Iceland in February - any point booking a whale watching trip?

[Sidge]

We’re booked for mid February and would love to see the whales but wondered if it was likely? Wasn’t sure if at that time of year they’d be elsewhere.

I know there’s no guarantee of seeing them anyway, but if it’s incredibly unlikely I’d rather book another trip that day instead.

Thanks 😊

It's on my bucketlist, I also want to go in winter - I screenshotted this a while ago which is very helpful!

And sorry here's the link to the article itself!

https://guidetoiceland.is/nature-info/whale-watching-in-iceland

We went in February a few years ago. Didn't see any whales but saw a number of Orcas.

It was absolutely freezing on the boat but they gave everyone oilskins and thermals to wear so we didn't freeze to death.

I've been in Mid-february a few years back. Not only was there not even a glimpse of a whale, me and ds got horrible sea-sick as it was quite choppy and spent 2 hours barfing into sickbags!

They did warn us there was less chance at that time of year! The puking was just an unexpected "bonus" 😫

Omg it's SO cold. Like another level of cold. Damp wet cold that gets in your bones. We saw whales but honestly they were far away and it was blink and you miss it. We spent most of the trip imagining you see them - and not really being able to tell what was wave and what was whale.

I have to say of all the things I've done in Iceland this is the thing I didnt enjoy/ wouldn't repeat / thought was a waste of money.

We did it in march and it was awful. Fyi I am a brill sailor and never had a problem before but I (and pretty much everyone else) were extremely sick

Ahh thanks for your experiences. Sounds like it might be worth skipping and doing something else instead…

We have the Golden Circle and Geothermal spa booked. Was looking at also doing the Glacier Lagoon and Diamond Beach, as well as a Northern Lights trip. Mooching around Reykjavik too.

Any other recommendations?

We just came back. my suggestions are
Go up the Church tower in Rejkavik
Book restaurants you want to go to - they get booked up
The Lava Show in Rejkavik is really interesting and good. Also the Museum with the dome - I forget the name.
The pastries are amazing.
We had an amazing holiday. If you like exploring you will love it.
Will be interesting to see what happens with the eruption that seems to be underway

We went quad biking in the lava fields. Great experience.

Into the glacier if your budget is big enough.

Best thing we've done.

I went in Feb back in 208. Loved it! Such a different and interesting place! People are a bit stern but they're good people regardless.

Stepped off the plane and it was -4, the pilot warned us over the speaker that it was going to feel colder than we realise. Wow I had no idea -4 would feel so much worse than 0 in this country! Sounds silly but it was a weird feeling to feel the air colder than I ever had before.

Anyway, Feb was great, we experienced rain, snow, clear skies and sunshine all in one day. We didn't see the northern lights unfortunately, although we did see a slither of green, but the blue lagoon was unreal and the circular tour (I can't remember the name!) was really cool!

Hotel was a bit basic, it was like a hostel, but it had a lovely large bed and we slept like babies after being out in the cold.

Only takes 3 hours or so from Gatwick.

Go for it!!

I froze my tits off in June

The 4 by 4 jeeps to go Northern light watching are great fun, we had an amazing evening even before we saw the lights.

Was coming on to say that it will be very very cold out on the sea in February. We went in September and the weather was quite good - mild, sunny, not windy on most days, but the day we went on the whale watching cruise was so cold, even though we were well wrapped up. You'd also be restricted by limited daylight in February I would have thought.

Probably be fine by February.

I like to keep up with the news as I travel frequently.

Iceland declares state of emergency over volcanic eruption threat | Iceland | The Guardian

Watching with interest as considering Iceland mini break in either October or Feb half terms. Really want to see the northern lights though I know there's no guarantee.

How much extra to budget for food, trips etc? And will 3 nights be enough?

You'd also be restricted by limited daylight in February I would have thought.

Yes, indeed!

I have a friend in Norway, I think it gets dark at 3 PM in the winter.

3 nights will give you a good chance to see the northern lights if that's what you want to see.

A lot of places do a free second trip if you don't see them the first night, so book early on so you have a second chance (we made this mistake with the whale watching cruise - we saw dolphins, but no whales apart from a very fleeting glance so qualified for the free trip, but couldn't take them up on the offer as it was the day before we came home).

But 3 nights will only scratch the surface of Reykjavik, let alone Iceland, so you'll want to go back unless you decide it's not your thing.

As for food/budgeting, it's a bit 'how long is a piece of string'. It's the kind of place where you need to spend money to make the most of it, and most things are quite expensive, but there are ways to limit the cost such as buying the city pass and spending a day or two visiting all the included museums and swimming pools.

Eating out at lunchtime isn't too bad - you could buy hot dogs and pizza by the slice fairly reasonably and sandwiches, coffee and cake in coffee shops was actually cheaper than going somewhere like Costa in the UK and better quality as all fresh and home made.

If you self cater that's obviously cheaper than eating out, but supermarket food was usually 50-100% more than the UK. Some evening meals were comparable to UK but alcohol was more, although it was cheaper during happy hours, which were often 2-3 hours long, eg 4-7 pm but you could spend a lot on a meal out - eg steak or fish and wine would probably have been about £100 pp for a 2 course meal and a shared bottle of wine in even a mid range restaurant.

The most popular tours like the Golden Circle or a whale watching tour was about £60-80 for an adult.

We really liked it and will definitely go back as there's so much that we didn't do.

Learnt something new today as I wondered where whales in Iceland migrate to in winter, and seemingly mainly the Caribbean.

I’m not in UK, and our humpback whales pretty much just go up and down our coast from Antarctica to the top of our country. Our whale watching is always on their migratory path, not their home in Antarctica or breeding grounds up north. Boats are not allowed to go close to them but they come close to the boats swimming under and the idiot young males sometimes breech too close, and we’ve had a few fatalities🙄. Sorry about ignorance but find it fascinating, is Iceland their home or is it on their migratory path to the Caribbean?

We've just come back - went for Oct half term, which was w/c 30 Oct. The advice I had from travel agents was that, if we were constrained to school holidays, then Oct half term or Easter are the best times to go to get the right balance of dark/light/not too cold.

We had perfect clear, cold winter weather. Temperature was -5 to +2. So cold like a deep winter in Yorkshire - cold, but not unfamiliarly so. We wrapped up warm; merino thermals, down jackets, wool socks, walking boots, hats and gloves - and we were fine. We did see (Minke) whales, and the Northern Lights, both on boat trips. The whales were amazing - right up close and more than one for a good half hour - but the boats have to go unite far out, and the sea that was calm on the harbour was too choppy DH's stomach. Fir me, it was one of the most astonishing things I've ever done and I enjoyed it so much more that I thought I would.
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I have friends who've been in March and the sea was too rough for any boat trips. Other friends who've been late Nov where it rained all the time and sky was too cloudy to see the northern lights. Obvs weather is variable and we were very fortunate, but it does feel that Dec-March might be the most uncomfortable/least likely to see whales. Also bear in mind/Google sunrise and sunset times at for when you are planning to go.

That's really useful advice thank you. Was thinking of October but then also Feb to allow more time to save up (and I find winter hard and depressing).

Sounds very similar to new york in terms of food and drink you can eat as cheaply or go expensive as you want. Can definitely go without alcohol for a few days and DH doesn't drink anyway.

Did you book trips through the travel agent or once you were there? Would love to see whales 🐋

We booked things when we were there. I wanted to make the best of the weather, eg do the outdoorsy things when the weather was better and the museums on the wet/windy days. The weather is very changeable even if your used to UK weather so I'd not take any forecast more than a day or two ahead as gospel. The best weather forecast is probably the Iceland Met Office one, Vedur, I think there's an app.

But we had the luxury of being out of season so didn't come up against trips selling out. I just googled things like Golden Circle trip and booked direct with one. For boat trips there are cabins at the harbour, so you can go for a wander round, which is quite a nice thing to do anyway and just book in person.

TBH if I was going on a short trip in February, I'd make the northern lights and the museums a priority, especially if the weather is cold and wet/windy/snowy.

I'd then go back in summer (or June/September if you can) for a more outdoorsy trip.

February is often disrupted by snow storms. I've been in Feb before. It can be a problem. Reykjavik itself is generally fine as they have hot water pipes under the streets which helps keep them clear and the road to the airport is generally constantly kept clear. But some of the other roads out of the city can and do get heavily blocked. They tend to try and clear the more important roads first (like the golden circle and the main ring road) but these are occasionally closed. There was one day we were there when we couldn't leave Reykjavik. And another we were returning from a trip in late afternoon when it got a bit hairy. But you have to keep that in mind and keep a close eye on the travel advice.

I would say that if you would be wise to make bookings for places to eat especially if there is somewhere you really want to eat. Restaurants can get very busy and very full. We struggled a couple of nights to find somewhere when we hadn't booked.

Thinking about a trip and just wondering why people are saying -4 or -5 is cold. That is a warm winter day where I am from. I might not even bother with a coat of my walk outside was short if it wasn’t also windy. Is there something about Iceland that makes those temps feel especially cold? I know humidity and wind can be major factors in how temperature is perceived.

Well it depends on what you're used to. And if you're out on a boat for a few hours and it's -4 C on land, most people will be cold unless wearing a proper coat, hat and gloves.

When we went, it was more like 5 C and calm and even DP who wears shorts nearly all year round in the UK dressed for the cold and kept his coat, hoodie, hat and gloves on.

You'd be even more shocked about the thread about a family of Australians who are visiting London soon and are being told to wear thermals and the thickest puffa jackets available.