Trip to Iceland Post #9: Whale Watching Hauganes

On our second full, non-travel day, in Iceland, we drove over to Akureyri, Iceland, the second largest city in Iceland with a population of about 19,000 people. There's much to do in this area, including whale watching, with several companies offering whale watching tours. We decided to fork over the money for an official tour and it was well worth it. The company we went with was Whale Watching Hauganes, which is in the town of Hauganes, a relatively short drive north of Akureyri. They advertise seeing whales in just 16 minutes and can go farther out to sea or farther in depending on where the whales are located. On our trip the whales were farther in and it was probably close to 40-45 minutes before we saw whales, but the wait was DEFINITELY worth it!!!

The pictures don't really do this justice. We probably saw 10-12 different whales, all in the same area. At one point there where four whales all coming up at the same time right next to each other! The boat got right up next to the whales so they were right there next to us! I wasn't able to snap a picture in time, but a couple of times a whale rose at the right angle to see the long rows of teeth! Amazing!

Not to knock other whale tours in Iceland, but I will say that I can't see how it's possible to beat Whale Watching Hauganes. The guides were very knowledgeable and answered all our questions. After we were done watching whales they took us to an area to catch fish for a few minutes where my 7 year old caught a fish! Based on the smile on her face, catching the fish might have been her favorite Iceland experience! LOL!

The boat trip was about 2 hrs and 45 minutes and although expensive, it was worth every penny given our experience! Oh, and it was raining too and we simply did not care. That's how amazing the experience was!