Most Reykjavík aurora tours put you on a bus that can duck inland when the coast clouds over. This one puts you on the water instead — and trades that mobility for something buses can't offer: a 360-degree open horizon with nothing between you and the sky.
The boat leaves Reykjavík's Old Harbour (Geirsgata 11, a five-minute walk from the Tourist Information Centre) and needs only 15–20 minutes to reach open water in Faxaflói Bay, far enough that the city's glow drops behind you without disappearing entirely — Reykjavík's lights stay visible on the horizon the whole trip, a soft backdrop rather than a rival to the aurora overhead. When the display is strong enough, it doubles: the aurora reflects faintly on the bay's black surface, an effect no inland viewpoint can produce.
The trade-off, stated plainly
A bus can drive an hour inland if coastal cloud sits stubbornly over Reykjavík; a boat cannot. If persistent cloud cover settles over Faxaflói Bay, you will not see the lights that night no matter how far the captain sails — going further out doesn't buy clearer sky, only more open water. Special Tours, Reykjavik Excursions, and Elding Adventure at Sea all run this format, and all offer the same honest fallback: free rescheduling if the aurora doesn't appear, plus a substitute land tour if the sailing itself is cancelled for weather. Choose this tour for the panoramic view and the water reflection if you can accept the coastal-weather gamble; choose the Iceland Northern Lights Chase Tour if mobility matters more to you than the view.
What the 2–3 hours actually feel like
Onboard, a heated cabin with a small café serves coffee and hot chocolate while the crew tracks conditions outside. Thermal overalls are handed out in every size before departure — pull them on over your own layers, because standing on an open deck in bay wind for two hours is colder than the cabin windows suggest. Sailings run nightly from September through April, returning to the harbour by midnight. Adult tickets run 12,490 ISK, with children 7–15 at half price and under-6s free; hotel pickup adds roughly 3,490 ISK if you'd rather not walk to the harbour. Group sizes run 20 to 60 passengers, and a sailing needs a minimum of 8–10 bookings to go ahead.
For context on when Iceland's aurora season peaks nationwide, not only at sea, see our guide to Iceland's Northern Lights. Staying at the harbour itself before or after the sailing? Center Hotels Arnarhvoll is a five-minute walk from the Old Harbour ticket office.
