Q&A | Questions to settle before departure
If the port changes, check the alternative port, the cancellation deadline and your South Coast accommodation fallback.
References | Sources and limits
Recheck ports, sailing times, weather and road conditions before departure.
ICENAVI · WEATHER AND FERRY CHECK
Your next-night flexibility determines whether the island is a sensible choice
This score covers port changes and cancellations, accommodation deadlines, road and bus alternatives, fixed return times and the value of a South Coast substitute day. It does not guarantee a revised sailing, vehicle space, room availability or a refund. Recheck each point for your travel date.
Herjólfur may change sailings according to the port and sea conditions. An existing ticket does not guarantee a place on the next sailing, so wait for the official notice and confirmed availability before deciding.
The ferry operator's rules for cancellations more than 24 hours or less than 24 hours before arrival are not the hotel's terms. Put both deadlines on the same itinerary.
After a port change, verify the road, bus service and who is responsible for collecting the vehicle. A place that looks close on the map may have no direct connection that day.
An early flight, glacier hike, car return or fixed meeting time is enough to make the last ferry an unacceptable single point of failure.
Keeping an extra day on the South Coast, staying nearer a port or reducing the island plan to one theme is usually easier to recover than chasing a ferry because of a non-refundable hotel.
Weather risk is manageable when the next night can move and the return has no fixed deadline. If a port change would collide with an early flight and a non-refundable room, change the accommodation first.
The common scenario is simple: after seeing puffins on the island, you receive a message that the ferry will use Þorlákshöfn instead of Landeyjahöfn; or an afternoon sailing is cancelled and the next one may not accept your original ticket. What looked like one extra South Coast port suddenly changes the car collection, bus, dinner and check-in plan. This guide is not telling you to stay in Reykjavík every night. It shows how to place the night that is hardest to change where it can absorb disruption.
Weather is not an on-off switch: identify the part of the plan that changed
| What changed | Confirmed signal | What gets rewritten | What not to do first |
|---|---|---|---|
| Port changes to Þorlákshöfn | Herjólfur's FAQ says some sailings automatically switch to Þorlákshöfn when Landeyjahöfn cannot be used | South Coast car collection, buses, hotel check-in and the onward drive | Using a Landeyjahöfn map estimate for dinner or the final check-in time |
| Sailing cancelled | An original ticket is not automatically carried to the next sailing, which may already have passengers or vehicles | The island activity window, next-night accommodation and the following day's fixed meeting | Treating a place on the next sailing as your fallback |
| Mainland roads or buses are affected | Vegagerðin 1777 / umferdin.is publishes road, weather and driving conditions | Whether you can reach the port 30 minutes before check-in | Checking only the ferry operator and not the road from Reykjavík or Selfoss to the port |
The key distinction:A ferry continuing to run does not mean your next night is secure. Even when the sailing operates, the new landing point, bus arrangement and direction after collecting your car can turn the original hotel into a place reachable only by a rushed night drive.
Þorlákshöfn is more than a line labelled 'backup port'
Herjólfur's current FAQ lists this pattern: when Landeyjahöfn cannot be used, the 07:00 and 17:00 departures from Vestmannaeyjar switch to 07:00 and 16:00 departures for Þorlákshöfn. The original 10:45 and 20:45 return sailings correspond to 10:45 and 19:45 departures from Þorlákshöfn. The official schedule presents this as the port-change logic, not as a reason to plan every day as a Þorlákshöfn itinerary.
The difference matters on the ground. Landeyjahöfn is the short-sea crossing point on the South Coast route; Þorlákshöfn sends you back to a different overland junction east of the capital area. If your rental car is at Landeyjahöfn but you disembark at Þorlákshöfn, the next step is not a short walk to the keys. Rework it against the operator's and bus service's arrangements for that day. That is why the port decision belongs in accommodation planning, not only in a transport FAQ.
Put the map back in the real landscape: two mainland ports, four possible next nights
The map below places Reykjavík, Þorlákshöfn, Landeyjahöfn and Heimaey on a real OpenStreetMap base. It avoids a falsely precise driving line because ports, sea conditions and road notices change. Its purpose is to show that a port change genuinely shifts the overland responsibility.
Four accommodation strategies: do not put every risk on one night
| Your following day | How I would place the stay | Why it is steadier | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| No fixed activity; continuing along the South Coast | Choose a cancellable South Coast base and treat its check-in cutoff as a reminder, not a finish line | If the sailing changes, you can switch to a nearer mainland base or move the stay by one night | You may not stay in the village you originally chose for sunrise |
| Morning glacier hike / fixed meeting | Leave a buffer before the island visit or near the activity meeting point; do not make the return ferry the only connection | A timed activity is not directly tied to sea conditions | You may see one less island theme or pay for another night |
| Early flight / car return | Put the final night within a controllable distance of the airport or capital area, and visit the Westman Islands earlier | An early flight is fixed; the last ferry should not be responsible for protecting it | The route may look less tidy than travelling south in one sweep |
| Long trip; keeping flexibility | Use cancellable terms for both nights; keep one near the port and one at the next stable point | You can wait for the departure-day port notice before deciding whether to move on | On popular dates, you may need to hold rooms early and accept a price difference |
'Cancellable' is not a reassuring icon; it is a deadline. Herjólfur's FAQ currently says a cancellation more than 24 hours before the scheduled arrival can be refunded, while one less than 24 hours before arrival is not refunded and may incur a change or cancellation fee. The accommodation deadline may differ. Put both times on one itinerary: the operator's last change time and the hotel's last free-cancellation time. The earlier one is your real cut-off.
My pre-departure check: decide within five minutes whether to change the room
- Check Herjólfur's notice for the day first.Do not guess today's port from another traveller's screenshot; the FAQ points to same-day sailing information and notices.
- Then check roads and buses.Vegagerðin's traffic service publishes road, weather and driving conditions. Travellers without a car must also recalculate routes 51 / 53 or any special connection for that day.
- Compare the next night's cancellation deadline.If the free-cancellation point has passed and the following day has an early flight or activity, do not leave this night at a remote end of the route.
- Write down the luggage and vehicle plan.Drivers must confirm which port the vehicle remains at. Travellers without a car must confirm that public transport actually runs after a port change; a ferry is not the same thing as a connection.
- Decide what to cut last.Drop one island sight before sacrificing a non-refundable room; do not let a non-refundable hotel force you to chase an uncertain sailing.
What to do after a port change or cancellation
If the notice arrives, follow this order: save a screenshot of the operator's new port and sailing; check whether the next hotel is still within its free-cancellation window; then decide whether to leave the car at the original port, use the official arrangement or move tonight's stay to a controllable point nearer the capital area or South Coast. Do not open the map for the fastest route first: you do not yet know whether you need to collect a car, wait for a bus or have no place on the next sailing. At that point, the luggage-routing guide for taking the ferry from Heimaeycan help you reassign luggage and car-collection responsibility. If puffin season was your reason for going,the puffin-season and local-activities guideit will help you judge which activities are not worth risking the following night.
If the ferry runs and the port stays the same, there is no need to cancel the Westman Islands because weather might turn. Make the next night a point with an escape route, and keep one clear theme for the island.car-free half-day worksheetis useful here: if the weather worsens, you still have a volcano or indoor version near the harbour, without using the last ferry to prove the day was worthwhile. If the ferry returns smoothly, the next question is where to stay afterwards;Vík or near-port accommodation splitseparates car collection, dinner and the following day's meeting point.
Next night has an early flight or fixed activity: 0 points. The hotel is past its free-cancellation deadline: 0 points. Transport after a port change has not been checked: 0 points. Add 2 points for each flexible room, near-port fallback or extra buffer night. At 6 or more, you can keep the Westman Islands; at 2–4, change the room before sailing; at 0, do not plan on 'the weather is usually fine'.
Make the Westman Islands day work first
Westman Islands destination hubWestman Islands: day trip or overnightTaking the ferry to Heimaey with luggageMore reading
Keep the South Coast fallback open
Puffin season and local activitiesA car-free half-day on HeimaeyHow to read Iceland road-condition sitesReferences
The following sources were checked in September 2026. Ports, sailings, roads, buses and cancellation terms can change; confirm them again for your dates before departure.
- Herjólfur FAQ(30-minute check-in, five-minute boarding cut-off, cancellation refunds, no guaranteed transfer to the next sailing, and Þorlákshöfn port-change times).
- Herjólfur Schedule(current sailings and port-change departure times; recheck on the day).
- Vegagerðin Traffic Service(1777, road, weather and driving-condition notices).
- Strætó 2026 rural route changes(background on routes 51 / 53 towards Landeyjahöfn; plan for the actual date).
- OpenStreetMap contributors(the base map for the four South Coast / Westman Islands locations in this guide).
- Hero image: Diego Delso / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0; used only to show the scale of the Heimaey coast, not conditions on your departure day, the sailing or the trail.
This page is an accommodation decision guide for weather and ferry disruption, not the operator's notice page. Follow your confirmation email, accommodation terms and Herjólfur's notice for payment and changes.