When the lights don't show on a Reykjavik boat tour
Plenty of evening cruises from Reykjavik come back under thick cloud, and nobody can promise you the aurora. What you get instead differs from boat to boat. Most give you another go for free in one form or another, and one listing promises nothing.
Why a cruise comes back with nothing
The aurora needs two things at once, charged particles from the sun striking the upper atmosphere and a clear sky between you and them. Over Reykjavik the second part fails more often, because low cloud rolls in from the Atlantic.
On a cloudy night the crew can only sail where the bay allows. A boat cannot drive inland to hunt for a gap, a trade-off weighed up in our guide to going by boat or by bus. Nobody can guarantee the lights on any boat or any night.
So the useful question before booking is not whether you will see the aurora. It is what the operator does for you if you don't.
The rules, boat by boat
Each listing words its promise in its own way. The table sums up what the five cruises say about a night without lights, next to the starting price.
| Cruise | From | If no lights show |
|---|---|---|
| Elding, city cruise | ~$105 | Try again another night, free |
| Sea Trips, yacht tour | ~$103 | Reschedule for free with the operator |
| Harpa Yachts, motor yacht | ~$93 | No retry promised on the listing |
| Sea Trips, sightseeing cruise | ~$98 | No refund, free return ticket valid up to 3 years |
| Reykjavik Sailors, whale and aurora combo | ~$194 | Free ticket to join again |
None of them hands your money back because the sky stayed dark. A second go is the standard deal, and the real difference lies in how flexible that second go is.
Elding's try-again promise
Elding's listing calls it a "sighting guarantee (or try again for free)". If the lights do not appear, you can come back on another night at no cost, on the same classic boat with its heated saloon and borrowed overalls.
That promise is a big part of why Elding's cruise, from ~$105, is our pick. It scores 4.5 from 600+ reviews on Viator, and the retry covers the most common way the evening goes wrong.
The listing does not spell out how to rebook. Ask the crew or the ticket office at Ægisgarður 5c before you leave the pier. A later night depends on space, which is one more reason to sail early in your trip.
Our pick when the forecast looks mixed
Elding's cruise lasts about 2–2.5 hours and lends warm overalls. A naturalist guide on board calls out the lights. If the sky stays dark, you can try again on another night for free.
Sea Trips, two different deals
The two Sea Trips Reykjavík cruises check in at the same Old Harbour House but handle a dark night differently. Look at which one you are booking before you pay.
The Northern Lights Yacht Tour, from ~$103, lets you reschedule for free with the operator. With 4.4 from 1,300+ reviews, it has more GetYourGuide reviews than any other aurora boat in Reykjavik.
The Sightseeing Cruise, from ~$98, gives no refund for a night without lights but hands you a free return ticket valid for up to 3 years. That suits anyone who expects to come back to Iceland.
Reykjavik Sailors and Harpa Yachts
The Reykjavik Sailors combo, covered in our guide to whales by day and aurora by night, gives you a free ticket to join again if nothing is sighted. Ask whether that applies to each half of the day on its own.
Harpa Yachts is the exception. Its motor yacht cruise, from ~$93, is the cheapest of the five, but the listing promises no retry. If the lights matter more to you than the price, read the small print before booking.
Some guests may still find the lower price fair for a cruise along the lit waterfront and out behind Viðey. Go in knowing that a cloudy night on that boat is simply a cloudy night.
A retry needs spare nights
A free second go only helps if you are still in Reykjavik to use it. Book the cruise for your first or second evening and keep the later nights open, instead of saving the boat for your last night.
Look at the forecast too. If cloud is due all week, a retry may face the same sky, so check the months with better odds when you pick your dates.
Travelers on a stopover with a single night have less to gain from these promises. For them the boat itself matters more, from deck space to warmth on board, as set out in our small yacht versus big boat guide.
Weather cancellations follow other rules
A cruise that never leaves the pier is a separate case. Operators cancel when wind and swell make the bay unsafe, and you then get a new date or a refund.
That differs from a trip that sails and sees nothing. Rough nights are more common in midwinter, and if the motion of the boat worries you, our seasickness guide explains what helps on board.
Faint lights still count as lights
A weak aurora often looks grey or whitish to the eye, like a thin cloud that refuses to drift. A phone or camera picks up far more green than you can see, which surprises a lot of people.
Whether a faint band counts as a sighting is the operator's call, so ask the crew before you step off the boat. Our aurora photo tips help you catch the color your eyes miss.