Sailing course in the Lofoten Islands during the whale season

Your cruise

Embark on a unique adventure in the heart of Lofoten, where sailing blends with whale watching in one of the most beautiful archipelagos in northern Norway. aboard a sailing yacht designed for exploration, you'll discover fjords, islets and unspoiled natural areas while learning to maneuver alongside a professional skipper. It's a week of total immersion, punctuated by sailing progress, crew life and marine encounters in a spectacular setting.

Your possible stops during this cruise

Here's a sample itinerary for your sailing course during whale-watching season in Lofoten.
The itinerary remains flexible and can be adapted according to your wishes, the skipper's decisions and sailing conditions to make the most of nature and sightings at sea.

Sunday (Day 1) - Boarding - Svolvaer → Skrova
Boarding takes place in the late afternoon in Svolvaer. After getting underway and an initial briefing, the boat leaves port for a short sail to Skrova. This first outing is an opportunity to get to know the boat and learn the basics of the course: simple maneuvers, on-board circulation, first adjustments. Arrival in Skrova is in the early evening, in a light where you can already see the wind off the Vestfjord.

Monday (Day 2) - Skrova → Risvær / Trollfjord
The day begins with progress eastwards, where everyone can practice steering and sail trimming. The Risvær archipelago marks the entrance to a more protected area. Weather permitting, access to the Trollfjord becomes an excellent piloting exercise in a narrow corridor. This area is also ideal for porpoise and rorqual whale watching.

Tuesday (Day 3) - Risvær → Digermulen
The yacht heads up the Raftsundet. Sailing takes place in a narrow strait, perfect for fine-tuning crew coordination: tacking, anticipating gusts of wind coming off the walls, keeping a precise course. The water is often calm, which increases the chances of spotting a puff or a dark back. Overnight in Digermulen.

Wednesday (Day 4) - Digermulen → Henningsvær
The road opens up further as we descend to Henningsvær. The Vestfjord offers excellent conditions for working on downwind points of sail and sail management in more open seas. On this route, fin whales regularly cross the area as they follow schools of fish. We reach Henningsvær in the late afternoon, an emblematic village set on its islets.

Thursday (Day 5) - Henningsvær → Nusfjord / Flakstadpollen
The boat crosses the passages between Gimsøya and Flakstad, where the wind can change rapidly. This is an ideal day to improve instrument navigation and sail changes. Nusfjord or Flakstadpollen offer a sheltered setting to end the day and debrief on the maneuvers learned.

Friday (Day 6) - Nusfjord → Reine
The sail to Reine skirts the most famous cliffs in Lofoten. Immersion in this spectacular landscape is often accompanied by marine sightings: rorquals, seabirds, and sometimes humpback whales if feeding activity is high. on board, this stage consolidates the automatisms of the course, particularly in managing the katabatic wind coming down from the mountains.

Saturday (Day 7) - Reine → Transitional anchorage → Return sailing
This day is used to make slow progress northwards in preparation for the final return trip. Depending on the weather, sailing in several points of sail allows us to review the essential points of the course: reefing, optimizing trim, safety, crew organization. The evening is spent at a calm anchorage, ideal for enjoying the Lofoten landscape one last time.

Sunday (Day 8) - Arrival Svolvaer
The last leg of the trip takes place early in the morning, to reach Svolvaer before 10am. This short return trip brings the week to a gentle close, allowing you to review the final procedures for arriving in port and make a final passage through the Vestfjord, sometimes still alive with marine mammals in the early hours. Disembarkation takes place in the late morning.