Dolphins and whales on our luxury whale watching cruise.
Luxury whale watching from Reykjavik harbour on a superyacht. Relax in style until we reach the feeding grounds then gasp in wonder at nature’s giants.
Success! We found some adorable white-beaked dolphins and a couple of gorgeous minke whales, along with many sea birds including guillemots, gulls, cormorants and kittiwakes.
We set out after lunch on the beautiful superyacht Amelia Rose from Reykjavik Old Harbour, it was a brisk day but the seas were a lot calmer than they had been recently and Amelia Rose cut straight through the remaining swell. We sailed out from Reykjavik through one of the most beautiful harbours in Iceland, past the islands of Engey and Akurey, then Lundey, which is named after the large breeding population we have of the North Atlantic Puffin. We have 60% of the world’s population of these amazing sea birds in Iceland over the summer months!
Today we didn’t see any puffins as it is August and almost all of them are now out in the North Atlantic ocean, but we taught our customers how to spot whales, dolphins and porpoises by using the other sea birds. There wasn’t a huge quantity of them out today but sufficient to give us good hope of finding cetaceans.
There were plenty of fulmars and seagulls as well as a few cormorants and gannets. The gannets are always a brilliant bird to follow when looking for whales or dolphins as they are really big, with bold markings and dive from about 30metres to fish, so easy to spot, and a wonderful sight to behold in their own right.
It was because of the birds that we found the dolphins, a wonderful, playful species, who will often bow ride our ships. Today they were breaching a lot, jumping clean out of the water, playing in the waves. We followed the dolphins from a distance, respectful of their space to hunt and play. They ended up leading us directly to a couple of beautiful minke whales, their dark skin shining in the light. It was wondrous to see.
The feeding ground we often find whales in has many different areas, with a variety of depths and types of seafloor, so we checked all of them and stayed in touch with all the other boats in Faxafloi that day. It meant our trip was slightly longer than normal but we really wanted to find the whales. Sadly we did not succeed and by the time we got back in the night was drawing in, so we gave everyone free returns for 3 years in the hope they could join us on the yacht again to go and see the wonderful marine mammals we have here just off the coast of Reykjavik, and find out why it is a must-do in Iceland.
Seeing whales and northern lights are rightly on the top of peoples Icelandic bucket lists, and we love showing everyone both. If you have booked onto a whale watching tour with us you can come out with us to see the aurora for half price, but still aboard the luxury whale watching super yacht Amelia Rose. Sea Trips Reykjavik sail daily from Reykjavík Old Harbour, Iceland. Our yacht, Amelia Rose was built as a superyacht in 2003 and as such is extremely comfortable and stable.
However the seas often change here, and people are affected differently by the movement of the oceans. As such we have seasickness tablets available for free at the bar. We also have warm blankets and ponchos around the yacht for your comfort, though the inside of the ship is extremely warm and snug.
For more information on our boats, our trips and any accessibility questions please email us at seatrips@seatrips.is or look through our FAQs.
Learn more about whales on the National Geographic website.
Luxury Whale Watching in Iceland
