and enjoy a nice cup of hot chocolate (And other beverages) for a reasonanble price. (I think it was around 400 ISK)
Written July 16, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you so much for your review! We're happy to hear that you enjoyed your tour with us, and we will pass the compliments along to your guide and the crew. Minke and humpback whales are two of the four most common species that we encounter. It's also quite common to see puffins as we sail out during the summer months - there is a colony of roughly 30,000 of them that nest on the islands just off of Reykjavik's coastline. Thank you for choosing Special Tours, and we hope that you enjoyed the rest of your time in Iceland! Kind regards, Special Tours Crew
Written July 20, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Amelie S
Luxembourg City, Luxembourg13 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2019 • Couples
We had a wonderful experience with the Specialty Tours team aboard the “Andrea” this past Silvester. We booked it in May or so ( to be well on time). The guide was very funny and music played on the outside areas of the boat, the inside was quiet. My husband and I stood right in front of the bridge while being outside, not on the top deck where it was actually crowded despite the chilly winds and slight rain , and that provided a perfect view towards all fireworks ignited across Reykjavík. The bubbly provided was drinkable (we didn’t buy anything else) but we came for the views and not for the drinks.
Listening to Queen and ABBA we celebrated the new year and really had a great time. We can only recommend this specific boat trip! It was not an overbooked tour but just so making sure everyone was able to take a seat.
Written January 7, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear Amelie, Thank you so much for your review! We're glad that you enjoyed your New Years Eve Cruise with us to watch the fireworks and celebrate. We will make sure that we pass the compliments along to our guide and crew. We are running our Instagram competition, so if you were able to get any good photos from your tour with us just use the tag #AhoyReykjavik to enter. We pick one winner each month and that person gets their ticket refunded. As we say in Iceland, gleðilegt nýtt ár! Kind regards, Special Tours Crew
Written January 12, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Caroline A
Welwyn, UK24 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2021
Our original booking had been cancelled due to poor weather - this was communicated to us very efficiently. We managed to rebook for a night when the kp rating was 4. Due to Covid restrictions the boat was only allowed 50% capacity which was nice as it wasn't too crowded and there was plenty of room on the top deck. The lights took a long time to reveal themselves, but when they did at about 11.30pm, they were spectacular and we stayed out later than midnight in order to enjoy them.
This is quite an easy way to see the lights as you just take a boat from the harbour in Reykjavik but the sky isn't as dark as it would be if you travelled out of the city. You could still see the city lights on the horizon and the beam from the Imagine Peace tower was bright plus the moon. However we had a memorable night and got some great pictures. Thank you to the crew for their perseverance and not rushing us back to the harbour just because our time was up. We expected it to be cold so wore plenty of layers and were fine, we were lucky as it was a calm still night with no wind or rocking boat. There were extra overalls available but were not needed by anyone.
Written November 27, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you so much for your time and review! We're happy to hear that you had a great night on your Northern Lights by Boat tour with us! We try to go extra mile for our guests and sounds like our crew did their best on the night of your travel! We will pass the compliments along to the crew. Thank you for sailing with Special Tours, and have a great day! Kind regards, Special Tours Crew
Written December 18, 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Hannah Brocklebank
Cambridge, UK117 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020
Sadly we booked this trip on day 3 of 5 of our trip. It was cancelled due to weather, we arrived at the tour office without knowing, they said they had sent an email but I checked and we hadn't. Another couple arrived with Reykjavik Excursions bus and didn't know either- the driver obviously wasn't informed too.

The weather had predicted bad for day 4 too. We had other plans before going home on day 5 so we couldn't rebook. On day 5 we read that the tour was going ahead- allow for cancellations!

We booked through Reykjavik Excursions and their refund process has been seamless.
Written January 25, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear Hannah, Thank you for your feedback - we're sorry to hear that your tour was cancelled. Whenever the weather is not suitable to sail we always cancel the tour as we want our passengers to be safe and comfortable. We send an email out to everyone who has provided us with contact. It's quite strange that you did not receive it, so we sincerely apologize for this and are looking into any errors that could have occurred with our automated system. We're glad that you received your refund quickly from our partners at Reykjavík Excursions and hope that you enjoyed the rest of your stay in Iceland! Kind regards, Special Tours Crew
Written February 4, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Malgorzata
12,085 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2019
Great whale watching tour. When I took a whale watching tour with Special Tours was great weather. The crew were courteous and helpful. They use a clock system to direct you to where the whales are, 12 o’clock being straight ahead 6 o’clock being behind, and so on. Plenty of opportunities to get photos, to create some special memories. But, you see more when your not trying to photograph them. The first we saw on our trip were white-beaked dolphins. And then we saw a whale coming up among the dolphins . It was a humpback whale. It surfaced several times right next to the boat . Suddenly, the humpback jumped out of the water showing us his entire body only a few meters away from our boat. He was so close. It was really breathtaking. I would highly recommend everyone.
Written March 31, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear Margo, Thank you for your review! We're happy to hear that you enjoyed your whale watching tour with us and we will pass the compliments along to our guide and crew. Humpback whales and white-beaked dolphins are two of the four most common species we encounter, and are often the most active around the boats. We are running our Instagram competition, so if you were able to get any good photos from your tour with us just use the tag #AhoyReykjavik to enter. We pick one winner each month and that person gets their ticket refunded. Thank you for choosing Special Tours, and we hope that you enjoyed the rest of your stay in Iceland! Kind regards, Special Tours Crew
Written April 9, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Laledid
Timbo, SC4 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2022 • Couples
We bought the Northern lights boat tour because we read on their website it is refundable in case of cancelations due to bad weather. It was cancelled twice, then they sailed one night (even tho there was no forecast in favour to see the northern lights, that went one for the whole week). We didn’t see anything, but we noticed the boat was supper crowded and realised it was because of a few days of backlog, people that had their ride cancelled for a few days all went that night. But we went anyway even tho forecast wasn’t in favour (it was super cloudy). We now know they do it to clear the backlog of people as much as they can, as once you went on the boat (even if nothing to see) your tickets are not refundable anymore (but you can use them anytime in the future years, as if going to Iceland was that easy and affordable). If we hadn’t gone, we could have asked for the refund. We should have trusted the visitor centre (they told us that day that forecast was bad) but we trusted Special Tours and now we lost quite a lot of money.
This information is not clear on their website, says you can request a refund but doesn’t say that if you went after cancelations and didn’t see it, than you can’t have the refund. So trust the forecast more than you trust their call, they have to make sure they don’t need to refund a full week of tickets so they will take you on a boat ride even if cloudy and not in favour. Gave it 2 starts because staff was nice and fun anyway.
Written December 7, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

deedeeb82022
1 contribution
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2022
My husband and I conversed with this company for some time before we arrived. We let them know I was disabled. They suggested this more expensive ride in a RIB boat knowing it is not safe. The first big wave we hit (15 minutes in) we slammed down on the flat water. Rough seas! It was then that my back broke & I ruptured discs. I was thrown all over on every wave. I could barely hold on. Finally we stopped the boat. They thought I was seasick. But when we mentioned I hurt my back, they did not care! I moved 2 rows back but it did not matter. They should have stopped the boat & returned me to shore! There is NO way I would take this ride. The company could care less about patrons. They knew I was hurt trying to walk to get back to the shack after the ride. When I contacted the operator that sold my tickets they did not even have the decency to write back & at least apologize. Don’t waste your money!! If you get hurt they don’t care & won’t do anything to help you.
Written July 15, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Zoie
London, UK12 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020
Running a tour in Late December despite lack of whales is rip-off.
They knew there wasn’t any whale as they migrated. But still that run whale watching tour.

I didn’t see any whales or dolphin but some little birds.

My son said he saw Cormorants on the way there and White-beaked dolphins on the way back as we were about to give up hope in which case they would offer a free trip.
We both are disappointed, feeling wasting a day of our week holiday and money.

There are others whale watching companies which they don’t run the tour after Nov due to whales migration in December.
Written January 1, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for taking the time to provide us with your feedback, and we're very sorry to hear that you did not enjoy your tour with us. While summer is the high season for whale watching, we see whales year-round in Faxaflói. In December 2019 we saw minke whales, harbour porpoises, white beaked dolphins and orcas (killer whales). The last 4 days in December all had sightings (a mix of minke whales, white-beaked dolphins and harbour porpoises). Despite not being the high season, winter whale watching still has incredible potential - the most successful month for humpback whales this past year, for example, was in January. No matter what time of year it is, we can never guarantee sightings of wild animals. All other companies operating with the larger boats in Reykjavík sail year-round. Companies using the smaller RIB boats do not sail during the winter (we also do not offer our RIB tours after October). Whenever nothing is seen we offer the chance to come back for free on another tour. This offer never expires, so whenever you know the date you wish to return you can contact us at info@specialtours.is. Thank you again, and we hope that you enjoyed the rest of your stay in Iceland. Kind regards, Special Tours Crew
Written January 3, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

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