The best place to see puffins in Iceland

If you travel to watch birds: read on. If you think puffins are cute, do so as well! And if you're dying to go to Iceland, this post really has everything you need because it will tell you about the best place to see puffins in Iceland.

This is a guest post by my awesome dad, Hans. Yes, he very fittingly has the same name as Hans the puffin from the movie Madagascar.

For a long time, I wanted to see and – if at all possible – photograph Icelandic puffins. Puffins are charming little birds, the clowns of the ocean. 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.

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. That was 9 or 10 years ago. This summer (Sofie's note: my dad wrote this in 2018, I've updated the article since), a new opportunity came up!

 

The best place to see puffins in Iceland: some background information

When are puffins in Iceland and when do puffins leave Iceland?
So are there puffins in Iceland all year round? No. 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 if you're wondering when to see puffins in Iceland, late spring and summer are really the best time to see puffins in Iceland.

I learned this when doing my research for our Iceland trip. It turned out that half of the world’s puffin population breeds in Iceland!

The birds are at sea for eight months a year but we would be there bang in the middle of puffin season in Iceland. Win!

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”. So I booked.

I will not elaborate too much on the whale watching, which was a real disappointment. 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. Nothing from the respect for these Ocean Giants I had witnessed last year in Canada; more whale stalking than whale watching.

 

Puffin Island

Anyway, we also sailed to an island which was full of puffins. 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).

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.

Do people eat puffins?

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. So can you eat puffin? Apparently, yes. 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). In fact, it's considered one of the national delicacies.
 

Other places to see puffins in Iceland

So we had seen Iceland puffins but the idea of making a close-up image did not leave my mind. 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. I found out there were several bird watching sites there as well so hope was rising again.

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.

For 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.
 

Was this the best place to see puffins in Iceland?

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.

What caught my attention was the fact that these particular puffins seemed not shy of humans at all. They are not harvested in this area and therefore humans are not something to be scared off. 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.

Coming 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. Exactly our itinerary so we took the French youngsters with us.

The trip to Làtrabjarg by itself is worthwhile. As the West Fjords are the least inhabited part of the island with entire abandoned villages it was no surprise that most of our route was on a dirt road. But the scenery was just gorgeous!

The fjords are so beautiful I regretted every day in Iceland that we couldn’t stay longer. The frustrating rain and fog experience from the day before was completely forgotten.

 

What is the best place to see puffins in Iceland?

The drive took us about 1 hour and 45 minutes (including some photo stops of course). Then we arrived at Europe’s most western point and immediately went for the cliffs. Where I had expected to have to look up at the cliffs we were actually on them. As soon as we approached the edge, we noticed a puffin sitting on there, maybe one meter away…

I could not believe my eyes. It was like the bird was posing. I had a close-up shot of a puffin in Iceland. Mission completed!

here were some line markings in the grass 70-80 centimeters from the cliff’s edge. While originally we thought this was for safety – which is partly so – it is also because puffins in Iceland nest in tunnels under the grass on the cliff and one might actually make the tunnel collapse by stepping on it. This could even cause a combined human and puffin family drama: one falling down the cliff, the other with a crushed egg or even youngster!

I spent almost an hour photographing and just admiring the birds. Then we headed to our next destination (our initial reason to come to the West-fjords) with our hitchhiking companions joining us.
 

Where to see puffins in Iceland: a practical list

Below are some of the best places to see puffins in Iceland.

• Akurey and Lunday Islands
  The two islands are home to hundreds of puffins and can easily be reached by boat.
• Heimaey Island
  The Westman Islands archipelago holds the biggest puffin colony in Iceland and most of them can be found at Heimaey Island, the largest island of the archipelago. You can fly there or take the ferry. If you want to get close to the birds, you'll need to make another boat trip there. Otherwise, you can spot the Westman Islands puffins from far from land.
• Hafnarhólmi
  On this island, you can get really close to the puffins. You can drive or hike to Borgarhólmi, where puffins tend to hang out or watch a variety of birdlife from the bird viewing point near the harbor.
• South coast
  The south coast of Iceland is home to various Icelandic puffin colonies who can usually be found at Ingólfshöfði, Reynisfjall, and Dyrhólaey. The latter is only a two-and-a-half hour drive from Reykjavik – perfect if you're short on time.
• Skrúður
  This island in the east of Iceland is a popular destination for climbers. It's also known for its large puffin colony and the presence of a giant cave.
• Papey Island
  Another island in the east of Iceland where puffins tend to flock together.
• Vigur
  This is the largest of three islands in the Westfjords and a good place to see puffins.
• Kollafjörður in Faxaflói bay
• Breiðafjörður Bay
  This bay in the west of Iceland welcomes many different bird species, among which the famous Breiðafjörður puffins. Take a boat trip to one of the many islands in the bay to spot them.
• Grimsey Island
  This place is known for its large puffin colony, but it's also cool to go to because it's the only place in Iceland that touches the Arctic Circle.
• Látrabjarg cliff
  Cool for a similar reason: not only is there a large puffin colony here, it's also the westernmost point of Europe.

 

 

Go on a Iceland puffin tour

If you don't have a lot of time in Iceland or don't want to go in search of these birds yourself, a puffin tour is a good alternative to do some puffin spotting. There are several puffin tours departing from Reykjavik that will take you to the spots where puffins can usually be found.

• This puffin boat tour takes an hour
• while this one is a little longer at an hour and a half.

 

 

What to pack for a trip to Iceland in summer

• Hiking boots that are comfortable on any kind of terrain.
• Icebreaker hiking socks to keep your feet dry when you're sweating and warm when you're cold. – I have basic black ones.
• A beanie, because summer's in Iceland are still chilly.
• A bathing suit to enjoy the many hot springs and spas.

 

That was it! Now tell me: would you want to go puffin watching in Iceland?
 

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Looking for more information on Iceland, then check out this Guide to Iceland or check out these 45 crazy facts about Iceland.

Find below our most important travel guides about Iceland.