Boat trips are always ... a huge annoyance for a world heritage traveller. They are the most fickle of sites you can visit as they require preplanning up front, plenty of money and good weather on the day in question which you really can't control for.

Surtsey is no exception. Only the amount of money you need to bring (>1kEUR) feels prohibitively expensive for the individual traveller. So we partnered up. Philipp and I had been eyeing the trip for a while. Clyde decided to join, too, and so we ended up doing a mini meetup in summer 2022 on Iceland.

We boarded the boat to Surtsey in Heimaey. The boat then took us out to the Atlantic along the Vestmannaeyjar islands chain with plenty of stunning rock formations, caves and birds to see. None of the islands are inhabited, but most have a hunter's lodge on them plus a rope to climb up the really steep cliffs.

The furthest island in the chain is Surtsey. When the island comes into view you clearly see the difference to the other islands: it's made from volcanic ash, not from rocks. We went around once. In the process, we lucked out as a whole family of Orcas showed up in the core zone (which encompasses the surrounding waters).

I am not sure what the proper rating for the site is. The experience was stunning. And I understand the importance of the site. On the other hand, I also understand if people feel this is but a volcano in the sea and that e.g. the Eolian Islands are nicer examples.

In any case, a stopover in Heimaey should feature in any visit to Iceland. From the top of Eldfell, another volcano, you can see Surtsey on the horizon.

Getting There

The boat tours leave from Vestmannaeyjabær on Heimaey, the largest of the Vestmannaeyjar islands. They need to be prearranged. On the same day, you can only book tours of Heimaey island. Like Els, Svein and Randy, we used SACA.

The total rent for the boat was 1.200 EUR. I have to admit, that's a lot of money, but by aligning we split the cost with multiple parties. In addition, we managed to sell two of our remaining seats to an American couple at the harbour. They thought I was working for SACA as I was all dressed up in protective gear. I assume if you arrive one day prior, you may be able to find more takers in your hotel, but no guarantees.

To get to Heimaey, you have to take a ferry from Landeyjahöfn on the main island. There is little point in taking your car across; on the island everything can be done by walking. In Landeyjahöfn, there is a free parking lot. The crowds on the boat vary greatly. We took the 20:45 ferry to the island and were all alone. The 17:00h return ferry the next day was really crowded. Essentially, the day trippers from Reykjavik make the difference (going at 10:00h returning at 17:00h).

I would recommend staying overnight at Heimaey island. It's way nicer than Reykjavik. But if you must, you can easily arrive for the first ferry at 08:00 and take a 09:00 tour.

While You Are There

Heimaey and the Vestmannaeyjar islands are nice. The tour to Surtsey includes a tour around all islands of the scenic island chain.

In Heimaey, there is a nice Brothers beer bar if you don't mind paying Icelandic beer prices. After our boat trip, we hiked up to Eldfell. From the mountain top, you can see Surtsey. As last order of business, we spent the rest of the time at the local swimming pool.

There is also a volcanic museum (Eldheimar), the Sæheimar Aquarium, and a stave church gifted by Norway to explore.