Погода: Хусавик, май

Regulars warn that May in the north is not the May of the south: spring comes late here, so a green landscape is not to be assumed, and there can still be snow in the north and at the mountain passes. Their advice is to watch the forecast and be ready to drive in it, because cool weather, rain and snow can all turn up in one day, especially over a hundred miles of road. One traveller's car showed 0 to 10C across early May, and our row sits inside that at 11.3C over 2.7C, feeling like 9C and -1C. It carries 25.1cm of snow. The compensation is the light: 19.2 hours of daylight and 11.4 of sun. The record: 64.6mm across 13.4 days and AQI 36.

Iceland's forum describes December nationally as genuinely unpredictable year to year - rain, fog, sun, snow and storms can all show up within the same week, with roughly four hours of daylight to work with further south. Húsavík sits further north than Reykjavík, and the destination's own climate record shows noticeably less daylight and colder temperatures than that national average implies, consistent with its position. It's prime season for northern lights and geothermal pools rather than sightseeing-heavy days, so plan around the dark rather than fighting it.

Forum posters call June a strong month for whale watching in Skjalfandi Bay, with 'amazing tours' regularly reported through June and July. Conditions vary trip to trip - one visitor described a June day with barely a cloud, no wind and a completely calm sea, while others report rougher water and real seasickness on the same route depending on the day. Posters say weather plays a bigger role in whale-sighting odds than the specific time of day, and RIB/zodiac boats get recommended over larger vessels for maneuvering closer to the animals. Husavik itself is consistently rated as having more going on in town than the nearby alternative of Dalvik.