Valhalla orchestrates expeditions (now only available for a whole week) where you are able to dive with the marine life, and not just ‘whale-watch’ from the boat.

I was beyond impressed with this incredible company who have the wildlife at the forefront of the whole experience. Despite there being a lot of ‘whale watching’ day trips available from Tromsø, this exclusive experience surpassed any of my expectations. Their attention to detail made this trip memorable and their love for the ocean shone through. This is not about tourism, it’s about education and conservation. Beyond the awe of what you get to witness underwater, the whole experience of being on a remote island with no one else around is what made this one of the best trips I think I will ever experience in my life.

70° 12′ 17″ N, 21° 13′ 16″ E

I flew into Tromsø (from Bristol for £80 return!), which is a buzzing built-up city in the Arctic perfect to use as a base for your Arctic adventures. From here I travelled by ferry (2 ferries) which took approx 4 hours to reach Seglvik island where we were greeted by the expedition team. The island is incredibly remote and wild, only reachable by boat with unbelievable scenery and the chance to watch whales from your bedroom window.

Seglvik, our base camp, sits on a remote peninsula north of Kvænangen Fjord in Norway’s Troms og Finnmark region. At 70° North, far from everything, this is where Sami herders return each summer, bringing their reindeer to graze on the salty Arctic grass before beginning their long migration back to the forests of Lapland.

However, Valhalla now only offers FULL WEEK expeditions from the 2025 season starting in October which start from €5,025. Despite feeling lucky I was able to book a 4-day expedition, I would choose to do a full week if I went back (even with the eyewatering cost).

• 4 nights of shared accommodation in a traditional Norwegian house
• All of your meals
• Full equipment (10mm wetsuit, hoodie, boots, mask, snorkel, weight belt, dry robe)
• 4 boat expeditions
• Evening marine life talks and activities (sauna)

Wake up to the polar night darkness, head over to the whale house for a hearty breakfast, take on the challenge of getting into your wetsuit with lots of soap, waddle through the elements down to the boats ready for your day out, wait for the first light at 10am to head out into the fjords, spend all of the light and all of your energy exploring the vast arctic ocean ready to dive at any given time, make the long (& freezing) journey back to Seglvik, de-frost your body in a hot shower and sauna, take an even colder ‘ice bath’ in the ocean, head to the Lavvu teepee for a fireside beer and sharing stories with your team, dinner & a well-deserved sleep. Ready to do it all again the next day.

…we had a window of 3-4 hours of beautiful twilight glow to venture out in the fjords and do our dives. The duration of time in the water depended on the interactions, but often you are in and out of the water frequently. Believe me when I say, the 4 degree water is where you want to be…not on the boat with -24 degree wind chill!!! 

You must be competent in the water and able to pull yourself from the water onto the tubes of the rib (which is harder than you think), but at least it keeps you warm.

Are you warm? Of course not! You aren’t going to go diving in the Artic ocean and be warm/comfortable. It is very uncomfortable; you forget what your toes feel like, your lips swell from the icy wind and you have to dig deep to get through the extreme conditions. BUT as you look out across the fjords going full speed on a rib, it is truly breathtaking and reminds you that it is all worth it.

TOP TIP: put your gloves on in the house, and don’t take them off until you are back in the house…I learned the hard way on day one.

It’s hard to have access to the internet which is overflowing with once-in-a-lifetime experiences and not expect a lot… Despite not witnessing their feeding underwater and not having the best visibility/light, I cannot begin to describe the first time I saw 3 killer whales swim directly underneath me in the water.

Seeing these wild animals in their natural habitat with your own eyes doesn’t compare to anything. Not only did I get to interact with killer whales in the water and pods of 40+ of them from the surface, but I also had my first ever experience with a sperm whale in the water and we saw pods of 8 humpback whales at a time. Looking out across the ocean to waters teeming with whales absolutely blows you away. I am beyond grateful for being able to experience this.

It’s their natural habitat and if they didn’t want you there you’d know about it. If anything, they are shy and you are trained to get silently into the water so you don’t disturb them.

which is dependent on what part of the globe they are born into. At birth, their mothers teach them the finessed art of hunting their specific prey (which is herring in Arctic Norway). If they then migrate to other parts of the ocean, there will be animals they don’t identify as prey and therefore don’t know how to hunt. This theory can also be applied to humans – they have never learned to hunt us…

Valhalla Orca Expedition has ethically and responsibly created an expedition that not only educates people about the ocean, but which funds further research into the local marine life. 

In 2021 and 2022, the Valhalla team was joined by scientists from the University of Toulon, specialising in underwater bioacoustics, who brought acoustic equipment to record the animals. The team continue to collect data for the university which now educates us about the animal’s behaviours and feeding patterns, thus supporting the species in the long run.

The crew have the wildlife at the forefront of the experience, ensuring they read the animal’s behaviours so as not to cause any stress. If more people did their research into responsible travel and educated themselves about nature and its beautiful wildlife, maybe this would equate to a larger portion of our population wanting to help change.