Our superfabulous snorkeling adventure!

Right. So I left off yesterday at the part where AAH and I were dropped off at Þingvellir National Park to go snorkeling in the ravine Silfra, which has some of the most amazingly clear water you will ever see. I’ve wanted to see the underwater world in Silfra for a very long time … I had been told that there are all sorts of tunnels and caves and magnificent landscapes down there, and was pretty psyched to get to see that with my own eyes.*

AAH and I were picked up at the Þingvellir service centre by two guys from the company Dive.is, Kevin [an archaeologist from Ireland] and Davíð [an Icelandic guy who lives in Sweden but spends his summers in Iceland ... diving].

Those two were amazing. They began by introducing everyone in the group [so very un-Icelandic], so immediately we felt we were among friends. They then proceeded to take such great care of us that it was like we had been best pals for years — talking us through every step of the procedure, helping us on with our dry suits, helping us with everything else [going into the water, releasing air from the dry suit, etc.], staying totally vigilant the whole time we were in the water [if they spotted something was wrong -- like, say, the mouthpiece coming out -- they were on it], even asking me repeatedly if my hands were cold [I'd mentioned that I suffer from Raynaud's syndrome and was a bit concerned when I heard the hands were the only part of the body that would get cold]. The preparation was extremely thorough and there were no surprises — they’d gone through every step with us so I felt very confident, even though I’d never snorkeled before. Truly awesome guides, and great company too.

The procedure went something like this. First, a briefing by the place where we would go into the water, on what to expect.

Cool, clear water:

From there, we went back to the van and got our kit on. First, we put on long underwear that we’d been instructed to bring with us. Incidentally, there are no change rooms, so the van served that purpose — and quite effectively, too, I might add.

Next came coveralls that we put on underneath the dry suit. Very mod:

And then the @#%$ dry suit — that was the only time I actually considered packing up and going home …

Fortunately I didn’t, because it was just a hop, skip and a jump into the water from there …

Or, well, maybe more of a waddling, penguin-like, down these steps:

By this time, of course, the camera had been left behind, since, um, it’s not waterproof. Our guides took some pictures, though, that I was hoping to steal from them, but alas, I completely forgot to ask them about them before we left. So I’m going to take the liberty of stealing a couple from their website:

This is pretty much what we saw, and it was AWESOME. The water is so crystal-clear and it’s really another universe down there, so calm and tranquil. One of the things that struck me especially was that this underwater universe seems to have its own unique rhythm, and all the vegetation down there sways to it, slowly and hypnotically.

The COLOURS down there were also so amazing — like the green of the vegetation, and those spaghetti-like strands [you can see one or two on the photo above] that in certain places were all over the place. They were this incredible fluorescent or acid green, an almost otherworldly colour. Looking down you could see all those caves and tunnels they talk about, and the BLUES down there were incredible, from this remarkable slate blue in the bottom to turquoise in the water all around.

My fears about the coldness of the water were thankfully unfounded — I was perfectly warm, save for my hands, but even that was manageable. We were in the water for about 35 minutes, and afterwards we were all just elated by the whole experience.

* NB diving in Silfra can be dangerous — in fact, there was a fatality  there about three weeks ago, when a diver drowned. From the news reports, it appears to have been a tragic accident, as he was trying to help his girlfriend, who had got herself stuck in one of the tunnels. I hasten to add that that was a diving accident, and not snorkeling, which takes place on the surface of the water, wearing a dry suit that is basically like a cork and in which it is impossible to sink.

UPDATE!!

I was just about to publish this post, when an email arrived with the photos that were taken on OUR snorkeling trip. So rather than re-write the whole post again, I’ll just stick the photos onto the end, here. Behold:

Spaghetti strands:

If I’m not mistaken, that’s YT waving [first snorkeler]:

Oh, and when it was all over, the guys produced hot chocolate and biscuits from the back of the van … GENIUS!

As I mentioned in the last review, our snorkeling extravaganza was a part of the Golden Circle tour and marked a fabulous close to an excellent day.

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Tagged as: diving, Geysir, Golden Circle, Gullfoss, Reykjavík Excursions, Silfra, snorkeling, Thingvellir, tour reviews