Snorkeling in (almost!) freezing water in Iceland

Snorkeling was our very first activity in Iceland, and what a way to start the trip! After our breakfast at Snaps, we headed back to the hotel to drop off our luggage before climbing into the van to depart. We didn't even check in to our room yet, so we had to change to our base layers in the office rest room of the front desk. There are many companies out there who offer snorkeling and I scoured Trip Advisor looking for the right one. I picked Scuba.Is because many of the reviews mentioned that the instructors were very attentive and the group was smaller and more intimate.

Snorkeling is the activity I chose for Harrison's enjoyment. He's already comfortable with free-diving, often in warmer more exotic locations, so I wanted him to have a completely different experience with the same activity that he already takes pleasure in. Diving in 2°C fresh water seemed perfectly reasonable to give him that experience. I, however, am not comfortable in water. He tried to take me snorkeling both in Cabo and Hawaii, and both times I panicked the minute I plunged my head underwater and felt the waves move me.

I actually had to mentally prepared myself for this snorkeling adventure, and everybody there including instructors and other guests could sense how nervous I was. I did an immense amount of research before booking this activity.

First off, I knew I couldn't attempt the dive, I had to baby-step my way with snorkeling. I also couldn't let Harrison dive while I snorkeled because I knew we would both have more fun if we were participating in the activity together. I also researched the fact that the water in the rift wouldn't have waves that would move me and cause me to panic. The water is completely still, and my only movement would be generated by where I kicked my fins. Lastly, I read through many reviews on different companies and chose Scuba.Is precisely because they were a smaller company that provided genuine personal attention to each individual. Actually, while we were in the water, we saw another snorkeling company enter after us and they had hordes of people, definitely not the same personal touch I experienced.

We were picked up at 10am sharp and headed towards Thingvillier National Park for our snorkeling adventure. During the drive, the sun slowly started appearing behind the mountains and the view was amazing. Our snorkeling instructors started snapping pictures from their phone so that’s when you know it's really extraordinary: if they see this everyday and they still want to take the time to capture this moment. They were nice enough to safely pull over to the side of the road to let us snap a few pictures as well.

Not long after entering the park, the van pulled over to the designated changing area. This was the most difficult part of the whole ordeal. To keep us warm in the freezing water, we had to keep on our base layers, slap on a snow suit above that, wear a pair of thick wool socks over that, and then squeeze into a dry suit. The dry suit was so heavy that I couldn’t even put on the legs by myself. The instructors had to literally shove my legs into the leg holes to get me in there.The absolute worst part though was the tight opening for the head. Harrison described it best by comparing it to the Rhino scene in Ace Ventura.

It doesn't help that I have earrings on my cartilage because they just scraped against me the entire time I was trying to squeeze my head in. It felt like my ears were torn off on the way in. Equally horrible was the fact that my hands were already squeezed into gloves that did not protect them from the cold at all. So my hands were already frozen numb and unable to grasp anything so delicate as an earring clasp to take it off. Finally after putting on the tight swimming cap, goggles, and flippers, we all looked like androgynous beings waddling towards the water.

Silfra is a rift that was formed by the tectonic drift of the North American and Eurasian plates. The water flows from 30 miles away from the Lángjökull glacier, where it takes several decades to trickle down and naturally filter the water to create pure drinkable water that fills the rift that we see now. The water is beautifully clear, with visibility up to 200 feet below.

Floating in the water felt so surreal, it almost felt like an out of body experience. Breathing through the snorkel in the still quiet water, combined with the amount of gear I had on, made me feel like I was exploring everything below through a screen. My body was drifting through the current and I was just watching it go by. At one point we had to submerge our heads in the water to observe the Silfa Cathedral, a breathtaking section of the rift that had lava wall formations plunging straight down to the bottom. We also floated pass the Blue Lagoon, the clearest section of the water where visibility is most apparent.

The only part of my body that was exposed were my cheeks and hands but they numbed immediately upon entering the water so I barely felt anything. Besides, I was so captivated by the beauty in the water that I was too distracted to be cold. I honestly didn’t want to come out of the water at the end, I was one of the last few to do so.

Finally after walking back to the parking lot, we had to begin the miserable process of stripping off the dry suit. The suit clung to my skin and I felt like I was ripping my skin off while trying to undress. It took 2 instructors to help me remove everything down to my base layer. I have so much appreciation for them to help visitors in and out of them as well as themselves day in and day out.

After the exhausting strip down, the tour provided us with some much needed hot chocolate and cookies that topped off an amazing experience. I couldn't have asked for a better first time snorkeling experience. The suit protected me from my fear of being underwater, the water was completely still and hauntingly beautiful, and the company was amazing at supporting me.

If anyone else is really nervous about snorkeling for the first time, it may sound crazy, but I highly recommend doing it in (almost!) freezing water. I did it, and now I can proudly say that I have snorkeled, and I did it in the Icelandic winter between 2 tectonic plates.