Iceland (2 Viewers)

[Owene]

My wife has her heart set on a trip to iceland next year. Primarily for non wildlife stuff but she would like to see large whales.

I'd like that but the lister in me would rather see something new (have already seen Minke and Fin, and she wnats to see blue humpback or sperm whale) so would like to maximise the chances of different great whale species or orca.

I know there isn't much variety in wildlife on the island and that most of the interesting (from a uk perspective) things tend to be on the north coast (a quick google suggests a a lot of the whales are to)

Has anyone here combined a touristy (vulcanism, springs, swimming) type trip with wildlife excursions and have any tips or any day guides?

We're limited to school holidays (or maybe a long weekend) so late july or late may seem the most doable whereas june seems to the best time.

 

[Moo]

My wife has her heart set on a trip to iceland next year. Primarily for non wildlife stuff but she would like to see large whales.

I'd like that but the lister in me would rather see something new (have already seen Minke and Fin, and she wnats to see blue humpback or sperm whale) so would like to maximise the chances of different great whale species or orca.

I know there isn't much variety in wildlife on the island and that most of the interesting (from a uk perspective) things tend to be on the north coast (a quick google suggests a a lot of the whales are to)

Has anyone here combined a touristy (vulcanism, springs, swimming) type trip with wildlife excursions and have any tips or any day guides?

We're limited to school holidays (or maybe a long weekend) so late july or late may seem the most doable whereas june seems to the best time.

It takes quite a long time to drive to the north (speed limits are low) so probably not worth it for a long weekend. Husavik in the north is a good place for whale watching tours

 

[Owene]

Yeah a week is much more likely. Probably with 2 sites. Thanks for the recommendation

 

[opisska]

We have been to Iceland in late July 2022 for like 10 days. We originally planned for Husavik because of the chance for Blue Whale and for the two WP-rare ducks - Harlequin and Barrow's. But the weather forecast for the north was so insane that we stayed in the south - enjoying the blue skies there, it's very often "one side hell, other side heaven" - this is one thing to consider when planning. I expect that the whale watching trips in Husavik were simply cancelled for most of the week as there were 100+ kph winds in the forecast.

At this time, the ducks are quite scattered and not that easy to find, especially away from the NE. We managed to see a small group of Harlequins (in eclipse plumage, so not very stunning) from a bus on the north coast of Snaefellsness but no Barrow's. Maybe late May could be better in this regard?

We did two whale watching trips. One from Olafsvik with the brilliant Laki Tours - this has Orcas, Humpbacks (which were also easy to see from the shore) and White-beaked Dolphins. Then we did another more "touristy" one from Reykjavik where Minke were basically guaranteed. These trips were also great for birds (we finally saw European Storm-petrels after years of trying - and they were so close to the boats), another great birding was at Garthur lighthouse.

 

[opisska]

One advantage of late July is that they may already be rarities. We barely missed a White-rumped sandpiper in Grindavik (we did not get the news in time and walked right pass it. Don't plan a visit to Grindavik on your itinerary though, after the events of this morning, there probably won't be any Grindavik

 

[Owene]

Thank you guys. We’re at the very early planning stage and had started to think about staying in akureyri. The goldeneye and harlequin seem doable at myvatin.

The weather is obviously an issue especially as we would be booking well in advance.

The whale trips out of akureyri seem to stay in fjords and mainly see humpback whereas Husavik looks better for blue whale but is more exposed ocean

 

[delia todd]

It could be worth having a word with @Edward who lives in Iceland.

You might find some useful information on our Opus articles for Iceland, there's links to them all on this page: Category:Iceland - BirdForum Opus

 

[trw]

We've done a couple of cruises around Iceland and didn't find the whale watching that brilliant to be honest. I spent a lot of time out on deck with my bins, mainly to watch birds, but if there were many whales around I would have picked them up. It was far more productive for whales father north as we sailed to and from Greenland.
You mentioned Akureyri. If you open the link below it should take you to my report in the vacation forum on Birforum which includes Akuyeri.

A 14 night Cruise from Southampton to Norway and Iceland, 22/6/23 to 6/7/23.​

 

[opisska]

The whalewatching trips go specifically to places where they know the whales to be, that I suppose is the key difference w.r.t. cruises.

 

[trw]

The whalewatching trips go specifically to places where they know the whales to be, that I suppose is the key difference w.r.t. cruises.

That may be so but we've cruised through areas chock a block with whales without having to go on whale watching trips- and Iceland wasn't one of them. As we sailed out of one of the Iceland ports I kept my eye on a whale-watching boat hoping it might find some. Sadly there was no sign anything of interest was found, judging from the lack of reaction from the occupants. As we sailed out of Reykjavik the captain said we were sailing through a whale-rich area. Again I saw none.

 

[Dortmundbirder]

We saw Humpbacks and Orcas from a trip out of Reykjavik in late June.

Thick-billed Murre und European Storm Petrel and lot of Manx Shearwaters seen as well.

 

[James Lowther]

Dedicated whale watching trips from Reykjavik, Husavik and other ports in western Iceland have a very high success rate I believe.
Cheers
James