Puffins & Seabirds of Breiðafjörður: Birdwatching on a Stykkishólmur Harbour Boat Tour

A Bay Built for Seabirds

Breiðafjörður is the wide bay separating the Snæfellsnes peninsula from the Westfjords, and it holds an outsized share of Iceland’s coastal wildlife. The area was designated a nature reserve in 1995, protecting roughly 287,400 hectares of shallow sea, tidal flats and an estimated 3,000 islands, islets and skerries. Two-thirds of Iceland’s white-tailed eagle population nests around the bay, along with the vast majority of the country’s great cormorants and European shags. It’s a working landscape too — local boats have harvested scallops and other shellfish from these waters for generations — but for visitors the main draw is what nests on the cliffs and skerries between May and August.

What You’ll See From the Boat

Small sightseeing boats leave Stykkishólmur harbour and head out toward islands such as Elliðaey, one of the bay’s main puffin colonies, with several thousand pairs present at the height of the season. Atlantic puffins are the headline act roughly from May to late August, but the cliffs and skerries also hold common guillemots, razorbills, black-legged kittiwakes, cormorants and shags, and eider ducks bobbing in the shallows near the boat. Arctic terns work the water overhead, and a white-tailed eagle sighting is possible, if not guaranteed, on any given trip. Because the boats are small, they can approach the bird cliffs more closely than larger ferries, which makes a real difference for photography and general viewing.

The Shellfish Haul

Many of the boat tours also lower a dredge to the seabed partway through the trip and bring it up on deck loaded with scallops, sea urchins, starfish and other bottom life from Breiðafjörður. Crew typically shuck the scallops on the spot so passengers can try them fresh, alongside soy sauce and wasabi for those who want it. It’s a hands-on complement to the birdwatching and a good reason to bring an appetite as well as binoculars.

• Getting there: tours depart directly from Stykkishólmur harbour, about a 2.5-hour drive from Reykjavík via Route 54
• Duration: typical trips run from about 1.5 to a little over 2 hours, round trip from the harbour
• Best season: roughly May through August for puffins; other seabirds are present for a longer stretch of the year
• What to bring: a warm, wind-resistant jacket, hat and gloves even in summer, non-slip shoes, and binoculars or a zoom lens
• Booking: tours can sell out in peak summer weeks, so booking a day or two ahead is worth it

Where to Stay

The Stykkishólmur Inn sits in the walkable old town, close enough to the harbour that you can walk down for an early boat departure without needing a car for the morning. That’s a real advantage on tours that board at first light to catch calmer water and better bird activity. Book direct on Ourhotels.is for the best rate.

Photo: Rob Oo via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.