boat rides

December 26, 2019 By Eric Leave a Comment

Seeing puffins in Iceland

This is a modified excerpt from the new edition of our book, Iceland With Kids. Here’s the new edition, published in 2020. Buy either the book eBook or print edition) or our Driving in Iceland video course, we’ll send you a free copy of the other one! E-mail us and we’ll make it happen!

There’s an inherent conflict in seeing puffins, in Iceland or anywhere else. On the one hand, tourists want to get as close as possible to these adorable and photogenic birds. It’s one thing to see puffins from a boat, where you may be 50 feet from their burrows. (And this is still wonderful to see!) But it’s entirely another thing to see them standing just in front of you, 10 or 15 feet away. You can count how many fish they have in their mouths, ready to feed to their baby puffling. (That’s what a puffin baby is called.)

October 17, 2019 By Eric Leave a Comment

Puffin Express boat ride with Special Tours

Puffin Express is the wonderfully descriptive name of a boat tour from Special Tours. You’ll see puffins, and you’ll get to see them quickly!

The boat leaves from the old harbor in Reykjavik, as do most boat tours that leave from Reykjavik. Here’s your boat:

As soon as you leave the pier, you’ll start getting some spectacular views of Reykjavik. The concert hall Harpa: [Read more…] about Puffin Express boat ride with Special Tours

October 12, 2019 By Eric Leave a Comment

Seal watching boat trip with the Icelandic Seal Center

If you’re driving around Ring Road, when you’re up north you’ll pass very close to the town of Hvammstangi. There aren’t a ton of things to see around this part of Iceland, so the wooden sign in the shape of a seal might catch your attention. (I don’t think I took a picture of the sign, but you can see it here!)

That sign advertises the Icelandic Seal Center, which is a museum and research center. The museum is nice (and it’s just down the street from a grocery store, which can be few and far between in this part of the country!) More on the museum later. At the museum you can purchase tickets for a seal watching boat ride. That gets you a roughly 90 minute boat ride out to some places where seals like to lounge about.

There’s the boat you’ll be on; it sits about a 1 minute walk from the museum. Our first interaction with the guide, and possibly yours as well, will be the guide trying to talk you out of the tour. It can be a rough ride based on the weather and wind; full refunds are offered freely if you don’t think you’re up for it. I liked this– they definitely don’t want you to have a bad experience! [Read more…] about Seal watching boat trip with the Icelandic Seal Center

August 20, 2016 By Eric 7 Comments

Whale Watching in Iceland– Tips and Tricks for Families

We spent nearly 3 months in Iceland; when I ask the kids what their favorite thing was, the answer is immediate. “Whale watching!” Well, that’s the answer from some of them; some of them didn’t go. They were too worried about getting seasick on the 4 hour ride. But the rest of us tried 3 different trips; here are the tips and tricks we have learned. Knowing what I know now, I think everyone in our family could have enjoyed whale watching!