Iceland---Northern Lights--boat or bus tour?

We will be in Reykjavik in March (not on a cruise).

One of our must sees is the Northern Lights. We have found that there are both boat and bus tours.

If anyone has any experience with these, we would welcome feedback as to which may be better.

The following is what I have found so far by researching the internet.

Boat tours:

pros

1. shorter trip, so you are back earlier

2 more comfortable with more room to stretch

3 warmer clothing provided

4 indoor toilets

cons

1. poor for photography (even in calm weather the boat rocks)

2. can be more crowded on the deck

Bus tour

pros

1 better for photography, though still need a tripod

2 less likely to be cancelled for weather (for instance high winds)

3 smaller group

cons

1 longer trip

2 probably colder

3 not as comfortable

4 outdoor toilets

5 sometimes more expensive

Boats: Colder, less nimble (if the lights are "over there" it takes longer to get there or they bump into land), can't take pictures due to rocking, seasickness risk, wearing other people's clothing (they don't launder those things after every trip).

You can warm up inside the bus on their trips. You also get a free "next night" guarantee if you don't see lights tonight on most of the land options.

Boats: Colder, less nimble (if the lights are "over there" it takes longer to get there or they bump into land), can't take pictures due to rocking, seasickness risk, wearing other people's clothing (they don't launder those things after every trip).

 

You can warm up inside the bus on their trips. You also get a free "next night" guarantee if you don't see lights tonight on most of the land options.

Thank you for your reply.

I think we are leaning heavily toward the bus as our means of taking the tour. I think the main reason is as you put it more nimble, a better chance to get to a place to see the Northern Lights.

Every time this question comes up on TripAdvisor, the Icelandic locals vote bus. The boat is apparently not very enjoyable this time of year - cold, wet, and very cold.

We have now booked the bus tour.

Wish us luck for the right weather conditions to see the Northern Lights on March 24th.

Thanks to those of you who posted advice.