Whale and orca safari review
My verdict: the tour that hands you everything, including the suit. A maximum of fifty passengers on a heated boat for eight hours out of Tromsø, rating 4.6 from 1,721 reviews at the time of writing. Heated thermal suits, every meal and every drink of the day are included. It is also the one tour here with an explicit exclusion list, and you need to read it before you book.
What all-inclusive means here
More than it usually does. Heated thermal suits, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, water, lunch, snacks, safety gear, toilets on board and USB charging so your phone survives a cold day. You turn up at the operator’s office on the front pier twenty minutes before departure, you get dressed, and from that point nothing else is asked of you. What the phrase covers across the site is worth a read, because it does not mean the same thing on every listing.
Fifty is the number that shapes the day. It is half the capacity of the hybrid-electric catamaran and roughly four times a RIB, which puts it at the sensible middle of the range: enough room to move, few enough people that the rail is not a scrum when something surfaces, and a crew who can actually learn your name over eight hours.
The crew is the product
The reviews for this tour are unusually about people. Marcus Vinicius from Ireland wrote about how attentive the crew were and named Kalinka. Abraham from Mexico named his guide Christina. Natalie from the UK wrote about the hosts and the food in the same breath. Anna-Maria from Germany is in the same file. On a boat where the cold and the catering are both handled for you, what is left to judge is the people, and they judge well.
- “Saw many many orcas.” Abraham, Mexico
- “We were able to see orcas.” Deepak, Luxembourg
Two sightings quotes out of a long file. Do not read that as a hit rate. Read it as proof that this boat is out on the same water as the others, with no special access to anything, because no operator on this coast has any.
The exclusions, which matter more than the inclusions
This is the one listing of the six that states plainly who it is not for, and I would rather repeat it than have you find out at the pier. It is not suitable for children under four. It is not suitable for wheelchair users or anyone with a mobility impairment. And it is not suitable for anyone strongly prone to seasickness, which is an eight-hour boat being honest about eight hours.
That last one deserves more than a shrug. A small heated vessel in an Arctic swell moves, and this tour does not list seasickness tablets in its inclusions the way the high-speed catamaran does. Bring your own and take them before you board. The full version is here. The age and access limits across all six tours are collected on the accessibility page.
What works
- Heated thermal suits are included, so nothing you own has to be up to the job
- Every meal and drink of the day is covered: lunch, snacks, coffee, tea, hot chocolate and water
- Maximum fifty passengers, which keeps the rail workable
- Toilets and USB charging on board
- Runs year-round, weather permitting, not only in the orca window
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead
Worth knowing
- Not suitable for wheelchair users or anyone with a mobility impairment
- Not suitable for children under four
- Not suitable for anyone strongly prone to seasickness, and no tablets are included
- English only
- Eight hours sailing out from Tromsø rather than starting in the Skjervøy fjords
- You still have to be at the front pier twenty minutes before departure
Usually included
- Heated thermal suits
- Lunch, snacks, coffee, tea, hot chocolate and water
- Safety gear
- Toilets and USB charging on board
Not included
- Seasickness tablets, which this listing does not carry
- Any sighting, guaranteed or otherwise
- Suitability for wheelchair users, people with mobility impairment, or children under four
Take the suit seriously. You will be handed something that makes you look like a traffic cone, and you should still wear proper layers underneath it — the suit keeps wind and spray out, it does not generate heat. What goes under it is the difference between hour seven being fine and hour seven being a countdown.
Who should book it, and who should not
Book it if you do not own Arctic clothing and do not want to buy any. Book it if you are travelling with people who will want feeding at unpredictable intervals, or if the thought of organising anything on a dark morning fills you with dread. Book it if you want a boat small enough to feel like a group rather than a ferry.
Do not book it if you use a wheelchair or have a mobility impairment, because the operator says so and I am not going to soften that. Do not book it if you are a bad sailor without a plan for it. And do not book it as your orca-specific attempt outside the season — it runs all year, but the orcas do not, and they are not in Tromsø itself even when they are on this coast.
The alternatives
Most bookedTromsø: Whale Watching Tour by Hybrid-Electric Boat
Fast catamaranFrom Tromsø: Whale Watching Safari on High-Speed Catamaran
Small RIB groupsFrom Tromsø: Whale Watching in Magic Skjervøy
Frequently asked questions
Is the all-inclusive safari suitable for wheelchair users?
No. The operator states that it is not suitable for wheelchair users or for anyone with a mobility impairment, and it is the clearest exclusion on any of the six listings. The limits across every tour on this site are collected on the accessibility page.
What is actually included on the all-inclusive whale and orca safari?
Heated thermal suits, all meals and drinks for the day — coffee, tea, hot chocolate, water, lunch and snacks — plus safety gear, toilets and USB charging on board. Seasickness tablets are not included; bring your own. See what is included across all six tours.
How young can children be on this tour?
Four is the minimum age, and it is the lowest of any tour on this site: the heated boat to Skjervøy sets six, and the Skjervøy RIB sets fourteen along with a 140 cm height minimum. More on going with children and on the accessibility page.