Most whale watching in Iceland stops at the end of September. Reykjavík's does not. The boats working Faxaflói Bay out of the Old Harbour sail through January and February, which is the only reason this category has any business on a winter site at all. Húsavík, the town every guidebook calls the whale capital of Europe, is a summer operation and there is nothing to book there in December.
Picked and checked by Björn Einarsson, Icelandic guide, against each operator's live listing
Can you go whale watching in Iceland in winter?
Yes, from Reykjavík. All four boats on this page sail Faxaflói Bay year-round out of the Old Harbour, and the strongest is Elding's Original Classic at 4.6 across 2,865 Viator reviews, three hours, with overalls, blankets and a live guide included. Its listing states that whales or dolphins are seen on more than 90% of tours in summer and winter. Húsavík in the north is summer-only, so it is not an option between November and March.
The four Reykjavík whale watching tours that run all winter
Two companies, four listings, one harbour. Elding boards at Ægisgarður 5c and Special Tours at Geirsgata 11, both on the Old Harbour quay in central Reykjavík. Every one of these sailings hands out thermal overalls, because standing on an open deck in Faxaflói in February is not something a city coat is built for. Where they part company is group size, what is waiting for you indoors, and how each one words its sighting policy.
Very popular: 10+ bookings in 6 hours
Best all-round winter sailing: the biggest review sample on the page, gear and blankets included, and the clearest published sighting figure of the four
The Original Classic Whale Watching from Reykjavík (3 hours)
4.6across 2,865 Viator reviews
Departs Elding Whale Watching, Ægisgarður 5c, 101 Reykjavík, on the Old Harbour; maximum 196 aboard
Live guide, overalls, raincoats and blankets, admission to the Wildlife Exhibition and free WiFi are all included
The listing states whales or dolphins are seen on more than 90% of tours, in summer and in winter alike
Live price on the listing shown for your date and currency at booking
Operated by Elding Whale Watching. Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund, and reserve now, pay later is available. Hotel pickup is not included on this one, so make your own way to the quay. Food, drinks and gratuities are excluded.
Classic or express departure
Best if three hours at sea sounds like a lot: the same bay on a shorter express sailing, from the second-largest review base here
Reykjavík Whale Watching Tour with Expert Guide (3 hours classic, 2.5 hours express)
4.3across 2,483 GetYourGuide reviews
Departs Reykjavík Old Harbour and runs year-round, with the Classic sailing operating in every month
Two lengths on one listing, so you can cut half an hour off the crossing if the forecast looks lively
2,483 reviews at 4.3, which is a large sample for a product this seasonal
Live price on the listing shown for your date and currency at booking
Operated by Special Tours Iceland. The 4.3 is the listing's current GetYourGuide figure. Nobody controls what swims past, and a quiet bay produces a one-star review as reliably as it does on the aurora tours.
Sail again free if nothing shows
Best safety net: Elding's GetYourGuide listing carries a sighting guarantee, so a blank sailing buys you another one for nothing
Reykjavík: the Original 3-Hour Whale Watching Tour
4.4across 1,141 GetYourGuide reviews
Elding Adventure at Sea, departing Reykjavík Old Harbour, three hours, running year-round
The listing carries a sighting guarantee: if nothing is seen, you can try again free of charge
Same operator and same boats as the top card, sold through the other platform
Live price on the listing shown for your date and currency at booking
Operated by Elding Adventure at Sea. Worth comparing side by side with the Viator version above, since the platforms price the same sailing differently and only one of the two spells out the retry.
Heated lounge and seasickness tablets
Best for anyone who gets queasy: the only listing here that names an indoor heated lounge and hands out seasickness tablets before you sail
Whale Watching Tour from Reykjavík with Special Tours (3 hours, with 2.5 and 3.5 hour options)
4.1across 692 Viator reviews
Departs the Special Tours Ticket Office, Geirsgata 11, 101 Reykjavík, with optional hotel pickup for an extra fee; maximum 190
Naturalist guide, thermal overalls, a heated indoor lounge with a hot drinks option, seasickness tablets and free WiFi
Runs year-round, and the listing states a sighting success rate of about 90%
Live price on the listing shown for your date and currency at booking
Operated by Special Tours Iceland. The 4.1 is the lowest figure on this page and we are not burying it. Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund, reserve now and pay later. Food and drinks are bought on board; hotel transfers are a paid add-on.
Opens the operator's official listing, where the live price and open times for your date are shown.
Comparing the four Reykjavík whale boats
Ratings, lengths, pickup and cancellation terms as shown on each operator's live listing. Prices are not printed here because they move by date and currency; the listing shows the real one.
Sailing
Platform
Rating
Length
Hotel pickup
Sighting policy on the listing
Elding Original Classic
Viator
4.6 (2,865)
3 h
Not included
Whales or dolphins on more than 90% of tours, summer and winter
Special Tours with expert guide
GetYourGuide
4.3 (2,483)
3 h classic, 2.5 h express
Not stated
Not stated on the listing
Elding Original 3-hour
GetYourGuide
4.4 (1,141)
3 h
Not stated
Sighting guarantee: try again for free
Special Tours from Geirsgata 11
Viator
4.1 (692)
3 h, plus 2.5 h and 3.5 h options
Optional, extra fee
Stated success rate of about 90%
The two Elding listings are the same company's boats sold through two platforms, which is worth knowing before you assume you are choosing between four different operations. You are really choosing between two: Elding and Special Tours. Compare them on the last column, because a guarantee you can actually claim is worth more in January than half a star of rating.
What each boat gives you before you leave the quay
Boarding points, capacities and on-board provision, taken from the live listings. Anything marked as not stated was simply not on the listing, so treat it as unknown rather than absent.
Sailing
Boarding point
Max passengers
Warm gear provided
Indoors and extras
You pay separately for
Elding Original Classic
Ægisgarður 5c, 101 Reykjavík
196
Overalls, raincoats, blankets
Wildlife Exhibition admission, free WiFi, live guide
Two listings spell out their kit in detail and two do not. That is a description gap, not a proof that the boat is worse, and both companies have run this bay for years. If the difference matters to you, book the one that puts it in writing.
Why Húsavík is not on this page
Húsavík, up on Skjálfandi bay in the north, is the town people mean when they say Iceland is the best place in Europe to see whales. Its season is summer. The boats there are laid up through the dark months, so between November and March there is nothing to book, and any site selling you a Húsavík winter tour is selling you a drive.
Reykjavík is the honest winter answer. Faxaflói is a productive bay that the boats have worked for decades, the harbour is in the middle of the city, and the sailings simply keep going. What you give up is variety: a winter crossing sees fewer species than a July one, and the listings here are careful not to promise a particular animal. Elding's Viator page commits only to "whales or dolphins", which is the correct way to word it. That page is the 4.6 across 2,865 reviews at the top of this list, sailing the Old Harbour every month of the year, so pick a morning in your week and see live availability on Viator for it.
What a winter sailing is actually like
The ticket office. Collect your overalls before you board, not after. They go over everything you are already wearing and they are the reason people last three hours out there.
The tablet. If you are prone to seasickness, take it before you leave the quay. Taken after the swell starts, it does nothing. The Special Tours Viator listing hands them out; on the others, bring your own.
Leaving the harbour. Flat water inside the breakwater, and a false sense of security. Faxaflói is open to the Atlantic, and the motion turns up once you are out in it.
The search. Crew and guide watching for blows. Everyone stands at the bow for the first half hour, then most people find the heated lounge and only come out when the tannoy calls a sighting.
The call. A direction and a distance over the speaker, and the whole boat moves to one rail. Blows first, backs second, and if you are lucky a tail as the animal dives.
Back alongside. Three hours after you left, in the dark if you sailed in the afternoon, since Reykjavík gets about four hours of daylight around the December solstice.
Dress for the deck, not the lounge. The overalls handle wind and spray, but they are not a substitute for a hat, gloves you can hold a phone in, and something over your ears. February sailings in Faxaflói can be genuinely rough, and if you are already unsure about your sea legs, the shorter express departure is the sensible booking. Our winter packing guide covers the layers, and the daylight guide explains why a morning sailing is worth more than an afternoon one in December. Take the morning boat and the afternoon is still yours, which is the case for booking a geothermal lagoon the same day: hot water is the quickest way to get the feeling back into your hands after three hours on an open deck.
Where the boats sail from
Everything on this page boards at Reykjavík's Old Harbour, a working quay a short walk from the city centre, and heads out into Faxaflói Bay. The two ticket offices, Ægisgarður 5c and Geirsgata 11, sit on the same stretch of waterfront.
The harbour is about a fifteen-minute walk from Hallgrímskirkja, which is why the Elding classic does not bundle hotel pickup and Special Tours charges extra for it. Compare that with the South Coast day tours, which drive 190 km to Vík and back.
Pick a morning and check the boat
Both operators cancel free up to 24 hours before and offer reserve now, pay later, so holding a winter date costs nothing while you watch the forecast. Elding's GetYourGuide listing goes further and lets you sail again free if nothing is seen, which is the closest thing to insurance anyone offers on wild animals.
Whale watching in Iceland in winter: common questions
Can you go whale watching in Iceland in December, January or February?
From Reykjavík, yes. All four listings on this page state that they run year-round out of the Old Harbour into Faxaflói Bay, and Elding's Viator page says whales or dolphins are seen on more than 90% of tours in summer and winter. What changes in midwinter is comfort and daylight: sailings are colder, the sea is rougher, and Reykjavík has roughly four hours of light around the December solstice.
What whales will I see in Reykjavík in winter?
The listings deliberately do not promise a species, and neither will we. Elding's Viator page commits to "whales or dolphins" on more than 90% of sailings, and the Special Tours Viator listing states a success rate of about 90%. A winter crossing sees fewer species than a July one. Anyone guaranteeing you a humpback in January is guessing on your behalf.
Can you go whale watching in Húsavík in winter?
No. Húsavík's boats work the summer season on Skjálfandi bay in the north and do not sail through the dark months, which is why nothing from Húsavík appears on this page. If you are in Iceland between November and March and want to see whales, Reykjavík's Faxaflói sailings are the option that exists, and they leave from the middle of the city.
Will I get seasick on a winter whale watching tour?
You might, and February in Faxaflói can be genuinely rough. Take a seasickness tablet before you board rather than once the swell starts, because they take time to work. The Special Tours Viator listing includes tablets and a heated indoor lounge; on the other sailings, bring your own. Standing outside watching the horizon beats sitting below deck staring at a phone.
What should I wear on a whale watching boat in Iceland?
Every one of these operators lends thermal overalls, and Elding also provides raincoats and blankets. Wear your normal winter layers underneath, then add the things nobody hands out: a hat that covers your ears, gloves you can still work a camera in, and a scarf. Three hours standing still on an open deck at sea is colder than three hours walking around Reykjavík at the same temperature.
What happens if you do not see a whale?
On Elding's GetYourGuide listing you can go again free of charge under its sighting guarantee. The other listings state success rates rather than a retry, so read the terms on the one you book. None of them refunds you simply for a quiet bay, because the boat still sailed. Booking early in your trip is the practical answer, since a second attempt needs a spare morning.
Do the boats pick you up from your hotel?
Mostly not. Elding's Original Classic states plainly that hotel pickup is not included, and Special Tours offers it from Reykjavík for an extra fee. The Old Harbour is central, roughly a fifteen-minute walk from the Hallgrímskirkja end of town, so most people walk it. In ice and wind, allow more time than the map suggests and wear something with grip.
