WHALE WATCHING FROM REYKJAVÍK ICELAND - THIS IS ELDING!
ELDING WHALE WATCHING – DECADES OF EXPERIENCE AND YEAR-ROUND TOURS
Elding Whale Watching offers the most talked-about whale watching and sea adventure tours in Iceland. With decades of experience, we provide responsible whale watching tours, year round. Our other tours include incentive and exclusive tours, and the ferry to Viðey Island.
We also have seasonal tours. In summer we offer puffin watching and sea angling, and in winter our tours include Northern Lights Cruises and Imagine Peace Tours.
REYKJAVIK'S ORIGINAL WHALE WATCHING OPERATOR
We are proud to be the original whale watching operator in Reykjavík. Elding is a family owned company that began with a personal interest in wildlife, boats and people. Whale watching tours were the perfect way to unite these interests while giving locals and tourists the chance to experience Iceland’s marine life.
We started in 2000, and over the years our products and services have developed a great deal; from small-scale seasonal tours to year-round products, and whale watching is now one of the top three tourist activities in Iceland.
EXPERIENCE AND ENTHUSIASM AT ELDING
We believe in using our experience and enthusiasm to make the best tours available. We truly put great care into the business, and whale watching has become a lifestyle for us. As our tours are authentic wildlife tours and each one is unique.
RESPONSIBLE WHALE WATCHING
We follow IceWhale’s codes of conduct for responsible whale watching as well as following our own stricter guidelines. We take part in international cooperation on the future of whale watching, e.g. IWC and Planet Whale. To advance our knowledge we participate and support marine biologists research on wildlife in our area. Elding also is the first and only environmentally certified whale watching company in Iceland.
Killer Whales in Reykjavík Iceland 13.3.17 - Elding Adventure at Sea
From our whale diary:
Report from Eldey: We knew from the morning that our ride was going to be cold and bumpy, but we were prepared ! We put everyone in full-body suits to protect from the cold, and we proposed sea-sickness to anyone willing to be on the safe side. What we were not prepared for, though, was how incredible this tour was going to be ! We went straightforward to the area where we saw the feeding dolphins earlier in the morning, but there was no cetaceans there. Still, we caught sight of numerous splashes and when coming closer we could see hundreds of northern gannets diving in the water, hunting fishes. We stayed a little bit to enjoy from very close their aerial displays, until our first mate Otto spotted a large blow in the distance, that lead us to a humpback whale, the second of the year ! It was at first tricky to get closer since it was taking dives that lasted for what felt like an eternity and only surfacing once before diving down again. Our fish finder indicated there was fish below us close to the bottom, so we assumed this individual as busy feeding under the water. We remained patient and attentive, until we could have close encounter right in front of the boat ! After that the whale was on the move, surfacing quicker and more often. We eventually left this humpback and started to go back home because time was due. Then a miraculous even happened: as were closing in toward Reykjavik, we hit the jackpot and 5 KILLER WHALES (the firsts of 2017) surfaced next to us and followed us for more than 10 minutes ! There was 3 males with an impressively tall dorsal fin and 2 splendid manners. They were surfacing nicely and slowly, allowing the capture of breathtaking pictures. On some occasions they came less than 20 m from the boat and went under the boat, and also did a little bit of tail-slapping for our greatest joy. It was a moment of sheer excitement and pure bliss, with a hysterical crew and cheerful passengers ! The orcas disappeared as we neared the lighthouse Grótta, and the trip ended with everyone head over heels.
Videos by Megan Whittaker and Þorleifur Ottó Jóhannsson
Elding Adventure at Sea
Our promotional video
Breaching Humpback Whale in Reykjavík, ICELAND! Elding Adventure at Sea
Elding Adventure at Sea
Express Whales in the Midnight Sun
Shot on our last Express Midnight tour this summer! A breaching Humpback whale just by our boat!
Video by crew member Hrafnhildur Magnúsdóttir
Elding Adventure at Sea
Elding Whale Watching offers the most talked-about whale watching and sea adventure tours in Iceland. With decades of experience, we provide responsible whale watching tours, year round. Our other tours include incentive and exclusive tours, and the ferry to Viðey Island.
We also have seasonal tours. In summer we offer puffin watching and sea angling, and in winter our tours include Northern Lights Cruises and Imagine Peace Tours.
We follow IceWhale’s codes of conduct for responsible whale watching as well as following our own stricter guidelines. We take part in international cooperation on the future of whale watching, (WCA). To advance our knowledge we participate and support marine biologists research on wildlife in our area. Elding also is the first environmentally certified whale watching company in Iceland and is now the only Earth Check Gold Certified whale watching company in the world.
Dolphins herding fish in Reykjavík, Iceland - Elding Adventure at Sea
Video by head naturalist Megan Whittaker
Amazing morning, 3 feeding minke whales in Reykjavik, Iceland
Amazing morning, 3 feeding minke whales in the golden light of the sun in Reykjavik, Iceland
PREMIUM WHALE WATCHING | REYKJAVÍK ICELAND
An exhilarating premium tour starting from the Old Harbour in Reykjavík everyday from 1 April to 31 October. This is a small group tour with only 12 passengers per boat, specially trained crew and certified RIB captain. Book your tour here: elding.is/express
Orcas in Faxaflói bay - Reykjavík Iceland - Elding Aventure at Sea
Filmed by Þorleifur Ottó Jóhannsson
Naming whales - Elding Adventure At Sea Iceland
Over the years we have researched and identified the hundreds of humpack whales we have encountered on our tours. Each individual has their own fluke pattern and some even have scrapes, scratches, and notches that differentiates them from one another.
Reykjavík ICELAND Northern Lights Cruise 28 September 2017
Elding Adventure at Sea
Northern Lights Cruise:
Time lapse video by head naturalist and guide Megan Whittaker
Elding Winter Whale Watching
Elding Whale Watching Reykjavik elding.is is the only whale watching company that operates everyday during the winter. Winter 2011-2012 has been very successful with regards to the whales we have been seeing including Blue Whales, Fin Whales, Humpback Whale, Orca (Killer Whales), White-beaked Dolphins and Harbour Porpoises. Too keep you nice a warm we offer overalls, rain coats and blankets but it's always good to bring your own gloves, hats and woollen socks. In the winter you also have the added bonus of the snow capped mountains, beautiful winter light and in the evenings the Northern lights.
All Elding boats have a bar on board in the warm saloon where you can purchase hot chocolate, coffee, tea, muffins, chocolate bars and even a toasted cheese and ham sandwich. The live guides are very knowledgeable about the whales and we even have Marine Biologists guiding as well as conducting research. Everyone on board have gone through STCW training from the maritime Safety and Survival Training Centre in Reykjavik and attend regular courses in maritime safety and life saving. You would be a fool to miss it. Come join us at Elding.
ICELAND Northern Lights on Viðey island! 1 October 2017
Elding Adventure at Sea
Boat tours from Reykjavík & Akureyri ICELAND
Time lapse video by head naturalist Megan Whittaker
--
Reykjavík Northern Lights on Viðey tour:
Viðey offers you change in pace for your Northern Lights expedition. The island is only a few min. sail from the heart of Reykjavik´s city centre, is dark and quiet and provides a great view of the city from a different angle.
Available: 1 October - 14 March / Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun
Time: 21:00
Duration: 1,5-2,5 hrs.
You can enjoy the scenery, nature, history and culture of the island on our evening stroll in search of the Northern Lights. Photographing the art work or buildings of the island with the Northern Lights in the background adds that something special to your pictures - it could either be the stunning blue light from the Imagine Peace Tower, the oldest stone building in Iceland or even yourself! The island also provides incredible platforms for a 360° panoramic of the capital city, Imagine Peace Tower, the island itself, mountain ranges and some of the oldest buildings in Iceland.
Join the fun! Elding Adventures at Sea from Reykjavík, Iceland.
ICELAND time Lapse video from Viðey island 10 January '17- for Elding by Megan Whittaker
Beautiful night on the island of Viðey for our Northern Lights on Viðey tour. Northern lights came out early in the tour but after about an hour the clouds came over.
A short time lapse of 30 minutes of the clouds coming over.
Time Lapse by Megan Whittaker
Elding 2015 Viðey partý!
Elding´s annual industry party on July 8th 2015. The one and only Þjóðhátíð í eyju in Viðey (Reykjavik). About 900 people attend, Spútnik, Bjössi Greifi and Sálin hans Jóns míns performed. MAR Restaurant provided burgers and drinks for all the guests. Great place, great weather, great guests, thanks to you that attend for coming.
Northern Lights on Viðey island in Reykjavík Iceland - timelapse by Megan Whittaker
Northern Lights / Aurora Borealis can be seen in Iceland from September until April.
The timelapse is taken on Viðey island just off Reykjavík Iceland. Photography by Megan Whittaker, head naturalist at Elding!
2 March 2017
Elding Whale Watching Reykjavik 15-03-2012 Great humpback whales from Sandgerði.MOV
We had a wonderful day today out from Sandgerði, where we sailed out due to many fishing vessels in the area. In the beginning of the tour we saw a group of gannets busy feeding, diving down on a full speed. We took few minutes to observe the birds before we headed further out. We passed few fishing vessels without seeing anything. But then suddenly we spotted blows aprox 4 miles away! Once we got closer we saw we had 2 humpback whales, and one of them was really really big! We stayed with these whales for some time and they were surfacing very close to us! Really amazing day today!
DOLPHINS IN REYKJAVIK
Perfect morning in Faxaflói! Sea surface like a mirror, no wind and beautiful sunrise painting the sky with orange and pink hues. Ideal conditions for spotting, very easy to see anything popping up at the flat sea surface. After about an hour of sailing we spotted black silhouettes in the distance. As we got closer, we saw 3-4 white-beaked dolphins. They were swimming very slowly and calmly. It was very easy to keep up with them, even to predict where they would pop up next by the swirls forming at the sea surface a little before they came up. After a while, we spotted more dorsal fins pop up in the distance: 4-5 white-beaked dolphins more ! On our way back, we got to enjoy the scenery of Reykjanes peninsula and a lot of sea birds, cormorants and guillemots, diving close to us and even a few glimpses of harbour porpoises. -Viivi Pöyhönen
Video by Megan Whittaker
Reykjavík Whale Watching
located in Reykjavík, RWW offers a variety of adventures at sea.. visit elding.is for further info