Seal Watching, Sudavik village & Scenic Fjord Tour from Isafjordur
This half-day tour offers a great snapshot of Iceland´s remote Westfords, where spectacular geography has resulted in both awe-inspiring natural beauty, as well as human hardship. Journey along breath-taking coastal roads, picking out some of the most interesting highlights of the area.
Continuing the wildlife theme, we also make a stop at Hvítanes, a small spit jutting out into the bay. The shallow waters, sandy banks, and teeming fishing grounds here make it ideal grounds for a small seal colony. These playful creatures are ever present here in summer, Harbour seals and Grey seals are the most frequent guests here. We keep a respectful distance so as to not disturb these easily spooked creatures, but close enough to admire them.
Súðavík is a picturesque fishing village whose colourful houses are clustered around its small harbor. For centuries life here centered around the sea and fishing. Súdavík faces across towards the sea, with steep mountain sides on either side of the narrow fjord. Living in some of the houses on the outskirts of the village is banned in winter due to the risk of avalanches. And for good reason – on the morning of January 16th 1995, an immense wall of snow and ice swept down the hillside, resulting in the loss of 14 lives. We visit the moving Avalanche memorial to this tragedy, and learn how the village dealt with the catastrophe.
We will travel along the coast, enjoying wonderful fjord views. The fjords were formed by the repeated advance and retreat of massive glaciers across multiple ice ages. These glaciers eroded the basalt base rock, and formed distinctive U-shaped valleys, which the sea then filled in to form the fjords we see today. The scenery here is breathtaking. We stop at some viewpoints along the way to admire the fjord views, catching sight of Vigur Island in the distance. The steep cliffs host a wide variety of nesting sea birds such as Eider ducks and Arctic Terns, with sightings of whales also a possibility.
The wonderful half-day tour is designed with cruise ship docking times in mind. About 3.5 hours in duration, the tour starts and ends at Ísafjörður port.
Tour highlights & itinerary
- Enthusiastic and knowledgeable guides
- Pickup and drop off in Ísafjörður
- Free WiFi
- Food or drink
- Snacks and water
- Good walking shoes and rain jacket are recommended
- Why not combine this tour with our 3.5 hour Dynjandi waterfall tour! We offer special deals if you book both, with pickup and drop off from your ship.
- The tour takes around 3.5 hours. We tailor our departure times to fit the Isafjordur cruise ship schedule but please do make sure that the tour fits your ship´s port times
- Disclaimer: Your tour´s duration and route can vary due to weather, road works or unforeseen circumstances
- Standard cancellation policy: Free cancellation up to 24 hours in advance. No refund if cancelled less than 24 hours before the tour time
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Itinerary
Itinerary
Meeting pointCruise ship dock in ÍsafjörðurThe meeting point for this tour is the cruise ship dock in Ísafjörður. Ísafjörður is becoming increasingly more popular as a cruise ship port of call. Once everyone we meander around the fjords coastal road, admiring the stunning mountain views as we go.
1 Hvítanes Seal ColonyWe travel along the winding fjord road to our first stop – Hvítanes seal colony. Here a large colony of harbour seals make their home, with easy access to the rich hunting grounds of the sheltered fjord seas. The seals lol and play along the rocks here – our viewpoint gives you a great view of these playful creatures.
To the north, beyond the seals, catch a glimpse of Vigur Island, famed for its eider duck, from which eider down is collected annually. Eider down is condsidered the finest and rarest downs in the world.
2 Súðavík villageOn your way out of Ísafjörður you may have noticed avalance defense barriers on the hills overlooking roads and homes. The westfjords experiences some of the most hostile weather in Iceland, with heavy snowfall and storms each winter. In 1995, two tiny towns in the region were hit by deadly avalanches – Flateyri saw 20 deaths, while Súðavik village lost 14 souls. Today a small cross marks the location of the deadly site in Súdavík. We will visit a small memorial dedicated to the disaster, as well as the recovery and resiliance of the town and its people. We will also watch a short excerpt from the acclaimed 2024 documentary on the disaster – “When the mountain roars”.
The disaster forever changed Súðavik – most of the town was moved south under the protection of newly constructed avalanche defence barriers. The northern part of the town remains unprotected – for this reason it is not permitted to stay in the homes here in winter time.
3 Scenic fjord viewsOn our way back to Ísafjörður and your ship, we will make a photo stop, with stunning panoramic views of the mountains and fjords. On a clear day you may be able to see Hornstrandir to the north – an uninhabited 600km2 nature reserve and arctic fox habitat, accessible only by boat.
This will give you one last opportunity to appreciate and take in this unique landscape – and the ponder the hardy folk who called this region home.
Drop-offÍsafjörðurAfter these photo stops, we return you to your ship in Ísafjörður.
The meeting point for this tour is the cruise ship dock in Ísafjörður. Ísafjörður is becoming increasingly more popular as a cruise ship port of call. Once everyone we meander around the fjords coastal road, admiring the stunning mountain views as we go.
We travel along the winding fjord road to our first stop – Hvítanes seal colony. Here a large colony of harbour seals make their home, with easy access to the rich hunting grounds of the sheltered fjord seas. The seals lol and play along the rocks here – our viewpoint gives you a great view of these playful creatures.
To the north, beyond the seals, catch a glimpse of Vigur Island, famed for its eider duck, from which eider down is collected annually. Eider down is condsidered the finest and rarest downs in the world.
On your way out of Ísafjörður you may have noticed avalance defense barriers on the hills overlooking roads and homes. The westfjords experiences some of the most hostile weather in Iceland, with heavy snowfall and storms each winter. In 1995, two tiny towns in the region were hit by deadly avalanches – Flateyri saw 20 deaths, while Súðavik village lost 14 souls. Today a small cross marks the location of the deadly site in Súdavík. We will visit a small memorial dedicated to the disaster, as well as the recovery and resiliance of the town and its people. We will also watch a short excerpt from the acclaimed 2024 documentary on the disaster – “When the mountain roars”.
The disaster forever changed Súðavik – most of the town was moved south under the protection of newly constructed avalanche defence barriers. The northern part of the town remains unprotected – for this reason it is not permitted to stay in the homes here in winter time.
On our way back to Ísafjörður and your ship, we will make a photo stop, with stunning panoramic views of the mountains and fjords. On a clear day you may be able to see Hornstrandir to the north – an uninhabited 600km2 nature reserve and arctic fox habitat, accessible only by boat.
This will give you one last opportunity to appreciate and take in this unique landscape – and the ponder the hardy folk who called this region home.
After these photo stops, we return you to your ship in Ísafjörður.