Anyone been whale watching in Iceland? Advice please

[hugglesfor4]

It's my 25th wedding anniversary next August and we're thinking of going to Iceland for a few days to go whale watching as it's something I've always longed to do.
We'll be taking our 3 DC with us - youngest would be 9.

I've been looking at Akureyri for the whale watching as it's supposed to have calmer water which is better for the children (and me!)

Has anyone any experience of it? Any tips or recommendations? Is there anything else to see it do whilst in Iceland with children?

TIA

I didn't whale watch, I see enough of those here in Norway :) But I can recommend Gullfossen and the geysers, the kids will likely have a lot of fun with those! You can also book to go on glacier hikes if that's something you might be interested in, the glacier can be very beautiful. Icelandic horse rides is also a thing, they're lovely beasts those horses.

Vestmannaeyjar is just GORGEOUS if you go to visit those islands, lovely. There are puffins!

And of course have a relax in the hot springs :)

Yes, we went whale watching out of Reykjavik. It was cold, raining, and rough and everyone has to wear immersion suits in case you fall overboard. We were out there for 3 hours and didn't see any whales. Did I mention it was rough? The boat was bucking like a bronco and they gave out free seasick pills. I was not sick but I felt it. We were given a free return ticket to try another day, but we were only there for 5 days, and it was not an experience I wanted to repeat. I have seen whales elsewhere, okay, they were only pilot whales off the Canary Islands, but at least it was warm and relatively calm and pleasant. If I want to see whales I'll watch David Attenborough!
I would say the blue lagoon is one of the best things, followed by the geysers. Everywhere is rammed with tourist coaches though.

There is the best whale and dolphin watching in Tenerife, we saw loads there and I can’t wait to go back. Look up Whale Watch Tenerife. Small boats, very conservation conscious and a marine biologist on board. Will be hot in August though.

You can whale watch off Scotland, I've kayaked with dolphins there which was amazing. Best whales I've seen though was Alaska, went backpacking when the kids were toddlers, amazing seeing humpback whales so close from the ferry

Take sea sickness pills. I was pregnant when we went so couldn't take any. I've never felt so ill in my life! We did see whales though! If the Blue Lagoon is too expensive there is a fairly cheap thermally heated pool in Reykjavik (it's not pretty and blue though). There are also a few places you can walk to swim in thermal springs -can't remember where though.

We went whale watching from Akureyri last year in August. The waters are calm. we went with Elding, they do a rib boat experience, but I think you have to be at least 10, they also do another boat with upstairs for viewing and down stairs they have seats under cover and a bar and you can warm up. We saw lots of whales. There are some cruise liners going in August so make sure you aren’t booked on a trip that they are on as we were like sardines in a tin. We are going again this August and will ask elding which times are NOT to be used by cruise passenger trips. Last summer Elding had a 100 % whale sighting success. It was truly a magical trip, we stayed down the lower deck of the ship and had the best view of a whale that was 6foot away. We also went whale watching in Reykjavik, it the waters were choppy and we saw puffins, it no much else. Enjoy.

Thanks for all the replies. I'd love to go to Alaska but it's a bit far for a few days.

Ilovellamas- I've been looking at Eldimg. I think we'll be happier on calm water. My 9yo has ASD so I think the choppy waters might be too much for him. Did you book the whale watching in advance and who did you travel with?

Not great for a few days, for sure, but honestly, I’d put Alaska on your to-do list, it really is a fabulous place. I’d love to go back and just pootle around for a few weeks.

Reykjavik is a lovely city. I don’t remember it being somewhere with lots for children, but it’s clean, friendly and very compact.

Have you thought about Boston? A longer flight, but there’s whale watching, and so much more to do for adults and for children. It’s a fabulous, friendly city, and again, very easy to get around.

The flight to Boston would be too long. We went to Lapland and the 3 hour flight was long enough for my DS.

Hi we went with Fred Olsen Cruises and with their whale watching tour. - the Elding boat was jam packed. We are going again this year and will be going with Elding, but will book independently - we will get in touch via email and see which times The Fred Olsen tours are on and go on another!! Both my children have ASD, and coped OK. The only problem is Elding like the youngsters to wear a life jacket, which my youngest didn’t like the feel of, but the people on the boat were brilliant with him. Akureyi waters are very very calm and I’m sure they will love it. They may also like the mytvan baths, which are about half an hour from akureyi. Both my children loved that.

Ilovellamas- did you book a full package trip or do flights and accommodation separately? I've been looking online and some of the package trips seem really expensive but maybe I'm not looking in the right places.

Did you stay in Akureyri or just go there for the whale watching? Sorry for all the questions - holidays abroad are normally packed beach ones!

Hi huggles

We booked a cruise with Fred Olsen, I thought my boys would struggle with Icelandic food and one of my children refuses to fly. So we didn’t have to book flights or accommodation as we sailed from Newcastle. Plus I could have a proper rest.

If you are looking for a tour company, we used gateway to Iceland who are based in reykavik, when we were docked for a couple of days. If the children are in to geology there is so much to do and experience.

Happy to answer your questions, it’s a wonderful place to go.

The seasickness - oh the seasickness.

Was hideous. We didn’t see any whales but we were just unlucky. It’s just one of those things.

Been to Iceland a couple of times - pre child though. We went whale watching from Akureyri. It was great - saw a few humpbacks. This was April though. It was freezing but they gave us huge fisherman waterproofs to wear. The geysers are great and generally all the stuff in the golden circle is worth looking at. I would give blue lagoon a miss - pricey, not good for kids because the water is basically mud which stung the shit out of my eyes. In August there will be coachloads of people there. There are other hot baths which are much better. I think we went to Myvatn? We hired a car rather than got tours. If you can get up north the witchraft museum at strandagaldur was good.

Thank you all - you're being really helpful. We're thinking of 4/5 days away. Flying from the northwest. Would like to sight see a little bit the whale watching is the main idea.

Never even thought about the food - is it mainly fish?

Would you recommend driving ourselves or booking a guide? DH is very competent to driving so probably wouldn't be adverse to that.

Totally unhelpful response but we booked whale watching when we went a couple of years ago and the water was that bad it got cancelled and the water stayed too bad for our entire trip so we ended up not going at all. Our northern lights trips were also cancelled because of the weather. It’s just one of those places really, weather really affects what you’re going to do. We still had a great time. Just FYI, I’m sure you know already, the place is seriously expensive! Take double the spends you think you’ll need

Yes, very expensive. Take snacks unless you want to spend 2/3 quid on a small chocolate bar. Bottle of house plonk in a restaurant -£60. It's the only holiday I've been on where I didn't drink ANY wine. Beer up to £10 a pint, but can be got for reasonable prices in happy hours. We took various snacks and we did eat them. A walk round a supermarket or one of the few state run off licences was both illuminating and alarming.

We went to Iceland last year, staying just outside Reykjavik. We hired a car and drove around ourselves.

We spent one night in Arnarstapi which is on the east peninsula and then drove to Olafsvik for our Whale tour which we booked with Laki tours. The tour guide was fantastic and really knows the whales as she’s studied them for years. We were lucky enough to see humpbacks and orcas.

Iceland is a wonderful (if chilly!) country with lots of hidden treasures, often straight off the main road- keep your eyes peels.

We weren’t lucky enough to see the northern lights but that is just another reason to go back!

Lots of layers, a good coat and hat and you’ll be fine.

One of our highlights was the set up of the beds in both of the places we stayed. A double bed but with two single duvets. Bliss!

It's fucking cold.

Geyser park place was good.

Thengvellier, the world's first parliament.

The valley where tectonic plates are moving apart.

Going to a beach and seeing black sand? We went to see a big glacier on the south coast. The first time ever I paid £5 for a coffee. It was the day that a diarrhoea bug went through the group, very quickly.

It was all a long time ago and we were on a tour so just got on the bus and went.

I loved Iceland, it is one of my favourite places.
Everyone was given a sea sickness pill as we boarded the boat. We saw several humpback whales. Then the sea sickness kicked in. The whole boat was vomiting. We all wanted to go home but the captain powered about for another couple of hours looking for blue whales while everyone puked and stared hopelessly at the heaving grey waves
It was a formative experience. I am glad that I did it and just as glad I don't have to do it again.
But I plan to take my DC to Iceland soon.

BTW we went in Summer and wore T-shirts during the day and fleeces at night. It was a gorgeous temperature and the weather was stunning.

We went in August and went whale watching from Husavik which is just a bit further across from Akureyri.

We saw lots of humpback whales it was absolutely amazing. They have a website where you can check the whale sightings each day.

I'd definitely recommend it x

Oh dear. I’m going to Iceland next week for five days to see the Northern Lights, go whale watching etc. I get really really sea sick. Just starting to feel anxious now. Maybe I’ll give the whale watching a miss...

blissa - did you book accommodation, trips and hire car before you went or when you got there?

We went in the summer of 2012 and went out of reykyavik harbour. I can't remember how I booked it but I think there was a few boats moored up and I just chose from there.
I had no sea sickness and wasn't cold but was summer. We saw minki whales I believe and they also took us alongside an island to see puffins.
Be warned: whale meat was everywhere on the menu in restaurants we visited which felt really wrong after seeing the beautiful creatures!