Whale Watching In Húsavík

Spontaneous adventure, knowing people, short notice, off road difficulties, dilemmas, funny looks, sexy outfits, dashing at high speed, stunning nature, fairy lands, grieving whale pod, disturbing and interesting facts, fascinated by Humpback whales, true gentle giants, amazing guides and company, humble and beautiful experience

This spontaneous adventure must be the one that turned out to be the most amazing and beautiful experience!

We stayed in Akureyri the night before and our Airbnb host Caroline was talking about whale watching in the area.

I was travelling with Vivek and as he was working on an expedition ship around Iceland for a while already he had the chance to connect with quite a few Icelandic people already. He remembered meeting Stefan, the owner of Gentle Giants from Húsavík, which was just about an hour drive away from Akureyri.

We didn't think we'd be able to get on a whale watching excursion on such short notice because they're usually pretty well booked but Vivek called up Stefan to ask and we were able to get two spots for the next morning! Húsavík wasn't on our route initially but being in Iceland we just couldn't miss out on this opportunity.

The adventure actually already started the next morning while driving to Húsavík. One of the roads was closed for construction and the GPS showed us an off road route we could take. After already driving around Iceland for a few days I was confident that our car could make it, it was a 4x4 after all and it wouldn't be the first time we would go off road.

To put it simply, halfway through I wasn't so confident anymore! But the dilemma was here, either we turn around and find a normal street and risk the fact that we would miss the boat at 9am or we continue. Missing the boat wasn't an option so I drove on, feeling like the bushes would scratch up the whole car. 😅 We did find our way to a street eventually. Turns out it was the same street that was blocked due to reconstruction. Well, let's just say that the construction workers looked at us funnily. 😁

At least we made it to Húsavík in time! We were given some sexy outfits to protect us from the cold and wet. Pretty soon after we got guided onto one of the RIB boats and made or way out the port.

I loved dashing over the sea across the bay in high speed, it was such a wonderful feeling. But we luckily were given some goggles so we wouldn't start crying - not because of the beauty but because of the wind and cold. 😉

Before even seeing any whales I was already stunned by the nature surrounding us. To me it looked like a real fairy land! 🧚🏼

We came across a whale family of which unfortunately I have forgotten the name of. Judging from the pictures and some comparing on the website of Gentle Giants I assume they were Northern Bottlenose Whales. I remember that the guide told us that one of the whales in the pod (group of whales) got stranded just recently and the pod was remaining in the bay because they were grieving. Apparently it can happen that a whole pod is willing to get stranded out of grief for their missing member! 😮

After following them for a while at a distance we continued our way a bit more towards the end of the bay to find Humpback whales. Thanks to being on a RIB boat we were very agile, flexible and fast so when we noticed one coming up we were able to easily get closer.

While Humpback whales can hold their breaths for about 45 minutes or even longer they tend to come up to breathe more frequently. I don't think we ever waited longer than 10 minutes for the whale to come back up after it dived again. Although I'm not entirely sure if it was the same every time. 🙂

We must have stayed out there for over 1 hour just to observe the Humpback, it was really so fascinating! I find that Gentle Giants really is the most suitable name for those creatures. Imagine about 17 meters of masses gently coming up beside the boat, eventually making those "whaley" sounds and after a couple of minutes diving back down, flicking their tail as a goodbye.

It's a feeling I really can't put into words! ✨

Did you know that a Humpback whale can become up to 95 years old? 🤯 An other thing I learned which was quite fascinating was that the whales only let you that close to them if they want to. So basically if you get too close without permission... Not sure what happens then. 😁 To be honest, Gentle Giants truly is an amazing group of people who know what they talk about. Their respect, knowledge and admiration for those beautiful animals is very much noticeable!

This definitely is one of the most humble and stunning experiences I've had the chance to be part of and writing about it takes me right back to that trip. 🥰

If whale watching wasn't on your bucket list yet, I hope it is now. 😉

Sabbu ❤️