The verdict
The best whale watching tour in Tromso: seven safaris, ranked honestly
The animals are the same for everybody out there. What you are actually choosing between is a heated cabin and an open boat, six hours and twelve, a hundred passengers and a dozen, and six thousand reviews against a hundred. Here is which to book, and for whom.
Quick answer
For most visitors the best whale safari from Tromso is the nine-hour hybrid-electric catamaran at $214. It carries 6,651 reviews at 4.5, it has a heated cabin and food on board, and it can shut down its diesels to approach a feeding whale in silence. Photographers should take the RIB at Skjervøy at $245; anyone who wants the shortest day should take the six-hour vessel at $204.
The seven safaris, at a glance
- Safaris compared
- 7from Tromsø and Skjervøy
- Cheapest
- $204six hours
- Dearest
- $378twelve hours, by road and RIB
- Most reviewed
- 6,651the hybrid-electric catamaran
- Best rated
- 5.0a RIB safari, on 113 reviews
- Reviews in total
- 14,653across all seven
- Shortest day
- 6 hoursMS Gabriele
- Longest day
- 12 hoursSkjervøy by road
- Cabin or not
- 5 of 7 have onethe RIBs do not
- Free cancellation
- All sevenup to 24 hours before
How we rank them
Three things separate these boats
Hull, departure point and evidence. Price follows those.
The hull. A hybrid-electric or high-speed catamaran gives you a heated cabin, a toilet, food and a stable deck for a hundred-plus people. A converted vessel gives you the same at a slower pace and a lower price. A rigid inflatable gives you a dozen seats, a flotation suit, no cabin and a view from a metre above the water. That is the decision.
Where it starts. Some safaris leave Tromsø by boat and sail two to three hours to the fish. Others drive north to Skjervøy and put you in a boat there. The second is a longer day and it usually means more time actually among the animals.
How much evidence stands behind the rating. The hybrid catamaran has 6,651 ratings, the high-speed catamaran 3,772, MS Gabriele 1,953 and the all-inclusive safari 1,721. The two RIB operations have 136 and 113. The small ones score higher — 4.8 and 5.0 — which is what small-group ratings look like everywhere, and it is not the same kind of fact as six thousand people at 4.5.
Every trip, current fare
Every safari, cheapest first
Seven safaris with the columns that decide it. The cost-per-hour column is the fair way to compare a six-hour trip with a twelve-hour one.
| Safari | Length of day | Price | The boat | Cost per hour | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tromsø Whale Safari with MS GabrieleSix hours, a warm saloon, the cheapest day | 6 h | $204 | Converted vessel | $34.00 | 4.3 · 1,953 |
| Tromsø: Whale Watching Tour by Hybrid-Electric BoatNine hours, silent approach, 6,651 reviews | 9 h | $214 | Hybrid-electric catamaran | $23.78 | 4.5 · 6,651 |
| From Tromsø: Whale Watching Safari on High-Speed CatamaranEight hours, and the fastest run to the fish | 8 h | $214 | High-speed catamaran | $26.75 | 4.6 · 3,772 |
| Whale Watching RIB Safari at SkjervøyA RIB at Skjervøy, eye level with the animals | 3–12 h | $245 | RIB, Skjervøy | $30.62 | 4.8 · 136 |
| From Tromsø or Skjervøy: Whale Safari by RIB BoatA RIB that follows the herring, rated 5.0 | 4–12 h | $250 | RIB, flexible base | $31.25 | 5.0 · 113 |
| Tromsø Whale & Orca Safari – All-Inclusive (Max 50 pax)All-inclusive, fifty passengers maximum | 8 h | $255 | Large boat, max 50 | $31.88 | 4.6 · 1,721 |
| From Tromsø: Skjervoy Whale Watching RIB Boat TourTwelve hours north and back, by road and RIB | 12 h | $378 | RIB, full day north | $31.50 | 4.6 · 307 |
The verdict, by traveller
Which whale safari to book, depending on who you are
Six kinds of traveller, six different boats — and the animals are the same for all of them.
First whale safari, want it to work. The hybrid-electric catamaran at $214. Nine hours, heated cabin, food, silent approach and the largest evidence base in the niche by a distance.
You are photographing. The RIB at Skjervøy at $245. Eye level, no glass, a dozen people, and it goes where the herring actually are.
You want the least transit. The high-speed catamaran at $214. When the fish are three hours north, speed converts directly into time among the animals.
You want everything in the price. The all-inclusive safari at $255, capped at fifty passengers, with food, drinks and suits included.
You cannot face a twelve-hour day. MS Gabriele at $204 — six hours, a warm saloon, and back in Tromsø before you are exhausted.
You want to go where the whales actually are, whatever it takes. The twelve-hour Skjervøy day at $378. Most of it is travel; that is the point.
The difference between a cabin, a fast hull and an inflatable is worth understanding before you book anything.
Which boat: cabin, speed or eye level→What we would not book
Five honest warnings
None of these operators is bad. These are bookings that go wrong for predictable reasons.
- Any safari outside November to January
The whales follow the herring and the herring are gone by spring. A February booking is a gamble and an April one is not a whale trip at all.
- A six-hour safari when the fish are far north
The shorter the day, the more of it is transit. Ask the operator where they are finding the animals that week.
- A RIB in December with no gloves
Twelve hours in an open boat in the polar night, with bare hands, is how people end up inside the cabin they do not have.
- The thinnest-rated listing as your only booking
Two safaris here have barely a hundred reviews. Excellent scores, small samples — a good second booking, a risky only one.
- Anything sold with a guaranteed sighting
Nobody can promise a whale. What honest operators offer instead is a discount or a second trip, and they say so up front.
Tromso in whale season
How a safari fits into a three-day trip
One day for the boat, one for the land, and every evening for the sky.
Almost nobody comes here only for whales, and the safari eats a whole day, so the rest of the trip has to be planned around it.
Day one: the safari. Nine hours, most of it out of your control. Book nothing for the evening except food you do not have to travel for.
Day two: land. Dog sledding, reindeer sledding with Sámi guides, or the cable car up Storsteinen for the view over the island. All of these are half-days, and all of them are the opposite of sitting on a boat.
Any evening: the aurora. Chase it by coach on a night the boats are not running. Whale season and aurora season are the same months, which is the single best argument for coming in December.
If you only have two days, do the safari on the first and keep the second free — weather cancels boats here regularly, and a spare day is worth more than a second activity.
Four bookings we would make ourselves
Concrete answers rather than a shortlist
If somebody asked us on the quay, this is what we would say.
- Three days in December, first time
The hybrid-electric safari on day one at $214, an aurora chase that night, and a land activity on day two.
- A photographer with one shot at it
The RIB at Skjervøy at $245, and nothing else that day.
- A family with teenagers
The all-inclusive safari at $255: fifty passengers maximum, food and suits in the price.
- Two days only, in January
The six-hour safari at $204 on day one, keeping day two spare for weather.
Common questions
Which Tromso whale safari is best, answered
What is the best whale watching tour in Tromso?
For most visitors, the nine-hour hybrid-electric catamaran at $214 — the most-reviewed safari in the niche, with a heated cabin, food on board and a silent approach to the animals.
Which safari is best for photography?
The RIB at Skjervøy at $245. You sit a metre above the water in a small group with nothing between you and a surfacing orca.
Which is the shortest day?
Six hours on MS Gabriele at $204, which is also the cheapest safari here.
Which has the most reviews?
The hybrid-electric catamaran, with 6,651 ratings at 4.5 — more than every other whale boat on this page put together.
Is the twelve-hour Skjervoy day worth it?
If the herring are up there that season, yes: it puts you where the animals actually are. Most of the day is travel, and that is the trade.
Do any of them guarantee sightings?
No, and that is the correct answer. Sighting rates are high in season; the honest operators publish those rather than promises.
Go deeper
More on Tromso whale watching
Whale watching from Tromso
What the season is, what you see and how the day runs.
SeasonSeason and sightings
November to January, and why the dates move with the fish.
OrcaOrca in Tromso
Family groups, herding herring, and where to see them.
SkjervoySkjervoy safaris
Why the boats sail three hours north, and what it buys.
SilentThe silent boat
What a hybrid-electric hull changes when you approach a whale.
ComparedWhich boat
Cabin, speed or eye level. The three trade-offs.
