11 minute read
ICELAND
from Scuba Diver #39
As the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and travel restrictions start to ease, Byron Conroy extols the virtues of embarking on a long weekend of diving and adventure in Iceland
PHOTOGRAPHS BY BYRON CONROY
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Over the last ten years or so, I have travelled the world far and wide, going to some of the world’s best diving locations and also travelling for work, often moving between continents. Some years I would take 50 flights, but with the recent COVID-19 pandemic that has swept the globe, travel has never been so difficult in my lifetime. Dream destinations have become harder and harder to get to, if possible at all.
We are finally seeing a lifting of restrictions and now people are looking to travel - nobody more so than me. However, for the last five years, I have called the small Scandinavian nation of Iceland my home. With its low population of just 365,000 inhabitants and over 100,000 sq km of land, it has one of the lowest population densities of any developed countries.
In a time of social distancing and people seeking their own space and nature, this may be the best country in the world to live in. Iceland has also been one of the most-successful nations in the world for tackling the coronavirus, the island has completed more tests per capita than any other country, developed its own tracking App and is now antibody testing all previous positive results. The data captured in Iceland has been used by many other countries to help formulate their own strategies.
As a result of this great reaction by the government, the island is now pretty much corona-free, and has now decided to open up its borders for international travel again. The border to Europe was officially opened up on 15 June and from America was opened on 1 July. For anyone looking for a remote, exciting and socially distanced long dive and adventure weekend, this may just become the best country in the world to travel to this summer.
I have been running dive expeditions all over Iceland for five years, combining the very best diving with sightseeing to create action-packed trips for those with an adventurous spirit. At this time of year, we are lucky enough to have 24-hour daylight, so for those searching for adventure, it’s paradise. My company Magmadive (www.magmadive.is) is all about private, customised packages to suit our clients’ needs. So here’s a run down of how to plan the best long weekend dive trip to Iceland.
So on arrival to Iceland, it’s best to use the transfer to Reykjavik from the airport. This takes you on a beautiful drive through the lava fields surrounding Reykjavik, and on the way from the airport to the city you can start your day in the most-relaxing way, at the Blue Lagoon Spa. Famous across the world, it’s amazing to relax in the silky geothermal water and kick back with a local Icelandic beer served ice cold while you are bathing in the 38 degree C water.
Once you get to the city and to downtown Reykjavik, you will find it to be a charming city. Lots of interesting architecture, colourful houses and a very interesting food and drink scene. Local restaurants serve food for all budgets and tastes, but you should enjoy the local dishes - lamb and lobster are some of the best products form Iceland.
Day two is where the adventure begins, and the diving in Iceland is unique. There are sites like nowhere else in the world. On this day we aim to dive two sites, Lake Kleifarvatn first. This is a geothermal lake, situated in a volcanic crater. The scenery is amazing, driving through a lava field to arrive, then having to cross the black volcanic sand beaches before arriving on the far side of the lake. There will be nobody for miles around, a picturesque setting, and it’s entirely your own to enjoy. The dive itself is pretty special. After following the guide along the bottom of the lake, you gradually start to see bubbles appearing in small trickles from the sandy bottom. It’s at this point the guests always get excited, but the guide knows what’s about to come.
As you come into the main area, the first thing that gets your attention is the noise in the distance, then it comes into view. The bottom of the lake is dancing and millions of bubbles of sulphur dioxide gas streams from the ground. As you dive into the area you are also hit by the smell of the gas.
You can feel the lake vibrating your body and can put your hand down towards the ground and feel the heat coming from the bottom. After a short swim back to the shore, it’s time for some hot chocolate and biscuits before heading to the next stop. Bajangja is a fissure located on the land but close to the ocean, so it’s tidal, with the ocean coming in from underneath. The fissure used to be used as a holding pen for cod in order to keep them fresh, but this has now been abandoned, leaving a pretty interesting dive site.
It’s a small and narrow crack around 100 metres long, and 20m in depth. About two years ago, a movie was filmed there and a wreck was sunk, the Ramona. Now the wreck is suspended in the middle of the fissure, giving the illusion of a ghost ship. After checking out the wreck for some time, it’s time to head to the far end of the fissure where it gets deeper and darker. After heading through the halocline caused by the tide changes, some bones emerge from the darkness. Your guide will light these up for you. They are the skeleton of a whale, you can see the vertebrae and the ribs leaning up against the side of the fissure. A very spooky and surreal experience.
For the rest of the afternoon, it’s some sightseeing on the Reykjanes peninsula, checking out the lava tunnels formed thousands of years ago when the volcanoes erupted. We will head to a lava tunnel, where your guide will teach you about the geology and history of Iceland.
You are then dropped off in Reykjavik that evening for dinner, before being picked again later in the evening for a very unique dive. Silfra fissure is the most-famous dive in Iceland, ad is often voted in the world’s top 10 dive sites. It’s a fissure, or crack, in the Earth’s surface, located in-between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. The glacier melt water that flows into it from Llangjokull glacier is filtered through the volcanic fields for 30 years before arriving at the mouth of the fissure. The slow filtration of glacial water gives it some pretty interesting features for diving. The first is the temperature, Silfra is cold, no two ways about it. Water temperature ranges from 2 to 4 degrees C depending on the time of year. But the real thing is the visibility - it’s usually at least 100 metres. There is no point in Silfra where you can’t see the other end, even when it’s 100 metres away. It’s hard to describe how clear it is. I have dived lots of interesting places, such as the cenotes in Mexico, but this visibility is on a whole new level.
And what better time to dive the fissure than the middle of the night, under the midnight sun - a truly unique experience. There are not many places on Earth where we get the midnight sun, and certainly not where you can dive in crystalclear mineral water with 100 metre visibility. I have dived Silfra many times and taken hundreds of people there. We’ve had people who have researched Silfra for years and know all about it, but yet when they actually see it for themselves, they are speechless. I have also worked as an underwater photographer for some time, and people always ask me about the Silfra photographs – ‘that’s not real, you used Photoshop’, etc. But then they see it for themselves, and realise that’s just how it looks.
In underwatwer photography we say, when you think you are close enough, get closer. Silfra is the only place I’ve ever photographed where you need to get further away! It’s like shooting through air, and the only place I know where you can take a landscape photo underwater. I’ve even taken 12-shot panorama photos there and stitched them together.
After seeing the amazing site yourselves, it will be a dive to remember forever. Coming out of the water just after midnight, with the sun still in the sky and the whole of the area completely to yourself, is an unforgettable experience.
After heading back to Reykjavik late at night, it’s time for a later start the next day. We will be heading to the ocean for our morning dive. For those from the UK, they will be well aware of Iceland’s ocean diving characteristics. Visibility can be up to ten metres, but usually six to eight. However, it’s the marine life we are here for. We will dive in Gardur on the harbour wall. The dive site is up to 12m deep, but has a wealth of different marine life. Shoals of mackerel, cod and pollock are often seen. But the macro is where the site really shines - nudibranchs, crabs, isopods, lumpsuckers and butterfish are all on the dive site, making beautiful subjects.
The star of the show is the resident wolf fish, one of the meanest-looking fish in the ocean. Bright blue in colour, it has large and powerful teeth that it uses to break open shellfish. After a salty dive we head back inland for the final dive of the trip. Where better to wash off your drysuit than in the purest water on Earth, Silfra fissure. An afternoon dive in the summer offers the best lighting of the whole year. From around 3pm, the sun is low in the sky, and perfectly in line with the famous Silfra Cathedral. This offers an incredible backlight to the deepest part, making for some incredible photography options. Your guide will also take some shots of you as you swim through the Cathedral in 100-metre visibility. There is really no better way to end a dive trip to Iceland. After the dive and scenic drive back to Reykjavik, the Magmadive team will take care of any equipment you may have bought with you and ensure it’s dried overnight. We have all equipment needed here for any dive trip, but many of our guests prefer to bring their own drysuit. We will arrange for the equipment to be dropped off at your accommodation the following morning.
For your final day, a dry day, there are many options in Iceland. The famous Golden Circle is the most touristy of all days out, focusing mainly on the Geysir, Gulfoss and the Thingvellir National Parks. While famous for good reason, this is also the most touristy activity you can do. There are many other options. The south coast of Iceland is a little more dramatic, offering huge waterfalls and black sand beaches, but this is still very much a sightseeing day out.
For this looking for more action, going snowmobiling to the ice cave at the Llangjokull glacier is a great option. Using a heavily modified Super Jeep to get to the glacier, you’ll then make a snowmobile journey over the top of the glacier before reaching the ice tunnel. The world’s largest ice tunnel, it is incredible to walk hundreds of metres down into the glacier itself. Your guide from the diving will also be able to help you with picking out any activities for your final non-diving day and will have tried them all to give you a personal opinion.
As you head back to the airport after a weekend of relaxation, action and some of the world’s most-unique diving, Iceland will have left a special mark on you.
Iceland is the ultimate place for social distancing this summer. I feel blessed to call it my home, and believe it’s one of the best countries on Earth to live at the present time.
