Whale watching in Iceland: Húsavík, Reykjavík or Akureyri, and when

Four places run regular trips; two of them are worth planning a day around.

Humpbacks arrive in the north in April and leave in October; the peak for numbers and calm seas is June to August, when Húsavík trips see whales on well over 95 percent of departures and the midnight-sun evening trips run. Blue whales pass Skjálfandi bay in June and July. Reykjavík has whales all year, minkes and dolphins in summer and winter, but the sighting rate drops in winter and the sea is rougher. Spring brings orcas to Snæfellsnes, following the herring; the Ólafsvík and Grundarfjörður boats chase them in March to May.

The same bay, three ways to see it.

• Traditional oak boats (Húsavík): slow, stable, covered cabins, overalls supplied; the classic trip and the best for families and the seasick.
• RIBs (rigid inflatables): fast, close to the water, 12 people, more spray and a higher price; the closest encounters and the best photographs; no young children.
• Carbon-neutral or electric boats in Húsavík: quiet, which the whales seem to prefer; the same route.
• Morning departures see the calmest sea; evening trips in June and July have the light.
• Most operators give a free second trip if nothing is seen; that is a promise about their sighting rate, not an insurance policy for your schedule.

The two things that spoil a trip are both avoidable. The boats supply a flotation overall that is also warm; wear a hat, gloves and layers under it, because three hours standing in a sea breeze at 10°C is cold in July. Take a seasickness tablet an hour before departure if you have ever been sick on a boat; stay on deck, look at the horizon, and choose Akureyri or Húsavík over Reykjavík for calmer water.

From May to mid-August, the Reykjavík harbour runs one-hour puffin trips to the islands of Akurey and Lundey, and the Húsavík boats pass the puffin colony on Lundey in Skjálfandi bay. The big colonies are on land: Látrabjarg in the Westfjords, Dyrhólaey on the South Coast (closed at nesting time in May and June), Borgarfjörður eystri in the east and the Westman Islands, where you can sit a few metres from them with no boat at all.

Húsavík is 90 minutes from Akureyri and 50 minutes from Mývatn; the usual pattern is a Mývatn night, the 09:00 or 10:00 boat, then Goðafoss and Akureyri in the afternoon, which is day 7 of the ten-day Ring Road route on this site. From Reykjavík the harbour is a walk from any city hotel and a morning trip leaves the afternoon free. Book a day with a spare slot after it; trips are cancelled in strong wind and rebooked for the next departure.