Northern Lights Hunt with The Green Adventure - photos included

Did this tour on 15 Feb....

Did this tour on 15 Feb. The guide+driver, JJ, was an experienced NL hunter, who introduced us to Tromsø and the Norwegian culture. It was indeed a NL chase as he constantly monitored and received updates on the weather and cloud cover, and we changed our viewing spots accordingly. Fortunately, our final stop of the night had beautiful dancing lights. At each stop, JJ set up his camera and tripod, and took gorgeous photos for us with the spectacular background of greens and blues. Local stew and hot chocolate were served at the final stop, where we roasted marshmallows by the campfire. Best evening of my Norway holiday!

via Viator

Cannot Recommend This ENOUGH ⭐⭐

i genuinely cannot recommend Northern Lights Hunt ENOUGH. i've been on Northern Light tours in Iceland, Finland, Sweden... and all were pretty great in their own ways - but this one really takes the cake. Of course it was all really down to our guide, JJ; without him, I don't think this experience would have been the same. he is honestly one of the most dogged and passionate Northern Lights guides i’ve ever met, and we even drove into Finland before we were finally treated to the most fantastical display there. His level of commitment is out of this world; and most importantly, he was also a calm, skilled, and responsible driver in winter conditions, which i really appreciated. and omg, his photography skills are INSANE. mind, not every guide is a professional even as the trip promises "photos", but you can tell JJ really has a craft in photography and wasn't just taking "tourist-like" photos as part of his job task. he knew exactly how to position us, work with the lighting, flash, and capture the aurora perfectly. all the photos i have attached here are taken by that were taken by him; just to show you this isn't all hyperbole. i would seriously have hired him just to be my photographer for my entire trip. 😂

via Viator

Cannot Recommend This ENOUGH ⭐⭐⭐

i genuinely cannot recommend Northern Lights Hunt ENOUGH. i've been on Northern Light tours in Iceland, Finland, Sweden... and all were pretty great in their own ways - but this one really takes the cake. Of course it was all really down to our guide, JJ; without him, I don't think this experience would have been the same. he is honestly one of the most dogged and passionate Northern Lights guides i’ve ever met, and we even drove into Finland before we were finally treated to the most fantastical display there. His level of commitment is out of this world; and most importantly, he was also a calm, skilled, and responsible driver in winter conditions, which i really appreciated. and omg, his photography skills are INSANE. mind, not every guide is a professional even as the trip promises "photos", but you can tell JJ really has a craft in photography and wasn't just taking "tourist-like" photos as part of his job task. he knew exactly how to position us, work with the lighting, flash, and capture the aurora perfectly. all the photos i have attached here are taken by that were taken by him; just to show you this isn't all hyperbole. i would seriously have hired him just to be my photographer for my entire trip. 😂

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Once in a lifetime experience

We had a really lucky night and only had to chase the lights for a few hours before we found a great place where ate by camp fire and saw the lights in full bloom, he showed us how to take pictures on our phone but he professional ones were much better quality

via Viator

They should have canceled

I had high hopes for this company based on the reviews but it was very lacking. Our tour was full with 15 on 3/19. As soon as we were on the bus he told us to temper our expectations because it was cloudy everywhere and we had very little chance to see any lights. To me that meant they should have just canceled. I had a different activity that morning with another company canceled due to high winds & weather because they knew the experience wouldn’t be good which I respected. I know over the past few weeks even when the weather looked bleak, some were still able to find pockets with aurora, so I get it, but this was not a day like those. I have seen amazing vibrant/strong aurora displays 5 nights in a row in Alaska a year ago which gave me the “bug”. I didn’t have to chase them, just stepped outside my lodge each night and lasted 3-4hrs each time, with some lulls of just dim white whispy aurora scattered throughout, but even then my camera picked up beautiful color and they were very active, just more faint. Our guide I think was Antonio, from Spain. He said nothing on our 90min drive to the spot. And nothing on the way back either. Once at the spot he was busy making fire, getting our soup, giving us marshmallows and providing hot beverages. Which was nice and yes, takes some work and skies were cloudy. And occasionally he walked away to take some test shots if any aurora was around. The only 2 interactions he had with us was 1-asking where we were from & if we had seen aurora. 2-before we left this spot to “hunt” some more, he gave us a quick 3-min talk about aurora. We drove 10min to where there was the ever so faintest anything that looked like black sky nothingness to the naked eye. He took all of our photos. Then drove another 10min to another spot and still wasn’t great. Then we drove 90min back in silence with music playing. I am fully aware aurora can only mildly be predicted and weather is volatile on the coast. However given the lack of hope from the outset (since they didn’t want to cancel but should have) he could have at least shared on the drive more detailed info about auroras, folklore, as well as local culture in Norway and a bit about the areas we were driving past on the way since was twilight and we could still see the landscape. I already know how auroras happen from my Alaska trip and other research I’ve done, but many people in this group had never seen them and didn’t know much about it. Maybe other guides with this company are better but overall I don’t recommend. It felt like a money grab.

Response from the operator: Thank you for taking the time to share such detailed feedback. We completely understand the disappointment when the skies don’t cooperate. We would, however, like to clarify a few important points about that particular night. One of the reasons you chose our tour was our 24-hour cancellation policy. Unlike many companies, we give guests the flexibility to decide for themselves whether they still want to take their chances or cancel their booking when the forecast looks unfavorable. We strongly believe that once a guest chooses to keep a confirmed booking, it is because they still want the opportunity to try — and for some guests, that night may be their only chance during their stay. We therefore do not believe it is our place to make that decision for them. Regarding the activity you mentioned that morning: we actually also cancelled that tour that day, but it was a completely different situation and location. That tour takes place on Kvaløya, where strong winds can make the bridge and roads unsafe or even inaccessible. The Northern Lights tour that evening travelled in different directions, and, as you noticed, there was very little wind. We were therefore able to travel safely and establish a camp. On difficult Aurora nights, our guides have a different priority: constantly monitoring cloud radars, sky cameras, forecasts and changing conditions, and driving to areas where there may be even a small opening in the clouds. This can unfortunately mean less conversation during a long drive than on a calm, clear night. Our guides, including Antonio, normally explain the Aurora phenomenon and are happy to talk with guests around the campfire, where there is much more time to interact. We are sorry that you felt this part of the experience was lacking. We would also like to clarify that Tromsø and Alaska are very different environments. Tromsø is located directly on the coast, where maritime weather changes extremely quickly. Cloud cover, precipitation and strong winds can develop and disappear within a short distance. Alaska has many areas with a much drier and more continental climate, and depending on the exact location, it can be considerably easier to simply step outside and have clear skies for several hours. This is one of the reasons Aurora experiences in the two destinations can feel completely different. At the same time, there is no fundamental difference in the Aurora itself. The Northern Lights are caused by charged particles from the Sun interacting with Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere, and the same global geomagnetic activity can produce Aurora in Alaska, Norway, Finland, Sweden and elsewhere. What changes dramatically from place to place is the weather, cloud cover, visibility and local geography — not the underlying Aurora activity. We are also glad you acknowledged that our team continued trying different locations rather than simply giving up. Unfortunately, on that particular night the cloud cover made the Aurora extremely difficult to see with the naked eye. Our guides still worked to find every possible opening and photographed what was available. We have been chasing the Northern Lights in Tromsø for many years, and we know that some nights are spectacular while others are challenging. Our commitment is to give guests the best possible chance, while being honest that we cannot control the weather or guarantee what the sky will provide. We truly appreciate your feedback, and we will share your comments with Antonio and the rest of our team. We hope that, despite this disappointing night, you’ll remember that our intention was always to give you the best possible opportunity under very difficult conditions.

via Tripadvisor