Whale Safari Iceland
Whale Safari Iceland
4.5
Boat Tours • Fishing Charters & Tours • Sightseeing Tours • Dolphin & Whale Watching • Nature & Wildlife Tours
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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
Whale Safari is Reykjavik's premier small groups whale watching & wildlife tour operator. Our specially made RIB boats are made to get close to the whales, dolphins and puffins of the Faxafloi Bay. We only seat 12 passengers per boat, and each boat has a expert whale watching guide and captain on board. This is the ideal way to come in contact with nature with this intimate experience. Another thing is that all our small group tours are real ocean safaris, as we search for the whales we also visit the puffins when they are in season and do a sightseeing tour of Reykjavik from the sea front. Oh! And all of this in less then two hours. Our ticket office and service center is located in the Old Harbor in downtown Reykjavik and is open year round from 8:00-21:00. Tours are operated up to 10 times a day, everyday from the 1st of April to the 31st of October.
Reykjavik, Iceland
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Tours and Tickets by Whale Safari Iceland
Travelers talk about
(47 reviews)
(11 reviews)
(3 reviews)
Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
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4.5
414 reviews
Excellent
324
Very good
49
Average
21
Poor
7
Terrible
13

Kirsty T
2 contributions
Apr 2023 • Couples
From start to finish, the experience was fantastic. The crew were professional, making us feel safe and educating us on the habits of the wildlife. Within 10 minutes of our excursion, we spotted white-beaked dolphins. On closer inspection, they were playing around a humpback whale. We also spotted 4 puffins - unusual for eatly April. Our trip was made even better when a humpback whale breached the surface within 10m of our boat. This has been the highlight of our holiday to Iceland.

I would recommend bringing hat and gloves as it is cold when the boat takes off.
Written April 7, 2023
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.

VM1
Edinburgh, UK6 contributions
Apr 2023 • Family
We saw hump back whales and dolphins and had the most amazing trip and our guide Eline and captain Gunni were both fabulous taking us to the right places. He made sure we had a fun ride back in too!
It costs quite a lot but it’s a small boat so you get the best views and can go out quickly and move to the right places.
Would highly recommend.
Written April 10, 2023
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.

Iweinvanaalst
Lille, Belgium587 contributions
Aug 2014 • Couples
All whale watching companies in Reykjavik patrol the same sea perimeter and keep constant radio contact with each other. Therefore the operator you choose has no impact on your chances to see whales.

The difference in price is related to the level of comfort and adventure you seek.

My girlfriend and I opted for Sea Safari because it is a family business offering a more intimate, customized and exhilarating approach.

Safety is taken very serious. Every participant receives a wetsuit, a safety vest, gloves and goggles. The zodiac is the same type of boat used by lifeguards.

The boat ride is very thrilling. You are half standing, half sitting on a sort of saddle that helps you absorb the impact when the boat jumps the waves. Nobody got seasick.

The crew was very professional, friendly and open to questions and requests.

Although the captain stayed longer at sea than announced and enlarged the seeking perimeter nature did not grant us an encounter with whales that day. We did see a lot of puffins near the harbor.

The crew apologized repeatedly and you could tell they sincerely felt bad about our unsuccessful venture, which convinces me that they are not just money grabbers but truly want to offer customers an unforgettable experience.

Upon our return to base camp we were offered free coffee and cookies to warm up, a gesture much appreciated.
Written August 30, 2014
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.

alanofchichester
Chichester, UK47 contributions
Jul 2014 • Family
Like some other reviewers, we had taken a whale watching trip with Elding a couple of days before, but having failed to see any whales on that trip, decided to have another go.
Having experienced both ways of doing this trip, there really is no competition. As others have said, the Elding "version" is on a bigger, slower ship, and the whole experience is less satisfying.
What impressed us about Sea Safari was the warm welcome, the clean (and sweet smelling!) suits and, above all, the cleanliness of the boat. It was spotless, despite, apparently, being 8 years old. It looks like new....apparently because the owner (Dad) is fanatical about looking after it.
The whole operation is run with a family atmosphere (Dad and daughter on the boat, Mum in the shop) and they seem like people who really care about giving visitors a good experience.
Others here have described (accurately) what you see and do, and the advantage of being able to react quickly by being on a small boat, but, there really is no comparison here to the "pile 'em high" style of the bigger ship operators.
This is definitely the trip to do, made all the more pleasurable by the friendly and super efficient family who run it.
Written July 20, 2014
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.

shakkazulu
Ottawa, Canada48 contributions
Jun 2013 • Couples
My wife and I decided to book the "Quick Puffin Tour" with this company as their zodiac boat seemed more suited to getting close to the birds on shore, and the company appeared to be family-run. Indeed, that is the case. The staff and skipper were extremely friendly, informative and personable. During the run out to the Puffins, the skipper noticed another boat following some dolphins and we tagged along and got to see them up close. It was a nice touch. We then stopped close to the shore and saw tons of Puffins flying around. I had a point and shoot camera and got a couple of good shots, although with the size of the birds you would really need a good tele-photo lens to get nice shots. The boat had binoculars for us to use as well. On the run back in we went under the Harpa, and all in all it was worth the money.
Written June 19, 2013
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.

erikkie39
The Hague, The Netherlands233 contributions
Jun 2013 • Friends
During our last day in Reykjavik, we wanted to see some puffins. In the harbour there were many options for a tour, most of them on huge boats loaded with tourists. However, with this company it would be only the two of us in a fast RIB-boat, which sounded very attractive.

During the trip, we noticed that it was not a standard puffin-tour. The captain/guide showed us all around the harbour and explained a lot. We spent more than an hour in the boat and had a great time.

Afterwards we were offered a cup of coffee to warm up. In short, this small family-run company is a lot more worth the money that the big tourist-companies, and is a great way to discover the harbour and surroundings of Reykjavik!
Written June 4, 2013
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.

EmptyNesters007-38
Monument, CO75 contributions
Jul 2014 • Family
This trip was a complete blast. You go in a smaller boat (about 12 passengers plus 2 crew - dual outboard motors). Since you are close to the water and (at times) cruising along at very high speed they set you up with amazing survival gear: Full 3M thermal body suit (they had sizes for EVERYONE in our 5-person group), neck protection, goggles, gloves, the works.

You leave the harbor and get a fun high-speed boat ride, then a short viewing of some puffins. Then you scream out further from the harbor and start whale watching. Since you are only a foot or two off of the water it really feels like you are part of the action - everyone is searching diligently for whales or porpoises. When the captain (or anyone on the boat) sees something, the captain is able to quickly get right to the action. Not only did we see many Minke whales, we clearly heard their exhale and even smelled their "stinky Minke" breath!

This excursion was probably the highlight of our Reykjavik trip. All of us felt that it wouldn't have been anywhere near as much fun on the larger boats that were near us. Not for the timid, though!
Written July 6, 2014
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.

Omri B
Omri B
Paris, France34 contributions
Jun 2014 • Friends
Hi,
we did a tour with Elding company the first day. Huge boat, many tourists, we really felt like we were in disneyland. Very disappointed.
The morning after,not wanting to stay on such a bad impression, we decided to book with Sea Safari for another round of whale watching.
Now this is in my opinion the ONLY way you should do it.
We are a dozen people on a super fast navy seals like zodiac. The captain and crew (his daughter) are so very nice and explain a whole bunch of stuff as well as answer all the odd questions we may have had.
When one sees a whale, one must be quick to go towards it because they don't surface for long (the minke whales at least don't). With Eldings like companies boats you cannot turn around quickly because the boats are too big and heavy. With the zodiac, it is very manoeuvrable.
Besides, the ride on the zodiac is just as fun as the actual whale warching part.
We were a group of 5 and we all agreed on that.
At the end of the whale watching part, they took us to see some puffins they we did a ride in the harbour too. They are not on a schedule like the others which makes the tour all the more enjoyable.

Sea Safari is a family run business. They are all so nice. Father and daughter on the boat, the mother in the shop.
We definitely recommend this company over the other ones.
Next trip in Reykjavik, I will definitely book another tour with this lovely family.
Written June 15, 2014
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.

Luckydog116
Orlando, FL23 contributions
Sep 2016 • Couples
It's been 3 days and my husband and I are still feeling the pain...literally and figuratively. The seas were so rough the afternoon we went out that we were jarred and slammed around as the boat came out of the water and pounded back down onto the swells. I feel the company risked safety just because they had sold 19 of 24 seats and had canceled trips the previous 2 afternoons. To top off this terrifying ride we saw no whales, dolphins or porpoises, and the price was not cheap. They did offer free rides on the large boat on another day, but we had had enough. The swells were so high it was impossible to spot anything. If you are considering this outing, make sure the weather is picture perfect.
Written September 11, 2016
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.

Emptynester3395
Monument, CO81 contributions
Jul 2014 • Family
A wonderful way to see the whales "up close"! We were out at the same time as the larger boats and had a much more personal experience. We were close enough to the Minke whales to hear them use their blowholes and even smell their fishy breath. We also saw puffins, dolphins and harbor porpoises. The operation is family run and the father/daughter co-captain team was professional and a lot of fun. Our captain gave us a quick tour of the harbor on the way back and even buzzed by the new concert hall on the harbor. I definitely recommend this tour!
Written July 22, 2014
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.

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