Whale Watching And Northern Lights Half-day Combo Tour

Whale was cool. Cab drop us off wrong place had to walk 30 minutes to find right place

The Tour was lovely and we saw a humphback whale and some seals. Our guide was really friendly and had alot of knowledge :)

I personally wouldnt return but it was very busy and popular. They say on advertisment you see lots but personally we didnt feel we did and could hear lots of people saying its expensive for what it is. It was that busy we couldnt get a spot on the top deck. But staff were lovely. Great cafe and clean x

The excursion was really good they try their best to have us see the whales, but they just did not want to show up. I would definitely recommend this excursion.

This trip was one of the most difficult I booked. The website I booked it on said transfers were included but Reykjavik sailors said they weren't so we had to pay extra (£90!!!!!) for transfers from the hotel to the harbour (3.4km drive). I had may conversations back and forwards as the tour is split into whale watching in the morning and then northern lights at night, so we requested pick up in the morning with a view to explore the city centre in between tours, and then a drop off after the northern lights. The guides were amazing and had plenty of knowledge. We were lucky to view 3 humpback whales and 2 dolphins which was amazing. We didn't get to see the northern lights but we didn't go out of the harbour so there was still a lot of light pollution. They do a revisit promise, but our have to pay for transfers again! Which at £90 makes things very expensive. I would recommend the whale watching tour but I would book a coach tour (which I have done previously) for northern lights as they take you completely away from all light pollution and when you rebook after unsuccessful viewings they pick you up from your hotel.

Beautiful experience! Saw lots of amazing whales and northern lights, staff were friendly and knowledgeable. Thank you

Absolutely excellent - great guides filling the gaps between sightings - really enjoyed it! Saw whales and northern lights first time

Wonderful experience, very recommendable. The guide on board was very nice and funny and we learnt a lot about whales and Northern Lights. We were very lucky and enjoyed a couple of whales dancing around for a long time and the green ray at night.

Amazing experience watching the whales. The weather was fairly rough but this added to the enjoyment. The lights were cancelled, in the evening, but easily rearranged within our visit. This was another great experience with a great crew.

Would definitely recommend this tour, operators were very friendly and gave clear instructions. Whale watching tour was very enjoyable, cold but well worth it as we saw lots of whales with some incredible scenery. The whale watching left around 1pm but the northern lights tour left around 9pm giving us a break in between that we didn't know we had. The northern lights tour was touch and go due to weather conditions but still went ahead, the weather was very cloudy/ foggy with lots of wind and snow so no chance of seeing the northern lights. Having seen other reviews of this tour mentioning other customer's behaviour, I would comment that the whale watching tour was a smaller boat with a smaller amount of customers with the northern lights tour being a bigger boat with far more customers. While this dynamic often comes with less control and more selfish behaviour I would also comment that the staff seemed more lax than on the whale watching tour. Granted there wasn't much to see on the northern lights tour but it did feel to have a less polished service. Suggest the northern lights tour could/ should have been postponed for better weather but would overall still recommend this tour and operator.

A great trip and very well organised the people were very nice and gave a great commentary about the whole trip. Excellent. We were very lucky to see a whale breach of which the person told us had not happened since summer.

I will break this review up into two parts. Firstly the whale watching, this in my opinion was by far the worst of the two experiences. When the whales are spotted you better pray you are on the right side of the boat as otherwise you aren't seeing anything. What I mean by that is the other guests will create a human wall blocking you off from seeing what you paid to see whilst they record low quality videos for TikTok. This could be fixed by having a tv screen on the top deck showing you the whales through a camera rather than everyone cramming to the side to block the view. The alternative at the moment is to go downstairs to look for them through plains of dirty glass. The Crew do nothing to make sure everyone gets to see the whales and does nothing to police the other guests during the time on board. It was similar but not as bad on the northern lights tour where we were fortunate enough to see them but most of the guest wouldn't turn their brightness down this then made things worse for the rest of us, again there needs to be a member of the crew actively policing these things in order to insure a better quality experience for all. I would suggest you do a private or small group version of both of these activities so that you can actually see them and not have other tourists inconsiderate behavior ruin it for you. I know the company is not responsible for other guests but they could at least have had someone trying to do something about it. Probably the worst experience I had in Iceland

I couldn't give 5 stars because I actually didn't see any whales, but it was in December and you can't control nature, lol. Even though no actual whale sightings, it's still a nice boat ride that you can capture some beautiful views. The captain was very funny &entertaining and they sold plenty of snacks and things for motion sickness for free.

The organization was good. Unfortunately we were told that February is not a good moth for whale watching once on the boat. In any case the crew and the boat are brilliant. Same for northern lights hunting

Was lucky enough to visit Iceland March 2024 with 4 other family members. We had a great time on this tour and were right next to a humpback whale! When we came back for part 2 of the tour we were also able to see the Northern Lights! Definitely a Bucket List worthy trip, would love to go back and see the country side when it's a lush green.

Sadly weather prevented the northern lights part of the tour but the whale watching tour was amazing! Crew was super knowledgeable and very friendly. I would definitely recommend this cruise to anyone.

I enjoyed the whale watching session, the boat was a little packed on deck so was sometimes difficult to find a space for clear viewing if the whales. The American tour guide was entertaining . It’s a pity we didn’t get to see the northern lights they didn’t want to appear

If you have extra money and it’s on your bucket list I would really recommend a smaller boat to see the Whales and Northern Lights , the tour said 3 hours for each and we spend less than 2 hours on each tour. The Whale watching we barely left the harbour as we saw some humpbacks but it would have been better to see one and then go further afield looking for dolphins and other whale species. It was also really hard to see anything because there were so many people we couldn’t get the edge of the boat to look out, and it stayed head on towards the whale whereas if it had moved to the side more people could have seen it. The northern lights we spent 30 minutes sailing out , 1 hour waiting and 30 minutes back. If they had stayed an extra hour from 10.30-11.30pm we may not have seen them still but would have given us a better chance and it is what we paid for. So all in all disappointed and wouldn’t do it again.

We only learnt that the tour was full until we arrived the pier ready to be on board. There was no phone call from the service provider but just an email. What is worse is that my booking showed “completed” on Viator platform and I am not sure how to request a refund. Why could customers book a tour if it was full?

We had a great time and would definitely recommend the combo whale-watching and northern lights tour. For the whale watching, we were pretty lucky and were able to see whales close to the harbor in the calmer waters. They did have some complimentary motion sickness tablets for those who were still feeling sick. Our guide was super knowledgeable about the whales and some took good pictures. They also had some complimentary warm overalls in various sizes that you could wear if you got too cold outside; there were plenty available for both the whale watching and lights. For Northern Lights we were able to see some throughout the night. It was never very bright, but I certainly can't hold that against the tour. It was very nice to be able to step into the warmth and grab a drink or snack when the lights weren't too active. The guide always announced when there was activity so you knew to come out. Our guide was knowledgeable about the lights and stars and would often point out constellations and different variations of the northern lights. We would definitely recommend this over a bus tour to see the lights.

Staff were very informative and knowledgeable and we successfully found a juvenile humpback! The only negative for me with the whale watching was the boat tends to get turned so that the whale(s) are at the front of the boat, which makes it hard for you to see them unless you’re at the front! Complimentary sea sickness tablets were given which were much needed as the water was quite rough! We were unsuccessful with the Northern Lights part of the tour on the first night so were able to go again the next night free of charge. We saw a glimpse of them creeping through the cloud and again the staff were very knowledgable. Would definitely recommend!

We saw whales and Northern Lights. Nothing is guaranteed and we were so very lucky to experience both amazing spectacles.

It has been a wonderful experience, from the very first moment. We also had so much luck because the sea was full of whales and dolphins, i recommend to try this even if you have a short time to spend in iceland: it deserves.

Spent 2.5 looking for a whale when we found it got to see the dorsal fin and tail before it went down only took 5 mins. Then boat turned to go in to port instead of letting us see it come back up the other boats stayed out to watch it was not happy as it was reason to go go Iceland

Great day, seen whales and northern lights on not such a promising day. Lucas made the day with his funny informative talk :)

Saw whales but kept turning boat which interrupted sighting. Ok but not great use of boat. Tried to share st wrong times.

The trip as a whole was great but it did not state anywhere on the booking confirmation or ticket that it was in fact two totally separate trips with about 3 or 4 hours in-between the trips. This would have been good to know so as to arrange a dinner before the evening cruise. But the cruise in the evening did not go ahead anyways due to poor weather conditions.

Very cold and stil enjoiable day with a lot humor, expectation en feeling like a child... Crew was funny and a lot of knowledge about the ocean life.

This was a brilliant day, the tour guide was very knowledgeable and funny. The thermal suits were great and we were very excited to see a Humpback Whale. The Northern lights part of the tour was also really special, I'd definitely recommend seeing them from the boat. A great day out.

Excellent communication from the company throughout. The weather was extremely cold, blowy and snowy but this did not affect our enjoyment of the trip. Warm overalls were provided and free seasickness tablets were available for those who wanted them. We travelled for only about 20mins before we saw a humpback whale. The sightings of humpbacks were then frequent, a few times coming very close to the boat, for the next hour and a half or so. The guide, Rosalinda, presented well and was very informative. There were drinks and snacks available to purchase and warm indoor space for those who didn’t wish to remain outside. The northern lights part of our tour was cancelled due to weather conditions, but we were offered to rebook (which we sadly couldn’t do this time), to visit the whales museum or a refund for this part of the trip which was processed extremely efficiently.

Crew members were very knowledgeable and helpful throughout the tour. We were fortunate enough to see a Humpback Whale more than once, however, were not so successful with the Northern Lights later - such is nature. The crew did keep us amused with facts and knowledge and stories of the area and Northern Lights and we were offered to return at our convenience to try again. Great little cafe/shop on the boat, warm and comfortable inside and the offer of suits to stay warm for outside ventures. Only comment would be that it says you can use your mobile ticket to get onboard when in actual fact you need to queue in the office for a boarding ticket first - caused a bit of confusion as everyone was going to the boat first. Great trip though - highly recommend ☺️

Enjoyed the day saw some whales Disappointed with northern light part of trip there was a 5 hour wait between end of whale watching tour & northern lights tour. Didn't see northern lights. Other operators canceled as it was to cloudy to see anything .

Saw a humpback whale. Northern lights not as expected. We saw them but you don't see all the colours just a very light green hue.

Half day whale watching tour. Great guide and lovely crew members. Best of all, we did see the whales and what an experience that was!

Incredible trip with great tour guides…especially Jonathan on the lights portion. He was incredibly helpful with cameras, information, and very knowledgeable. Highly recommend tour.

We did the combo whale watching/northern lights package. Unfortunately due to weather our northern lights portion was rescheduled and then eventually cancelled & refunded- they were very helpful in accommodating this. On the whale watching portion, they provided cozy coveralls so we could comfortably sit outside. We didn’t see any whales but after about 1.5 hours in we saw a number of dolphins. A good experience overall.

The Whale watching was fabulous. The crew were really knowledgeable and we couldn't have asked for more. The evening was spent looking for the Northern Lights. Again the guide was really knowledgeable, we saw a lovely hue. Definitely worth every penny

<p>Great tour, our guide was very informative about which whales we were seeing and was able to take us to where the action was. There was a good presentation at the end. Unfortunately the northern lights tour was cancelled so can't comment on that part.</p>

Unfortunately our whale watching part of the tour was cancelled due to bad weather but this couldn't be helped, and I was grateful they let us know, as we found communication with other tour companies very poor! The Northern Lights by boat was also cancelled but they did offer us to go by bus instead. They then rang back to say we could actually go by boat after all so that was great. They told us we needed to meet at the Reykjavik Sailors office, only to then be driven by jeep to the boat, which we had actually walked past on the way there. This was a bit frustrating as they could have just told us to meet at the boat and save us a few minutes walking in less than ideal weather. The boat itself seemed to belong to Special Tours and the tour also seemed to be operated by then so I can't say much more about Reykjavik Sailors. Unfortunately we didn't see the Northern Lights, but we knew this wasn't guaranteed and we did spend a decent time out at sea so I feel like we were given a fair chance to see them, just a shame the weather wasn't co-operaitng! As we didn't see the lights we were offered to go out another night but unfortunately we weren't able to take advantage of this due to the schedule of our holiday.

This company has the best price of any other whale watching company in Iceland. Their staff is kind, friendly, well educated and very very helpful. I did the Whale watching and northern lights combo tour, saw plenty of whales and amazing dancing northern lights. I will definitely go on a tour with them again. I 100% recommend Reykjavik Sailors.

Very motivated guide who gives a lot of additional information about whales. Nice atmosphere on the ship. Experience is highly recommended.

El staff del tour ha hecho la excursion muy amena, hemos tenido mucha suerte en poder ver ballenas durante un buen rato y culminamos la noche con el baile de las auroras boreales. Nos salio el dia redondo, gracias al tour a sido una experiencia muy bonita

Es una experiencia que no puede perderse, cuando se visita Islandia. El ver de cerca ballenas en su habitat es inolvidable y lo mismo con las auroras boreales.