Husavik is a town of about two thousand two hundred people on Skjalfandi bay on the north coast of Iceland, an hour from Akureyri and about fifty kilometres below the Arctic Circle. It calls itself the whale watching capital of Europe and the claim holds up: the bay is deep, sheltered and rich in feed, the humpbacks come in from May to September, and the sighting rates here are among the highest anywhere in the North Atlantic.
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What makes it more than a boat trip is that the people running the boats are, in several cases, the families who used to hunt from them. Iceland's whaling history is complicated and recent, and Husavik's shift from killing whales to showing them to visitors happened within one generation and is documented properly at the local museum rather than skated over.
One honest note about the photographs, and it is a larger caveat than usual. We hold eight attributable photographs of Husavik and three of them are humpback tails. They are not on this page. A whale against open water is a photograph of a whale rather than of a place, and we refused exactly such a frame for Akureyri, so taking one here would be inconsistent. The images are the harbour and the church, the lit seafront at night and the black sand coast. The thing you are coming for is not pictured, and it is the thing most worth coming for.
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What Is Here
The whale watching is the destination and the practical details matter more than the enthusiasm. Tours run from roughly April to October with the reliable season from May to September, last about three hours, and go out on either a converted wooden fishing boat, which is slower, steadier and quieter, or a RIB, which is fast, wet and considerably colder. Sighting rates are usually quoted around ninety five to ninety eight per cent in high season. Humpbacks are the main species, with minke, white-beaked dolphins and harbour porpoise common and blue whales occasional. Several operators run from the harbour and most provide overalls.
The Husavik Whale Museum occupies an old slaughterhouse on the harbour and is much better than a town this size warrants: full skeletons hung in the roof space, including a blue whale, proper material on biology and on the hunt, and the honest account of the transition. Go before the boat rather than after.
Husavikurkirkja is the building in the photograph at the top of this page and it is the prettiest church in Iceland. Built in 1907 of Norwegian timber, white with a green roof and a slim spire, standing above the harbour. It is small, open, and the one piece of real architecture on this coast.
GeoSea is the geothermal sea baths on the cliff north of the town: infinity pools of warm seawater drawn from boreholes, looking out over the bay towards the mountains of the Kinnarfjoll and, if you are lucky, whales below you. It is the best of the newer Icelandic bath developments because the view is genuinely extraordinary and the water is seawater rather than treated freshwater.
The town itself is a working harbour with a few good restaurants, and the exploration museum covers something odd and true: NASA trained Apollo astronauts in the lava fields near here in 1965 and 1967 because the terrain resembled the lunar surface.
Beyond, Asbyrgi and the Jokulsargljufur canyon are an hour east, Dettifoss is about an hour and a half, and Myvatn is an hour south, which makes Husavik one of the two sensible bases for the Diamond Circle alongside Akureyri.
When to Go
June to August for the whales and the light, and the season is the whole decision. The reliable whale window is May to September with June and July the peak; April and October are possible and thinner; from November to March most operators stop and the ones that run go out in conditions most visitors would not enjoy.
Summer gives you near twenty four hour daylight, water temperatures that still sit around five to eight degrees, and air temperatures of eight to fourteen. It is worth saying plainly that an Icelandic summer whale watching trip is a cold three hours. Open water, moving boat, wind, spray, and no shelter: people routinely come back colder than they have been on the whole trip.
Winter runs around minus three to plus two with four hours of usable light, the town quiet, and the aurora over the bay. GeoSea is open year round and is at its best in the dark months.
The puffins on Lundey island are present from roughly April to August and tours run to see them in that window only.
Getting There
An hour from Akureyri on Route 85, and Akureyri is where you fly to. Domestic flights from Reykjavik to Akureyri take forty five minutes and save five hours of driving; from Akureyri the drive to Husavik is straightforward and paved. Husavik has a small airport with a limited service.
From Reykjavik by road it is about five and a half to six hours on the ring road. Buses run and are infrequent.
Icelandic driving rules differ from British ones in ways that carry fines of up to about five hundred pounds, and the FCDO lists them. KEEP DIPPED HEADLIGHTS ON YEAR ROUND, day and night, which is a legal requirement. Speed limits are lower than in the UK and the DRINK DRIVING LIMIT IS LOWER TOO. Suitable tyres are required, including winter tyres when conditions call for them. A UK photocard licence is valid for thirty days. Beyond the rules, the conditions are the thing: the weather changes fast, distances between towns are far greater than the map suggests, SOME MAIN ROUTES ARE GRAVEL OR DIRT, and some roads and bridges are SINGLE LANE WITH PASSING AREAS. Highland and interior F-roads need four wheel drive, open only for a short part of the summer, and where they cross rivers the instruction is to DRIVE AT FIVE TO TEN KILOMETRES AN HOUR and to understand that RIVER LEVELS CAN CHANGE WITHIN THE SAME DAY. Check the Icelandic Road Administration before every driving day rather than once at the start of the trip.
If you hire a car in Iceland there is one clause worth knowing before you sign, and the FCDO states it rather than hinting at it: THE WEATHER CAN CAUSE DAMAGE TO RENTAL CARS THAT IS NOT COVERED BY INSURANCE. Strong winds are common and throw up sand and ash that strips paintwork, and in its own words BRITISH TOURISTS HAVE HAD TO PAY LARGE AMOUNTS OF MONEY to repair hire cars damaged that way. Sand and ash protection is sold as a separate product by most Icelandic hire companies and is the one add-on that is usually worth taking. Two related points: BREAKDOWN RECOVERY COSTS IN REMOTE AREAS CAN BE VERY HIGH, and OFF-ROAD DRIVING IS STRICTLY CONTROLLED and illegal outside marked tracks, with large fines, because the vegetation does not recover.
Locally the town is tiny, flat along the harbour and steep behind it, and everything named above except GeoSea and the beaches is within ten minutes on foot. GeoSea is a twenty minute walk uphill or a two minute drive.
Is Husavik Safe for Women Travelers
The FCDO publishes no advised-against areas anywhere in Iceland and the country has no /regional-risks page, so there is no partial advisory behind the summary. On terrorism it is unusually mild by its own standards, saying that ALTHOUGH THERE IS NO RECENT HISTORY OF TERRORISM IN ICELAND, ATTACKS CANNOT BE RULED OUT. On crime it says levels are LOW, with petty theft and antisocial behaviour PARTICULARLY AROUND BARS IN DOWNTOWN REYKJAVIK, which is the only location it names in the whole country. What the landing page does carry is a named VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS warning, and the detail there matters more than the headline: the eruptions since December 2023 have affected THE TOWN OF GRINDAVIK AND THE SURROUNDING AREA, and the FCDO states plainly that THE CAPITAL CITY, REYKJAVIK, KEFLAVIK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AND THE REST OF ICELAND HAVE NOT BEEN AFFECTED. So this is a named-town situation rather than a country-level one, which is the opposite of how a reader skimming headlines would take it.
A fishing town of two thousand people in the safest country in the world does not pose a personal safety question, and this section is honestly about the boat and the water. The FCDO's single named crime location in Iceland is around bars in downtown Reykjavik, five hundred kilometres away. English is universal. A woman travelling alone here, including on a boat full of strangers, will find it entirely unremarkable.
One sentence on Iceland's safety page deserves to be read twice, because it names the three things that actually hurt visitors and all three are things people come here to look at: GOING TOO CLOSE TO THE OCEAN, CLIFF EDGES AND HOT SPRINGS ARE COMMON CAUSES OF ACCIDENTS IN ICELAND. That is not a generic caution. The ocean here produces sneaker waves, which run far higher up a beach than the sets before them with no visible warning and which have killed people standing on black sand looking out to sea. Cliff edges in Iceland are frequently unfenced, often undercut, and made of material that gives way. Hot springs and mud pots are at or near boiling, the ground around them can be a thin crust over water at that temperature, and the burns are severe. The rule in all three cases is the same and it is unglamorous: keep back further than feels necessary, never turn your back on the sea, and stay on the boardwalks and marked paths in a geothermal area.
And at Husavik the ocean clause is not about standing on a beach, it is about being on the water for three hours. Skjalfandi is sheltered by Icelandic standards and it is still the North Atlantic: the swell can be substantial, the boats pitch, and seasickness on a three hour trip with no way off is the single most common thing that spoils a visit here. Take the tablets BEFORE you board rather than when you start to feel it, because once it begins they do not work. Choose the wooden boat over the RIB if you are at all prone, sit low and mid-ship, stay on deck in the air rather than below, and look at the horizon. If the swell is forecast high, operators will say so and rebooking is usually free.
The water temperature is the other half of the boat risk and it is the serious one. Skjalfandi sits at around five to eight degrees in summer, which gives a person in the water minutes rather than hours. That is why the operators issue flotation overalls and why you wear them. Hold the rail when the boat moves, stay seated when told to, and do not lean out for a photograph.
Iceland runs a national system for exactly the situation a visitor gets into and the FCDO points at it by name. SAFETRAVEL ICELAND publishes route conditions and hazard guides and LETS YOU LODGE A TRAVEL PLAN, so that if you do not return someone knows where to look, and the FCDO's own instruction is to leave your plans and contact details either with your hotel or on Safe Travel. Alongside it, the Icelandic Met Office carries weather and aurora and seismic alerts, the Road Administration carries road status, and 112 is both the emergency number and an app that transmits your position to the rescue services. None of that costs anything, and in a country where SEARCH AND RESCUE MAY BE LIMITED IN SOME AREAS, which the FCDO says plainly because Iceland is inside the Arctic Circle, using it is the difference between an incident and a statistic.
Two small legal points, and the first runs the opposite way from most of Europe. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO CARRY YOUR PASSPORT IN ICELAND. The FCDO suggests carrying some form of identification such as a photocard driving licence or a copy of your passport photo page, and keeping the passport itself somewhere safe, which is a welcome contrast to Poland, Czechia and Slovenia where carrying identification is a requirement. And IT IS ILLEGAL TO SMOKE OR USE AN E-CIGARETTE in restaurants, bars, on public transport and in public buildings, with a fine attached. Riding an electric scooter after drinking is treated as drink driving.
The Husavik Packing List
Three hours on a cold open boat in the North Atlantic, a windy harbour town, and geothermal baths on a clifftop.
Merino base layers, and the boat is the entire argument
Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron, and a long sleeve merino wool base layer for women is the most important item on this page. A whale watching trip is three hours sitting still in wind and spray on open water at eight to fourteen degrees air temperature, which is colder in effect than anything else in this guide at that number. You will also be damp, from spray rather than rain. Wool keeps insulating when it is wet and does not chill you when you stop moving, which is the whole of the problem on a boat where you cannot generate heat by walking. A merino base layer bottom is not optional for the boat in any month.
A fleece and a real insulated jacket, under the overalls
A Columbia Fast Trek fleece year round, and a waterproof insulated parka from September to May. The operators issue flotation overalls that go OVER your clothes and are windproof rather than warm, so the warmth has to come from what you are already wearing. People who board in a t-shirt and a thin jacket spend the second half of the trip inside the cabin missing the whales.
A windproof shell
A Marmot PreCip Eco rain jacket. Useful on the boat under the overalls and essential in the town, where the harbour is fully exposed and Icelandic rain arrives sideways. A hood that stays up in wind is the requirement.
Hat, gloves and the thing people forget
A merino beanie that will stay on in thirty knots, and warm gloves in any month: cold hands are what end a whale watching trip early, because you stop being able to hold a camera or a rail. Thin wool liners under something waterproof is the right arrangement.
Shoes for a wet deck and a black sand beach
Salomon X Ultra 4 GTX shoes, with merino hiking socks under them. A boat deck is wet and moving, the harbour is wet, and the black sand coast is soft and often sodden. Waterproof is essential and grip matters on a deck.
The small things
Seasickness tablets, taken before boarding. This is the single most useful thing in this list and we do not carry them in our affiliate range, so buy whatever your pharmacist recommends at home: the Icelandic operators sell some on the quay and the point is to have taken them an hour earlier. A swimsuit and a quick-dry towel for GeoSea, which you will want after the boat. A dry bag or waterproof case for a phone or camera, because spray will reach both. Sunglasses, since glare off water at this latitude is strong even in cloud. The 112 Iceland app. A reusable bottle, since Icelandic tap water is among the best on earth. And binoculars, which earn their place here more than anywhere else in this guide.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
Essential Resources for Women in Husavik
Emergency numbers: 112 reaches police, ambulance, fire and mountain and sea rescue from any phone including a locked mobile, and English is spoken. Download the 112 Iceland app before you travel: it sends your GPS position to the emergency services with one button and logs your location periodically so you can be found, which is the single most useful free thing a visitor to Iceland can do. For non-urgent medical advice the health service line is 1700.
Whale watching: tours run roughly April to October with the reliable season May to September, last about three hours, and go out on either a wooden fishing boat or a RIB. Choose the wooden boat if you are at all prone to seasickness and take tablets before boarding rather than after. Operators issue flotation overalls, which are windproof rather than warm, so your own layers do the work. If the swell is forecast high the operators will say so and rebooking is normally free.
US State Department travel advisory: the Iceland advisory. Read the current level there directly rather than relying on a figure printed in any guide.
UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/iceland, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits.
Main hospital: Husavik has a small hospital and health centre, Heilbrigdisstofnun Nordurlands, and the referral centre is Akureyri Hospital an hour west, which is the second largest in Iceland. A UK Global Health Insurance Card or an EU European Health Insurance Card gives you state-provided medically necessary care in Iceland on the same terms as a resident, which is not the same as free: Iceland charges patient co-payments for primary care and outpatient visits, so expect to pay something and keep the receipts. Travel insurance still matters and matters more here than in most of Europe, because the FCDO notes that EMERGENCY MEDICAL ASSISTANCE AND SEARCH AND RESCUE MAY BE LIMITED IN SOME AREAS and because an evacuation from a remote part of the country is expensive. Tap water is among the best in the world and buying bottled is pointless; the hot tap smells of sulphur because it is geothermal, which is harmless. Pharmacies are apotek.
Official health authority: the Directorate of Health of Iceland. HUSAVIK HAS A SMALL HOSPITAL AND HEALTH CENTRE and the referral centre is AKUREYRI HOSPITAL an hour west, the second largest in Iceland. TWO LOCAL POINTS THAT MATTER MORE THAN THE DISTANCE: SKJALFANDI BAY SITS AT AROUND FIVE TO EIGHT DEGREES in summer, which gives a person in the water minutes rather than hours and is why the operators issue flotation overalls; and SEASICKNESS ON A THREE HOUR TRIP WITH NO WAY OFF is the commonest thing that spoils a visit, so take tablets BEFORE boarding because they do not work once it starts. DOWNLOAD THE 112 ICELAND APP
US Embassy: the United States Embassy in Reykjavik.
Official tourism authority: the Icelandic Tourist Board. HUSAVIK CALLS ITSELF EUROPE'S WHALE WATCHING CAPITAL and the claim holds: Skjalfandi bay is deep, sheltered and rich in feed, humpbacks come in from MAY TO SEPTEMBER and sighting rates in high season are usually quoted at ninety five per cent or better. TOURS LAST ABOUT THREE HOURS on either a converted WOODEN FISHING BOAT, slower and steadier, or a RIB, fast, wet and much colder. THE WHALE MUSEUM in the old slaughterhouse is better than the town's size warrants and covers the transition from hunting to watching honestly; go before the boat. GEOSEA is geothermal SEAWATER infinity pools on the cliff with the bay below. PUFFINS on Lundey are present roughly APRIL TO AUGUST only. AKUREYRI IS AN HOUR WEST and is where the flights land
Take seasickness tablets before you board. Three hours, no way off, and they do not work once it has started.
Dress for the boat, not for the town. The issued overalls are windproof rather than warm and your own layers do the work.
Go to the Whale Museum before the boat. It makes the three hours mean more and it is honest about the hunt.
Book GeoSea for after the trip. Geothermal seawater on a clifftop is the right end to a cold morning.
Solo women safety assessment: a fishing town of two thousand two hundred people in the country ranked safest in the world does not pose a personal safety question, and padding this section as though it did would be dishonest. The FCDO publishes no advised-against areas anywhere in Iceland and no regional risks page, says of terrorism only that although there is no recent history of it attacks cannot be ruled out, describes crime levels as LOW, and the single location it names in the entire country is AROUND BARS IN DOWNTOWN REYKJAVIK, five hundred kilometres away. English is universal and a woman travelling alone, including on a boat full of strangers, is entirely unremarkable here. THE HONEST SUBJECT IS THE BOAT AND THE WATER. The FCDO's key Icelandic sentence names three causes of accidents and all three are things people come to see: GOING TOO CLOSE TO THE OCEAN, CLIFF EDGES AND HOT SPRINGS. Here the ocean clause means being on it for three hours rather than standing beside it. Skjalfandi is sheltered by Icelandic standards and is still the North Atlantic, the swell can be substantial, and SEASICKNESS WITH NO WAY OFF is the commonest thing that ruins a visit: take tablets before boarding because they do not work afterwards, choose the wooden boat over the RIB if you are prone, sit low and mid-ship, stay in the air rather than below, and watch the horizon. More seriously, THE WATER IS FIVE TO EIGHT DEGREES IN SUMMER, which gives a person in it minutes rather than hours, which is why flotation overalls are issued and why you keep them on, hold the rail, stay seated when told and do not lean out for a photograph. Cold hands are what end these trips early. On land the risks are the ordinary Icelandic ones: weather that changes within the hour, wind on an exposed harbour, and a hire car whose weather damage the FCDO states is NOT COVERED BY INSURANCE.
Reading On
Husavik is one of two bases for the Icelandic north. The Akureyri packing list covers the northern capital an hour west, which has the airport, the hospital and the shops, and which carries the whole Diamond Circle in its own text. The Myvatn packing list covers the volcanic lake an hour south and the Dettifoss packing list the most powerful waterfall in Europe an hour and a half east, which together complete this corner. The Reykjavik packing list covers the capital. For the country as a whole the Iceland travel guide for women and the Iceland packing list carry the ring road, the driving rules and the practical material in full. For why wool is the only fibre that works when you are damp and sitting still in wind, read the guide to merino wool base layers for women. Every destination we cover is indexed at the travel packing guide for women, and the base layers are at the Roman Trail collection.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
