Whales by day, aurora by night in Reykjavik
One booking from the Old Harbour can put you on Faxaflói Bay twice, once in daylight to look for whales and once after dark to look for the northern lights. It makes for a long, cold day with no guarantee of either. Done well, it shows you the bay in both of its moods.
Two cruises on one ticket
The Reykjavik Sailors combo from ~$194 puts a whale-watching cruise and a northern lights cruise on the same booking. The listing gives about 6 hours on the water in total.
The whale trip lasts about 2.5–3 hours in daylight and the aurora trip about 2–3 hours after dark. They may run on the same day or as two separate trips, so check how your chosen option works.
It scores 4.4 from 130+ reviews on GetYourGuide. Of the five boats on this site it is the only one that adds whales, and it costs nearly twice as much as a plain evening cruise.
On the evening half the boat heads into the dark bay, away from the city glow, and the crew watches the sky instead of the water. You see the same harbour and the same bay twice, in very different light.
What lives in Faxaflói Bay
The listing names minke whales and humpback whales as the whales to look for. It also lists harbor porpoises and white-beaked dolphins. Minkes are small and quick, and often you see only a back and a fin before they dive.
Humpbacks are the ones people hope for. They have long flippers and a tail that lifts clear of the water before a deep dive. None of these animals is guaranteed, and neither is the aurora later on.
Watch the gulls as well as the water. Seabirds gather where fish crowd near the surface, so a busy flock is often the first sign that something larger is feeding below.
The daylight trip also shows you the coast itself. Esja rises across the water to the north, often with snow on its flat top, and the waterfront looks very different at noon than it does at night.
Pacing a day that runs past dark
In midwinter the daylight lasts from around 11 am to 3:30 pm, so the whale trip takes up much of the light hours. A gap follows before the evening cruise, and in some months it is a long one.
Use the break to warm up and eat a proper meal, because anything you buy to eat or drink on board costs extra. A rest at the hotel helps too, because the evening cruise brings you back late.
Dress for the whole day from the start, or bring a dry layer to change into between the trips. Clothes that got damp from spray in the afternoon make the evening deck feel much colder.
Six hours on a boat is a lot in winter, even with a heated cabin. If you travel with small children or have a weak stomach, think about splitting the trips across separate days, and read our guide to seasickness first.
What the boat gives you
Reykjavik Sailors lends warm flotation overalls, which matters more on a long day than on a single evening. Inside you find heated cabins with toilets and Wi-Fi.
Seasickness tablets are handed out free, and guides on board talk you through what you see. The listing also says the trip may run on a partner's shared boat at certain times of year, so the boat at the pier may carry another company's name.
Layers still matter under the overalls, from the morning through to midnight. Our guide to what to wear on deck covers boots and gloves along with the rest of the kit.
Whales and aurora on one booking
About 6 hours on the water across two trips. Warm flotation overalls and heated cabins come with it. If nothing is sighted, the listing promises a free ticket to join again.
If the day comes up empty
Whales and the aurora fail for different reasons. Wind and swell tend to spoil a whale trip while cloud spoils the evening, so one half can go well and the other come up blank.
When nothing is sighted, Reykjavik Sailors gives you a free ticket to join again. Ask whether that covers the whale trip and the aurora trip separately, since the listing does not say.
The same limit applies as on any retry, because coming back needs spare time. Book the combo near the start of your stay, and compare the rules on every boat in our guide to nights without the aurora.
Combo or two separate tickets
Elding also sells a whale and northern lights combo from the same harbour, rated 4.5 from 30+ reviews on Viator. We don't compare it on this site, but the idea is the same.
The other route is a plain evening cruise, such as Elding's city cruise, from ~$105, plus a whale trip on another day. That gives you a calmer schedule and lets you pick the clearest night for the lights.
The prices of all five boats sit side by side in our cruise price comparison. A combo saves planning, while two tickets on two days save your stamina.
Who the long day suits
The combo makes the most sense on a short stay with one free day and a wish to see the bay in both lights. You get whales and the skyline by day, then dark water and, if the sky clears, the aurora.
It suits people less well if they tire easily or get seasick. A single evening cruise of about 2 hours is a gentler start, and our guide to the aurora months shows when darkness and calm seas line up best.
Photographers get two kinds of picture from one booking, whales in flat winter light and the night sky over the bay. Our photo tips for a moving deck help with the harder second half.