Seeing puffins on your Iceland Cruise

Puffins are adorable, with their bright orange beaks (at least during the summer) and wobbly flying skills. And Iceland is home to some of the largest Atlantic puffin colonies in the world. If you’re visiting Iceland on a cruise, you want to see puffins if you can!

But, puffins like to be isolated on the sides of cliffs. They’re only on land to raise a little baby puffling; as soon as that job is done, they’ll be back out on the ocean until next spring. While they’re on land, there are some birds that would love to eat them, or their babies. Puffins don’t really want to see you, or other non-puffin birds or anyone else if they don’t have to.

Seeing Puffins on a shore excursion in Iceland

I only have a handful of excursions I recommend if you want to see puffins in Iceland. Watch out for any tour where you’re on a boat and you stay on a boat. These may be called puffin watching tours (or maybe whale and puffin watching tours) but you won’t get those incredible close up views of puffins. For that, you need to get off of the boat and head to a remote cliff where the puffins are hanging out.

The puffins should be around in Iceland from (very) roughly May until August. This is when most cruises visit Iceland anyway, so unless you have an early September cruise, you should be able to see the puffins while they’re still on land.

Oh, and if you have young children in your life, you may want to read them our award-winning children’s book: Lundi the Lost Puffin.

Puffin watching tours from Ísafjörður

From Ísafjörður, West Tours runs a great trip to Vigur Island. There is a boat involved, but then you get to walk around the island and get up close with the puffins. If your cruise line offers a puffin watching tour, it’s often this exact tour, just at a marked-up price. Spots fill up quickly, so you’ll want to book early.

Puffin Watching Tours from Seyðisfjörður

You have 2 options from Seyðisfjörður: A land-based option or a water-based option:

My descriptions aren’t entirely true: Both tours have a bus ride up to the amazing area of Borgarfjörður Eystri, which has an unbeievable puffin viewing area. Imagine walking on a boardwalk and puffins are right next to you on the grass! (The puffins have learned that a person on the boardwalk is not a threat, so you can be right next to the puffins.)

One of the tours above includes a RIB boat ride, and the other includes a meal. Either way, the puffins are the highlight.

Other Puffin Watching Options in Iceland

If neither of those options works for you, we can also help you plan a custom pre- or post-cruise tour to see puffins on the South Coast of Iceland! And we often don’t charge a planning fee for those pre-or post- cruise tours if you book your cruise with us as your travel agent! Just fill out the form below for more information.