Entering Akureyri the heart shaped red traffic lights caught my attention. Installed during the crisis to keep up the positive thinking I read later on.

Basically everywhere in Iceland there is wifi in bars, restaurants, big supermarkets (Netto, Bonus and Hagkaup) and in the Airbnb’s we rented.

After a day rest we decided to go 🐋 whale watching. After reading several reviews online we decided to take a trip with Whale watching Hauganes, a 30 minutes ride from Akureyri. We booked it online to get 10% discount. Arriving at the small harbour in the rain we changed our motorgear for a floating warm overall (which is included) and stepped aboard the vessel. We got a short explanation about the various whales we might encounter.

At first sight the sea was calm and the weather cleared up a bit but no sign of whales. Suddenly some pointing at the horizon and what a magnificent sight. A jumping Humpback whale! I only saw this in NG documentaries on telly so far. Incredible how such big creatures can lift themselves so high out of the water.

This whale was relatively still far away from our boat. We cruised on and encountered a group of five male Humpback whales swimming together very closely to our boat. The sound of the whales breathing is so special. They move so incredibly gracious and smooth through the water bending their backs and lifting their tails to dive again after inhaling. Their white side fins visible just under the surface.

We were really lucky spotting these whales so close and in a group. The guide told us that it is really special to see this (5% of the sightings is like this). The female whales with calves are in the Caribbean and the males feed during the summer months in this Icelandic fjord. For videos check out my Facebook page.