Braving The Stormy Seas For A Whale Watching Tour In Iceland

When our stopover in Iceland was confirmed, one of the first things we looked up & booked was the Elding Whale Watching Tour. It was something Satu had wanted to do for all her life but never before really had the chance. And since Tiia is a big wildlife nut just in general, we were really excited about the tour for weeks beforehand.

We spent our last night in Iceland at Hotel Kex, so Elding was a really obvious choice for us: the location couldn’t have been more convenient, as the hostel is right there in the middle of the beautiful harbor area. Kex is one of the most quirky hostels we’ve ever been to: antique stuff, modern stuff, retro signage, books, sofas, old maps – a lot to look at and to photograph. There’s also a vibrant bar downstairs, which was full of travelers and (we’re guessing) locals on the night of our arrival.

Elding Whale Watching Tour, here we come!

On the morning of our cruise we had no trouble finding a parking space near to Elding’s ticket booths and boats. We went to pick up our tickets from their kiosk and both took a pill to prevent motion sickness, which they were giving out for free with the tickets.

To get on board, we entered through a gift shop and a small cafeteria area and hung around for a sec, looking at cute crocheted puffin hats and other beautiful handmade items. After a few minutes a staff member called for our attention and updated us all on the safety regulations and the chilly winds, and the process of getting dressed in the overalls provided by them under the deck.

Which came in handy, we have to say! They kept the chill and the wind and the ocean sprays at bay and we could just concentrate on spotting dolphins and being warm and cozy while at it.

Onboard the Elding Whale Watching Tour!

Sea sickness… not the best experience

This is a real bummer: Satu got horribly sea sick during the cruise. We were all fine and dandy up on the deck, watching a pod of dolphins play around in the water, when all of a sudden the sickness struck. For the rest of the trip she had to sit downstairs just in case she needed to, you know, go, which was a big sad for us.

However, she did manage to see the dolphins and a little glimpse of a minke whale while downstairs. Tiia, however, was ok with the whole trip and experienced no nausea whatsoever, even in the rougher waters.

So very bad luck for Satu… But she’s willing to try a whale cruise again some day, so fingers crossed for a slightly more pleasant experience!

DOLPHINS!!!

A gannet! Some of Tiia’s absoute favorite birds, these ones. We even saw a few diving and fishing!

TRAVEL TIP: How did we combine a visit to Iceland with our US roadtrip?

You should definitely look into Icelandair’s StopOver deals if you’re flying over to North America from Europe (or the other way around, obv!). It’s the perfect opportunity to combine a beautiful stop in Iceland and to even make the flight times a bit more bearable. It was so much fun! We’ll definitely consider doing this again some time, as we’re quite certain we’re not yet done with our Northern America roadtripping :)

Our little explorer group, some in overalls, some braving the storm without.

Can you see anything? Is that a dolphin?

Peek-a-boo dolphin!

We filmed a few video clips on the cruise as well. It was quite hard (what with the phone getting all wet with the waves crashing all around), but at least we had to keep it short and sweet. Hope you enjoy!

Some parts of our movie roadtrip 2016 was done in collaboration with Icelandair, hotels, businesses and tourism offices. All opinions, experiences and views, however, are 100% our own. One simply can not buy our love ❤