I have to admit – these days, I don’t do as many things that scare me as in my younger years. Back then, I was fearless – I climbed volcanoes at dawn, rappelled down waterfalls, and attended hostel toga parties in naught but a pink sheet. But far and away, scuba-diving in Iceland was the most badass thing I’ve done all year, and possibly in all my travels.
The morning of the dive, I sleepily climbed into a van with four other divers, and drove an hour to Þingvellir National Park, the site of the world’s first parliament.
Þingvellir is notable not only for its political and historical significance, but also its geological. It is home to Silfra, a glacial-water fissure between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates, which is where we would be scuba-diving.
Once we arrived it was time to suit up. Normally, getting into scuba gear is no biggie. But a dry suit is no tropical-water shortie – putting on a dry suit is awful. I felt like a kid asking the instructor, “Um, can you help me put on my fins?”
But once we waddled down to the water, I discovered the value of dry suit – I felt shockingly comfortable. As only my hands and face were exposed, the rest of my body was quite warm.
The moment I plunged under water I was blown away by how crystal clear the water was. Plus, you could drink it – the glacial water tasted like Voss times 1000.
As I swam along, marveling at the neon colors of the water and the DayGlo “troll hair”, my hands and face thankfully went numb.
This was a dive unlike any other I had done – there were no fish, coral, or trash – just cobalt water as far as the eye could see.
Next came the hardest part of the day – walking the half-mile back to the start of the dive site wearing more than seventy pounds of gear. It was the hardest work-out I’ve done since middle school track.
Ever seen a scuba divers crossing sign? Didn’t think so.
During our surface interval, we treated ourselves to some well-deserved marshmallow hot chocolate and cookies.
The second dive was less successful. For some reason, my suit felt like a sausage casing, particularly when I descended. My GoPro also died (why do I always forget to charge my camera gear? Gah) but luckily the dive leader took pictures.
However, in the majority of them I look like a seal. Fairly photogenic on land? Yep. Underwater? Not so much.
After finishing the second dive and walking the exhausting half mile again, I was so happy to peel off the dry suit. But discomforts aside, by the end of the second dive, I felt extremely proud of myself. And if I’m being honest, I felt like a badass. It’s not every day you dive in glacial water.
So if you’re a diver, I would highly, highly recommend diving in Iceland. You may not see fish or coral, but you’ll embark on one of the most beautiful and unique dives of your life.
Also, the lol of the day was waking up before the dive, having breakfast, and checking my phone to see the time. It was one in the morning. But because it was light out, I was confused. So I went back to bed and slept six more hours – ha. #icelandproblems
Would you ever go scuba-diving in Iceland?
A big thanks to Scuba Iceland for offering me a dive in exchange for a review. All opinions are (as always) my own.
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How proud and impressed I am that you scuba dived in Iceland!!!
And I am so glad your instructor took those fabulous photos of you.
And unlike your opinion I think they are outstanding! And you are
outstanding! Not many have done that, certainly none I have heard
of. I am tickled that you did and can vacariously experience the
dive with you. WOW!!! I love you, my brave adventuresome grand-daughter!
Love, Gamma
Thank you for commenting, Gamma! It was really intense and I felt very proud after. Always a good feeling :) Love, Ashley
Your photos are absolutely incredible even if they are lacking in the fish/coral department.
I’ve never gone diving but places like this are definitely motivation to one day become certified.
Too funny about the daylight factor. I was in Norway in early June and while maybe not as extreme as Iceland, you still had so many more hours of daylight than darkness. I absolutely loved it :)
Norway looks beautiful – I’d love to go there! The midnight sun made it a bit hard for me to sleep – otherwise, it was great!
Did you post your photo in GLT? I swear I keep seeing this adventure and I had never even heard of it till two weeks ago! Just got certified a month ago and already dove the Great Blue Hole, so yeah, I might dive in Iceland ;)
As long as there’s an Irish Coffee afterwards ?
Irish coffee would have been perfect! Also I’d love to dive the blue hole :)
I have never scuba dived but I’ve been to Iceland. If it’s anything like the landscapes above water, I can only imagine how beautiful it would be below the surface. Amazing! X
It was so gorgeous and unlike anything else I’ve ever seen :)
Wow you are so brave to do this! x
Victoria
Thanks! I was definitely a bit scared but it ended up being very worth it :)
I don’t think diving would even enter my mind while in “ICELAND”.
Seems the fish feel the same way. Well maybe for a sunken treasure of gold but I would make it a very quick dive. Sorry, but I’ll stick to Baja where I don’t need a wetsuit. You da badasss me da lazyass.
Baja sounds nice. I don’t know if I’ll do another dive in glacial water but I’m glad I tried it!
Your grandmother June shared this blog with me. Wonderful pictures, wonderful commentary; you definitely opened up an unknown world to me. Thank you for that!
Glad you enjoyed it, Ginny! Thanks for stopping by!
When went snorkeling here there this past summer and it was amazing. I was really worried about being cold in the water but the gear kept me surprisingly warm. The midnight sun still throws me off every summer!
I couldn’t believe how warm I was! It really wasn’t bad at all. And agreed, the midnight sun is so bizarre!
That looks absolutely incredible! I would love to do that, although I think I would keep to just snorkeling.. The only time I’ve scuba dived before was in Fiji, where the instructor took care of all the gear for me xD
Oh nice! Fiji would be insanely cool :)
Diving in Silfra is my bucket list dream! I met an woman from Iceland whilst I was travelling in Europe and now I just want to do a big trip over there. Great post :) Have you done many dives with sharks?
I dove with sharks in Indonesia and it was really cool. They were baby reef-sharks so super small :)
Scuba diving is one of those things I’m likely never going to work up the courage to do. I really enjoyed reading about your experience though!
I’m a huge scaredy cat and I promise it’s not scary at all! Maybe give it a shot sometime :)
Ashley – These are amazing pictures. I honestly didn’t think that Iceland would be high on the list for diving but this simply looks spectacular! Thanks for sharing!
So glad you enjoyed it, James! I’d highly recommend it :)
Scuba Diving in Iceland is more exciting. I want to got there with my family :)
You should, it’s awesome! :)
‘Nice! ‘Love it! I didn’t know that you could scuba dive in Iceland. I know it should be logical but funnily enough, when I think of Iceland, I don’t actually think of water lol!
Just glaciers, volcanoes, and ice!
p.s. You don’t look like a seal.
Haha thanks :P It’s hard to look cute in a dry suit, that’s for sure.
This is amazing. I honestly didn’t even know that Iceland was a dive destination before this! Yet another reason I absolutely need to visit Iceland. That country is so high on my list.
It’s an awesome place for so many reasons!
This is really, really cool!! Your photos are just crystal clear and beautiful.
Though I think my favorite part is that scuba diver crossing sign. Classic.
Thanks! They were probably the best scuba-diving photos I’ve ever gotten – that visibility was amazing!
This sounds like an awesome experience. I’ve not been to Iceland yet and would never have even thought to have gone Scuba Diving. It looks beautiful down there. ?
It was seriously gorgeous :)
After reading about snorkeling in Silfra and now your article, it really makes me want to visit Iceland. But how come there are no fish or any sea life? Like, there should be at least some, shouldn’t it?
I didn’t see any but I assumed that was because the water was SO cold!