Photo by ArtHouse Studio on Pexels
🇮🇸 Iceland · Húsavík, Northeast Iceland
Photo by ArtHouse Studio on Pexels
🇮🇸 Iceland · Húsavík, Northeast Iceland
♨ Temperature
38°C
⛰ Altitude
0 m
⚗ pH
7.5
💧 TDS
300 mg/L
🌊 Flow rate
N/A
📅 Established
North Sailing founded 1995; geothermal hot tub experience added later
✓ Verified on 2026-07-22
North Sailing operates from Húsavík — the self-styled 'Whale Watching Capital of Europe' on Skjálfandaflói Bay in northeast Iceland — using a fleet of renovated traditional oak schooners. The company's signature vessel Opal is a century-old wooden schooner converted for Arctic passenger use, carrying a small number of guests on whale-watching and midnight-sun sailing expeditions in Skjálfandi Bay. The experience includes access to an on-deck wood-fired hot tub where passengers can soak in geothermally influenced water while scanning the bay for humpback, minke, and blue whales. Húsavík sits at 66°N — just south of the Arctic Circle — and the midnight sun from late May through July creates conditions for 24-hour daylight sailing. The surrounding Skjálfandaflói Bay is one of the most productive whale feeding grounds in the North Atlantic, owing to cold-water nutrient upwelling at the edge of the continental shelf. The combination of traditional sailing vessel, Arctic wildlife, geothermal hot tub, and subarctic light conditions creates an experience with no direct equivalent anywhere in the world.
| Fresh/geothermal water — wood fire heated | 0 mg/L |
Húsavík (meaning 'bay of houses') is one of the first places in Iceland to be documented in the Norse sagas, with the Swedish Viking Garðar Svavarsson reportedly wintering here around 870 CE before the main Norse settlement of Iceland began. The Skjálfandaflói Bay and the northeast Iceland coast were important fishing grounds for the Norse settlers and remain central to the regional economy. The area is also close to the Jökulsárgljúfur canyon and Ásbyrgi horseshoe canyon — one of Iceland's most dramatic geological features.
Húsavík developed its whale-watching industry in the 1990s, becoming the first town in Iceland to offer commercially organised whale-watching tours. The presence of blue whales — the largest animals that have ever lived on Earth — in Skjálfandaflói Bay during summer months makes this one of the premier marine wildlife observation sites in the North Atlantic. The renovation of traditional wooden schooners for passenger use reflects a broader Icelandic maritime heritage movement.
North Sailing is certified carbon-neutral and uses traditional sailing where possible rather than motor propulsion. The company has been involved in whale research partnerships with the University of Iceland and promotes low-impact wildlife observation protocols. Traditional wooden vessels like the Opal have lower embodied carbon than modern fibreglass boats.