ACTIVITIES
Adventure guide
Season to taste TEXT: Sarah Dearne
There’s more to Iceland than sightseeing. Activity tours allow you to interact with the country’s landscape and people on another level, exploring perspectives you’d miss from the car window. To give you some inspiration, we pick a theme and sort activities by adventure level, from keen beginner to expert explorer. This issue, we dive into Iceland’s cool, clear waters to see what we can find.
Photo: Erlendur Bogason / Photo: Arctic Adventures / scuba.is
Photo: © Elli Thor Magnusson / DIVE.IS / dive.is
Strytan Dive Center / strytan.is
Calm
Curious
Exhilarating
Plunge into the ethereal sapphire waters of Silfra fissure, which runs between two tectonic plates in Thingvellir National Park. Glacial meltwater filters through subterranean lava in a process that takes up to a century, leaving the water so clear that you can see for over 100 m (328 ft) into this geological wonder. Snorkelling tours are suitable for confident swimmers, and there’s also the option to scuba dive if you’re PADI certified.
Iceland is home to lush jungles teeming with wildlife – beneath the water’s surface, that is! At Gardur just off the Reykjanes coast, you can scuba dive through a beautiful kelp forest and see macrolife including surly wolffish, flamboyant sea slugs, and even the occasional whale. Alternatively, try snorkelling or diving in nearby Kleifarvatn, a geothermal lake where you can swim in effervescent springs just a short drive from the capital.
If you’re an experienced diver, journey north to Eyjafjordur for some of Iceland’s most incredible diving sites. The fjord conceals a network of 10,000-year-old hydrothermal chimneys, the tallest of which, Strytan, reaches around 50 m (164 ft) in height. And if puffins tickle your fancy, you can also hop on a 30-minute flight to nearby Grimsey island, where you can go underwater birdwatching in the Arctic Circle – no binoculars needed.
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