The weather is not being so kind to us at the moment with a lot of strong wind days. But today we got back out into the fjord and there are still many groups of white beaked dolphins out there. We saw a lot of different groups, including some with very small calves.
Author: laki
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Best Grundarfjordur Shore Excursions
Grundarfjordur is a charming fishing town, situated in the West of Iceland. Many travellers in Iceland visit this place because of the famous Mt. Kirkjufell located on the west side of the town. Kirkjufell is probably the most photographed mountain in Iceland and not the only highlight to explore in and around Grundarfjordur. Since a few years, several cruise ships stop here during summer for a few hours. Normally the cruise ships offer guided day tours on board for the whole day. But we know there are many travellers who prefer organising their stay individually. In this article, we would like to introduce some interesting Grundarfjordur shore excursions.
Grundarfjordur Shore Excursions by Boat
The most authentic way of exploring a little fishing town is by boat. We offer two interesting tours directly from Grundarfjordur harbour in a traditional oak fishing boat. Our charming Láki SH55 boat is perfect to explore the suroundings of Grundarfjordur. This boat is excellent for our sea angling and birdwatching tours with its slow rocking motion and open deck. Both tours are ideal if you also want to spend some free time in Grundarfjordur to explore the town itself, the surounding mountains, the harbor or a nice café.
Birdwatching Tour from Grundarfjordur
Our birdwatching tour is one of the most popular tours for travellers looking for a shore excursion in Grundarfjordur. You sail to the protected island Melrakkaey where hundreds of puffins nest during summer. Sail around the island and have a close look at these cute little birds that nest in borrows. The puffin, Iceland’s unofficial national bird, is not very shy and therefore great to watch. The birds often fly all around the island, sit on the water and also in front of their borrows on the island itself. But the puffin is not the only bird you can enjoy on our birdwatching tour from Grundarfjordur. Other birds that nest there include shags, cormorants, guillemots, and kittiwakes. On top of that, you can enjoy the beautiful scenery of the fjord which includes Mount Kirkjufell, the most photographed mountain in Iceland. Please book your birdwatching tour from Grundarfjordur by clicking this LINK.
Sea Angling & Birdwatching Tour from Grundarfjordur
Another authentic shore excursion from Grundarfjordur is our sea-angling and birdwatching tour. As on our birdwatching tour described above, you will sail to the protected island Melrakkaey, to enjoy puffins and other sea birds. The second highlight of this 2 hours tour is our fun sea angling experience. The water around Grundarfjordur is famous for its richness in fish and it is great fun to spend some time fishing out at sea. This fishing tour is suitable both for beginners but also for more experienced anglers. You receive all necessary fishing equipment from us. You can book this fishing tour under the following LINK.
Explore Grundarfjordur by Foot
After joining one of our boat tours, there will be definitely also some free time to explore Grundarfjordur on your own. Everything is in walking distance and this useful map provided by the town’s information center shows the most interesting places to explore and eat.
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A Huge Blow in the Distance
Summer Whale Watching in Breiðafjörður
Summer whale watching in Breiðafjörður is always pretty incredible. From the end of April, we start to see familiar, tall, dark fins appear on the horizon as the high killer whale season begins. Then, come June, we head out to the deep water to find the elusive sperm whale bulls that come here (we presume) to take advantage of the huge cod that call the fjord home. By the middle of July, we expect some of the killer whales to disappear as they make way for the boisterous pilot whales that chase them away from feeding patches (something I witnessed for the first time this year!). Then begins the minke whale season to carry us through to the autumn.
This year was different though.
The sperm whales were only around for about a week before they disappeared completely, and the killer whales were coming and going unexpectedly. We had to come up with a new plan.
Exciting News from a Local Fisherman
We’d heard from a local fisherman that there were some bigger blows appearing in the north of the fjord, HUMPBACKS we thought. A curious or surface-active humpback is one of the most awesome whale watching experiences. But it was a LONG way to go if we went there and didn’t find what we were looking for then we’d have no time to look anywhere else. It was risky.
When you’re the only whale watching boat in the area you have to take chances sometimes. You can never just head to where the other boats are. Of course, it makes for a much better experience when we do find something and photos look a whole lot better without 6 other boats in the background. It keeps it fun for us too. For incredible spotters like Marie and Captain Gisli, being the first to see a fin or a blow becomes a sport. So off we went North, into the unknown, with nothing but the word of a fisherman.
After nearly an hour and a half of searching and searching further and further north, in excellent visibility, we had seen NOTHING. We’re very proud of our success rate here at Láki Tours, but every now and then we do have a no-show tour… this was looking like it might be one of those tours.
A Huge Blow in the Distance
Suddenly a blow on the horizon filled the boat with relief, it was the tall round blow of a humpback just as we thought, then another blow, and another… we were seeing blows all along the horizon. It looked like 12 to 15 humpbacks. Then WOOOOSH a blow taller than any I’d seen before. My heart was already in my throat when our captain Gísli told me that this was a BLUE WHALE.
Blue Whales in Iceland – Blue Whales in Breiðafjörður!
In the history of Láki tours we’d seen around seven blue whales, some years one, some two, but often none. But this year we had 5, at the same time, including a mother/calf pair, surrounded by lunge feeding humpbacks and even the odd minke getting in on the action. It was also the first time I’d seen blue whales in Iceland, I think my excitement was pretty obvious.
It was hard to choose a highlight from this summer, between socializing orcas, breaching minke whales, pilot whale, and killer whale conflict and bow-riding dolphins in glassy water, but just the sight of the biggest animal to EVER live on earth, the sound of the blow… that made my summer.
Summer whale watching in Breiðafjörður is always pretty incredible. But this one was special.
Video Blue Whales in Iceland
Text: Karl O’Neill
Photos and Video: Karl O’Neill -
Whale Watching in Snaefellsnes
Láki Tours is the only tour operator that offers whale watching tours in Snaefellsnes. In winter, we operate our tours from Grundarfjordur – in summer our tours start from Olafsvik. In this blog, we want to describe the unique features of our whale watching tours in comparison to other locations in Iceland. Read more about the reasons to go whale watching in Snaefellsnes.
Whale species around Snaefellsnes
Watching Orcas in Iceland
Snaefellsnes is the only area in Iceland where orcas are seen on a regularly base. If seeing orcas in the wild nature is on your bucket list you should add a whale watching tour in Snaefellsnes to your holiday in Iceland.
In the last couple of years, the best months to see orcas were December, March, April, May, and June. However, this all can change in the future. Therefore we recommend to regularly check our facebook page or whale diaries where we share photos of our whale sightings.
Watching Sperm Whales in Iceland
Another unique species around Snaefellsnes are sperm whales. Sperm whales are the largest toothed whales in the world and one of the deepest diving whales. The best time for sperm whales seems to be late spring and early summer, around April to June, but they have been seen late winter and in July sometimes also. There is no other place around Iceland where sperm whales are seen.
Many more Whale Spezies
Apart from orcas and sperm whales, a variety of other whale species is regularly seen around Snaefellsnes. Often we see humpback whales, minke whales, and dolphins. Rarely also blue whales and pilot whales are seen. It regularly happens that we see 3 or even more species on one tour. This makes whale watching in Snaefellsnes so special since we never know in advance what we can expect.
Whale Watching in Snaefellsnes with Láki Tours
We are sure most travelers have heard of Husavík who advertises itself as the most famous place for whale watching in Iceland. But this also means there are plenty of boats in the bay. It rarely happens that only one boat is watching a whale. Currently, 4 companies offer whale watching tours from Husavik and all of them have several boats. In contrast, there is Láki Tours, the only whale watching company around Snaefellsnes. We work only with very experienced guides on our boats and we always do our very best to offer a very unique experience for our guests. We are also proud about our cooperation with Orca Guardians, an independent conservation nonprofit dedicated to the protection of orcas in Iceland.
For us, it is very essential that our guests do not experience only a unique whale watching tour but that they also learn something about these impressive animals.
Our Whale Watching Location
Snaefellsnes is only a short drive away from Reykjavik (you need approximately 2.5 hours to reach Grundarfjordur or 3 hours to reach Olafsvik). Therefore, we have many guests coming by rental car to our place. Even if you are staying only a few days in Reykjavik it is worth to leave town for a unique whale watching tour. Plus, Snaefellsnes has so many impressive natural sights to offer that it is absolutely worth to spend at least one night in the area. Why not check if our cozy guesthouse in Grundarfjordur still has availability for your travel dates? In case you spend more than a day on Snaefellsnes we highly recommend to schedule your whale watching tour on the first day. In case of unpleasant weather where we might have to cancel our tour, you would be able to easily reschedule it to the next day.
Summary
So here is a quick summary of why Snaefellsnes is THE place for whale watching in Iceland
- Best place to see orcas in Iceland
- The only place in Iceland where sperm whales are seen
- Three or more species are regularly seen on only one tour
- No other boats in the area
- Very experienced guides on our boats
By clicking the buttons below you can learn more about our whale watching tours from Olafsvik (summer) and Grundarfjordur (winter).
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Northern Lights in Snaefellsnes – Aurora over Kirkjufell – September 27, 2019
Northern Lights in Snaefellsnes
Unfortunately strong wind has kept us off the water for the last two days. Luckily, there is plenty to explore and do in Snaefellsnes. So while we are sad not to be with the whales at the moment, we do not get bored. The Northern Lights were very strong last night here in Iceland with a solar storm causing amazingly beautiful Northern Lights in Snaefellsnes Peninsula. Therefore, some of our crew went out to photograph them. The solar storm is predicted to continue tonight and the cloud forecast is also good in our region. So if you are in Iceland at the moment, make sure you wrap up and look outside tonight.
Magic Lights over Kirkjufell
We love our neighboring mountain Kirkjufell. Last night, the magic Aurora was dancing around it and showed us an impressive light show.
Aurora in Iceland
if you are coming to Iceland for watching the Northern Lights, the following websites might be very helpful for you.
Snaefellsnes is a great area to watch the Northern Lights. This region is far away from larger cities and light pollution is little to none. Snaefellsnes also has a unique micro climate and cloud coverage can be very different on the North and the South side of the peninsula. This increases your chances of seeing the Northern Lights since clear skies are essential to see them.
To overnight in Snaefellsnes, we recommend our small Grundarfjordur Bed and Breakfast, a comfortable guesthouse very close to the famous Mt Kirkjufell.
Photos: Judith Scott
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Snaefellsnes Whale Watching September 26, 2019
Snaefellsnes Whale Watching September 26, 2019
We had another successful trip today in Breiðafjörður. We found a humpback whale slowly travelling in the fjord, which lifted its tail a number of times. But the highlight was a group of white-beaked dolphins. That group that included young animals that were very active, jumping over and over again. The groups of dolphins with calves don’t usually approach the boat much, but these youngsters were leaping repeatedly not far from us.
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Snaefellsnes Whale Watching in September – Report from Sept 23
Snaefellsnes Whale Watching in September
The last couple of days here in Snaefellsnes were all about dolphins. While the larger whales are currently not so present, those little mammals are very active and fun to watch. Here is a great video from our tour guide Karl from September 23
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Dolphins in Iceland – Great Sightings on September 17
White-Beaked Dolphins in Iceland
The white-beaked dolphin is the most common dolphin being spotted on whale watching trips around Iceland. We see them at all our whale watching locations both in winter and also in summer. Those dolphins are 2 to 3 meters long and weight 180 to 350 kg. White-beaked dolphins are very social and they generally live and travel in groups.
Dolphins in Iceland
On September 17, we spent time with a number of groups of white-beaked dolphins in sunny conditions, with the stunning mountains of Snæfellsnes behind as a backdrop. Some came over to ride the bow of the boat so we could see them through the water. The first group consisted of mothers with calves and although they don’t come close to the boat usually, because of the young ones, we observed them from a respectful distance and saw the calves doing a few breaches out of the water. How cute? Our tour guide Judith took those amazing photos.
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Dolphins in Iceland – Breeding
These dolphins primarily mate during the summer months. Since the gestation period is 11 months to a year, breeding season takes place throughout the summer months, May through September. This is quite different to the baleen whales where breeding and birthing takes place in the warmer waters.
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Holmavik – the Place to be for Iceland Whale Watching in September
Wonderful Whale Sightings in Holmavik
Holmavik is clearly proofing these days that it is the perfect place in Iceland for whale watching in September. The first week of September was amazing with many humpback whales in the bay. With so many whales around and so few passengers here in this remote part of Iceland, the tours feel very close to nature.
Iceland Whale Watching in September – Come to Holmavik
There is plenty of food in the bay at the moment with numerous humpbacks deep-feeding on herring. Watching the social dynamics of humpback whale individuals is fascinating, with different combinations of individuals together each day. In the last couple of days, we have had up to seven whales in a group, but each day the groups alter members.
Humpback whales do not live in family groups and are generally solitary, but if there is plenty of food around they will form associations with each-other and are certainly not anti-social animals. But how the dynamics of these groups work we really don’t know. They will work together to hunt food, but how decisions are made and who is in charge in these ever fluctuating groupings, we still don’t fully understand.
Photos from our Tours in Holmavik in the first week of September
All photos are taken by our tour guide Judith. Look how close the humpback whales sometimes come to the boat! If you want to join our whale watching tour from Holmavik, you have to hurry. This tour is only available until September 15.
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Iceland Whale Watching July 2019 in the Remote Westfjords
Iceland Whale Watching in July
July is definitely peak season for whale watching in Iceland and usually, there are wonderful sightings all around the island. At this time of the year, chances are pretty much 100% that you see whales or dolphins on a whale trip in Iceland. While the big whale watching spots such as Reykjavik, Akureyri, and Husavik are well known to almost everyone, in this article, we want to introduce a much lesser-known spot with the same or even better chances of seeing whales in Iceland.
Whale Watching Westfjords in July
Holmavik is a village in the Westfjords of Iceland next to the incredible fjord Steingrímsfjörður. For a few years, whale watching has been available in this remote part of Iceland.
What Makes Holmavik so special for Iceland Whale Watching in Summer
There are a few parameters that make Holmavik especially good for whale watching in Iceland. Here we list the main arguments for a whale watching tour in the Westfjords.
1. The wonderful whales
There are plenty of whales in the fjord during summer. The most common whale species we see on our whale watching tours from Holmavik are humpback whales. But there is always a chance to see other whale species. All photos in this article were taken on July 13, 2019. On this day we saw several species. We had a four species morning with humpbacks feeding, minke whales, white-beaked dolphins, and harbor porpoises also. In the afternoon we spent time with humpbacks, minke whales and a larger group of dolphins. We also saw some puffins flying around or sitting on the water.
2. Responsible whale watching in Iceland
Currently, there is only Láki Tours that offers unique whale trips from Holmavik in summer. That means there is only one whale watching boat in the whole fjord while at most other locations in Iceland several tour operators offer trips on several boats on an hourly basis (especially in July). That means Holmavik is a much quieter and more authentic place for whale watching in Iceland during summer. Instead of choosing between different types of tours from several tour operators there is only our wonderful and comfortable boat Láki II that welcomes you for whale watching in summer in Holmavik. Láki Tours policy of responsible whale watching involves respecting the world of the whale by approaching them slowly and carefully. We follow the whale watching guidelines of IceWhale and observe the whales with adequate distance.
3. The fjord is incredibly sheltered
Please have a look at the glass calm water on the photos in this article. The Steingrimsfjordur fjord is known for its calmness. The fjord is incredibly sheltered from most wind-directions, meaning we rarely have to cancel tours. Also, sea-sickness is almost unheard of in this fjord.
4. The whales stay close to the harbour
The photos demonstrate very clearly how close the whales usually stay to the harbour. That means we usually have to sail only for a couple of minutes to reach the whales. Therefore our 2-hour tour is one of the shortest whale watching options in Iceland making it the perfect trip for families or travelers who are afraid of getting seasick.
5. Affordable whale watching in Iceland
Iceland is an expensive country and we know that many travelers look for affordable tour options in Iceland. We are happy to inform you that our whale watching tour from Holmavik is one of the most affordable whale trips in Iceland.
Summary Best Iceland Whale Watching July
So if you are planning a trip to the Westfjords or the north of Iceland, we highly recommend taking this unique whale trip in a remote part of Iceland into consideration. If you wonder what else to do in this beautiful area of Iceland we recommend reading our blog about interesting things to do in Holmavik. For booking a whale watching tour please follow the link whale watching Westfjords.
