From Reykjavik: Puffin and Volcano Tour in Westman Islands

GYG

From Reykjavik: Puffin and Volcano Tour in Westman Islands

★ 4.6(169 reviews)

• Eight of the outdoor sights around Reykjavik charge for parking rather than for entry. That fee is per car, so it falls away entirely when somebody else is driving.
• Pickup from your hotel
• Guide works in English
• Duration per the operator: 14 hours

from $265

See dates, price and what is included at the operator

Fourteen hours from Reykjavik to the Westman Islands

This is the longest and most ambitious puffin tour sold in Reykjavik, and it pairs the birds with something most shorter trips never reach: a volcano. You leave the capital in the morning and return about fourteen hours later, after a day that crosses the south coast and crosses the sea. The itinerary takes in the black-sand coastline around Vík í Mýrdal before you board a vessel for the Westman Islands, where the puffin colonies nest on cliffs above the Atlantic. Arctic Adventures runs the trip with an English-speaking guide, and hotel pickup is part of the arrangement, so you start from your accommodation rather than finding a meeting point on your own. At 265 USD it is the most expensive puffin tour in the city, and it is aimed at travellers who want the full context of where the birds live, not just a quick look at them from a harbour. The length alone separates it from the one-hour boat trips that dominate this category. You need a full day free, and you should be comfortable with the idea that a good part of it happens on the water and on the road.

Photographs from the operator Arctic Adventures. They show the listing, not your day.

What the price covers and what it does not

The 265 USD entry price buys you the guided tour, the transport from Reykjavik, the boat crossing to the Westman Islands, and admission to the sites along the way. Admission being included matters here because it is rare in this category: only one other puffin tour in Reykjavik says the same. You will not be handed a ticket to pay for at any stop. Hotel pickup is also covered, which again puts this tour in a small group, since only two other puffin listings include it. What the operator does not cover is food. The day runs fourteen hours, so you should plan for lunch and snacks on your own account, either bought before departure or at a stop along the route. There is no mention of meals being provided at any point in the day. Free cancellation is offered, though no deadline is given for when you can use it. The price is quoted in US dollars, and at the current exchange rate of about 121 ISK to the dollar, the tour works out to roughly 32,000 ISK.

A solid score from a small sample

The tour holds a 4.6 rating, which is genuinely good, but it rests on only 169 reviews. That is a small base compared with the puffin tours that stay in the bay: the one-hour harbour trip has 1,357 reviews at the same score, and the express cruise has 624 at 4.5. What this means is that the rating is promising but less proven. With 169 votes, a handful of unhappy customers could move the number more than they could on a tour with ten times the feedback. In its category of eighteen puffin tours, it ranks sixth by number of reviews, which puts it in the middle of the pack for how much evidence exists behind the score. The people who have reviewed it tend to be satisfied, and the 4.6 figure is consistent with what the shorter boat tours achieve, but you are trusting a smaller group of opinions than you would be on the cheaper, quicker alternatives.

When the long day makes sense

The tour runs year-round, but the experience changes dramatically with the season. From June through August, the average high in Reykjavik sits between 13 and 15 degrees, and the lows stay above 7 degrees, which makes a full day outside tolerable. The puffins are also present in the Westman Islands in force during these months, which is the practical reason to go. In May and September, the highs drop to 10 and 11 degrees, and the wind on the water will make it feel colder, but the birds are still around. From October through April, the highs hover between 3 and 8 degrees, and the daylight is short enough that a fourteen-hour itinerary means a good portion of the day happens in low light or darkness. The tour does not stop running in winter, but you should weigh whether the long transfer and boat ride are worth it when the average high in December is 3 degrees and the sun is scarce. The middle of the day, roughly from late morning to mid-afternoon, is when the temperatures peak, and that is when the outdoor parts of the route will be most comfortable regardless of when you book.

What the day looks like on the ground

Your day begins with the hotel pickup, so the first thing you do is wait at your accommodation for the vehicle to arrive. From there the tour heads southeast along the south coast, and the first major stop is the village of Vík í Mýrdal, where you get a look at the black-sand beach and the cliffs that mark this stretch of shoreline. The guide handles the driving and the pacing, and because this is a guided tour rather than a self-drive route, you do not need to worry about navigation or ferry timetables. The crossing to the Westman Islands is the centrepiece, and once on the islands you are taken to the puffin viewing areas. These are outdoor locations, and the weather on the islands can change quickly, so the layers you brought for Reykjavik will likely stay on all day. The tour is not wheelchair accessible, which the operator states plainly, so anyone with limited mobility should look at the shorter harbour-based puffin boats instead. The guide decides whether conditions allow the full itinerary, and if the sea is rough or the wind picks up, the plan may shift.

Who should book this and who should not

This tour suits travellers who want puffins as part of a wider day of Icelandic scenery, not as the sole event. If you are the kind of person who is happy to spend fourteen hours seeing the south coast, a volcano, and the islands in one go, the price makes sense as a way to compress several sights into a single day. It also suits anyone who values having admission and hotel pickup handled, since those are not standard in this category. You should not book this if you only want to see puffins. The one-hour harbour tours from Reykjavik start at 63 USD, which is a quarter of the price and gets you close to the birds with far less travel. The four-hour whales and puffins express cruise at 134 USD is a middle option if you want more time on the water without the full day commitment. And if you have mobility concerns, the fact that this tour is not wheelchair accessible points you toward the shorter boat trips, which involve less walking and no island terrain. This is a day for the traveller with stamina and an interest in the whole landscape, not just the birds.

GYG

From Reykjavik: Puffin and Volcano Tour in Westman Islands

Dates, remaining places and the current version of what is included are at the operator. This page reflects the state of the catalogue, not the state of this morning.

from $265

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