![]() ![]() ![]() So Sonia and I immediately changed our plans for our visit to the West-Fjords and planned for a priority visit to the Làtrabjarg area, which we dubbed puffin country by then.Ĭoming from the ferry, we saw a young couple hitchhiking and to our question they said they wanted to go puffin watching and then maybe to the Dynjandi waterfall. They are not harvested in this area and therefore humans are not something to be scared off. What caught my attention was the fact that these particular puffins seemed not shy of humans at all. So back on the Internet, where I found out that on the most western point of Iceland, and indeed Europe, there was supposed to be a large colony of puffins. Was this the best place to see puffins in Iceland? We planned a whole day driving around the peninsula, but to cut a long story short: the rain was pouring down all day and even if we were brave enough to venture outside our car, the mist was so thick at times we could not see more than 100 meters ahead of us.įor the following day, we had already planned, booked and paid the Baldur ferry to the West-fjords so a second day around the peninsula was no option. I found out there were several bird watching sites there as well so hope was rising again. After we left Akureyri from where we had gone to Husavik for our whale/puffin tour we had planned a few days in Stykkisholmur, on the Snaeffels peninsula. So we had seen Iceland puffins but the idea of making a close-up image did not leave my mind. In fact, it's considered one of the national delicacies. We learned there is a quota of about 100,000 that can be caught every year in Iceland (from a population of 8 to 10 million). We also wondered whether eating puffin in Iceland is normal when we saw a man on top of the island rock, capturing puffins with a net. Not close enough for a good photo, though, and as it is already difficult to capture a large animal like a whale in a decent way on a rocking boat, flying puffins are an even bigger challenge. Even if still from far, we got a better sight on the birds than we did in Bretagne some years ago, and some were floating on the waves quite close to our vessel (a beautiful schooner). Nothing from the respect for these Ocean Giants I had witnessed last year in Canada more whale stalking than whale watching.Īnyway, we also sailed to an island which was full of puffins. Besides the fact that we only saw one whale I was a bit shocked by the fact that as soon as the animal came to the surface, five or six boats immediately chased it. I will not elaborate too much on the whale watching, which was a real disappointment. I started looking for ways to see these puffins in Iceland and came across a whale watching tour combined with a visit to “Puffin Island”. The birds are at sea for eight months a year but we would be there bang in the middle of puffin season in Iceland. It turned out that half of the world’s puffin population breeds in Iceland! I learned this when doing my research for our Iceland trip. So if you're wondering when to see puffins in Iceland, late spring and summer are really the best time to see puffins in Iceland. The Iceland puffin season is from May to September and if you're lucky, you can even see puffins in Iceland from April until September. So are there puffins in Iceland all year round? No. When are puffins in Iceland and when do puffins leave Iceland? The best place to see puffins in Iceland: some background information This summer ( Sofie's note: my dad wrote this in 2018, I've updated the article since), a new opportunity came up! The island with puffins there, however, is a protected area and could not be accessed so we had to be satisfied with a view from quite a bit of distance. I had once been able to observe them from afar, aboard a boat touring around the “Sept Îles” on the coast of Bretagne, France, near Ploumanac’h. Puffins are charming little birds, the clowns of the ocean. What to pack for a trip to Iceland in summerįor a long time, I wanted to see and – if at all possible – photograph Icelandic puffins.Hotels we stayed at while we were in Iceland.Where to see puffins in Iceland: a practical list.The best place to see puffins in Iceland!.Was this the best place to see puffins in Iceland?.The best place to see puffins in Iceland: some background information. ![]()
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