Akurey Puffins Iceland: Boat circles the nesting colony

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/10

Duration1h

GroupUp to 33

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

Board the Puffin Express and Circle Akurey Island at Engine-Off Peace

You board a specially designed boat in Reykjavik, cruise fifteen minutes to Akurey Island, and spend time watching puffins nest and dive while an expert guide explains what you're seeing. The boat circles the island with engines off so you can hear the seabirds themselves. You get binoculars, a knowledgeable crew, and multiple daily departure times to choose from — no need to arrange your own transport or timing.

Step-by-step itinerary

Puffin cruise from Reykjavik

Pickup from Reykjavik hotel
Board puffin express boat
Cruise 15 minutes to Akurey island
Observe puffins and seabirds onboard
Circle Akurey island for viewing
Enjoy quiet time with engines off
Return to Reykjavik

The Experience

The boat leaves the harbor in Reykjavik and takes fifteen minutes to reach Akurey Island, where puffins nest between May and August on rocky slopes just offshore. The puffin express is built low and narrow so it can get close to the shoreline without running aground — close enough that you'll see the birds diving for food and settling into their burrows without binoculars, though the guide hands them out anyway. Your expert guide talks through what you're watching: which seabirds are nesting, how puffins hunt, why the island's small hills matter to their breeding cycle. It's the kind of detail that makes the difference between watching birds and understanding them.

After circling the island for observation time, the captain cuts the engines. That's when it gets quiet — just water lapping, wind, and the sound of the seabirds themselves. Northern fulmars, arctic terns, black guillemots, and the puffins moving in and out of their nests. You're not rushed through it. The silence is part of the tour, and it's deliberate. Most people don't expect that part.

The puffin cruise from Reykjavik runs five departure times daily (up to seven in June through August), so you can fit it around the rest of your itinerary without forcing an early start or a late return. Hotel pickup is available if you book it directly with the supplier, though there's a small extra fee. If you're staying near the harbor, you can walk to the boat yourself and skip that step.

What’s included

Your puffin cruise from Reykjavik includes the boat ride to Akurey Island, an expert guide who explains the seabirds and their behavior, binoculars for closer viewing, and time circling the island with the engines off so you can experience the natural soundscape. Hotel pickup is available as an add-on for an extra fee.

Good to know

Easy physical levelPublic transport nearbyInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Special Tours Iceland

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to see puffins during nesting season without arranging your own boat or guide — the fixed departure times and expert commentary are what turn a boat ride into an actual understanding of what you're watching.