We drove up to Þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park and found where we were supposed to meet up with our snorkel group. The directions we had gotten from the company weren't very helpful so it was a bit of a challenge but we figured it out without too much difficulty. We did end up having to wait almost 30 minutes for others in the group to find it, so clearly they need to tune up their directions. We ended up booking our tour through a third-party called Iceland Advice, and the company that actually did the tour was Iceland Adventure Tours. We picked them because they were the cheapest we found and they also included pictures which is really nice since I no longer have an underwater camera. We were happy with them and after seeing how it works it seems like it wouldn't really matter who you went with since it should basically be the exact same.
After we had the whole group we drove the short distance to Silfra Fissure. It took quite awhile to get suited up since we snorkeled in dry suits. I had never used a dry suit before and it was kind of an experience all by itself. We were able to leave all of our clothes on, except for our shoes, and then put some warm overalls over our clothes as well. Then we put on the actual dry suit which included boots. It was pretty difficult to get on and we often needed help from the guides to yank everything into place. It had a tight seal around the wrists and throat which is what kept the water out. Then we wore wet suit hoods and gloves as well.
Modeling (part of) the dry suit:
Once we were all suited up we went down towards the water and got in line, since there were other companies with groups as well. The guides had us spit into our masks since saliva is a natural de-fogger. Not to brag, but I'm a pro and the guide held mine up to show everyone how it should be done since most people didn't understand and were hardly spitting into their masks. Once it was our turn we got in the water and that was very strange; I'd never been in water before without getting wet or being able to feel the water. The only parts of our bodies that got wet were our hands and the exposed parts of our face. I never felt discomfort on my face, perhaps it numbed instantly, but halfway through my hands were hurting from the cold. That was the only issue though and otherwise I was toasty warm and dry which was pretty cool.
The actual snorkeling part was fantastic. The Silfra Fissure is a rift between the North American tectonic plate and the Eurasian tectonic plate. The two plates drift about 2cm further apart each year. The water in Silfra is originally melted from a glacier and then filtered through lava rocks for 30-100 years so it's some of the clearest water in the world with visibility about 100 meters. It's also potable and our guides said they drink it all the time. So I had a sample while snorkeling because I wanted to taste what it was like; it was wonderfully refreshing and tasted great! Snorkeling was actually very relaxing as we gazed down into the fissure. There was a gentle current pushing us along so we really didn't have to swim or kick at all but just enjoyed the experience. The actual snorkeling took about 30 minutes.
Me reaching out to touch both of the tectonic plates!
Matt snorkeling in between the continental plates!
Once we got out and managed to wrangle out of the dry suits they served us hot chocolate and cookies which was much appreciated. It was so cool! Originally I had hoped to scuba in the fissure but I would've needed an extra certification in order to dive in the dry suit which would've cost time and mine, and additionally the dive itself would've cost about $500 more than the snorkel so that seemed ridiculous. Looking back I'm glad I didn't try to do that because I really don't see how scuba would've been any better than the snorkel.
Then we went our separate ways from the group and Matt and I explored the immediate area for a bit. We walked over to Alþing (Althing) which was the site of the first parliament in the world, founded in year 930, and still held sessions until 1800. Then we walked over to Öxarárfoss waterfall. It was a really pretty area with lots to see and we didn't explore everything.
Site of world's first parliament:
We had a quick lunch then drove off to explore the rest of the Golden Circle. Our first stop was to see the geysers. I had never seen a geyser before so that was really cool! There were several in that area and most notable is Geysir, which is what every other geyser in the world is named after. In Icelandic they actually call geysers something else but they named this specific one Geysir, and since that was one of the first known geysers now the rest of the world calls them "geysers". Pretty cool. Unfortunately Geysir doesn't erupt very often anymore, in fact it's been years since the last time, so we weren't able to see that one go. But nearby is also Strokkur which is extremely reliable and erupts every 6-10 minutes- even more frequently than Old Faithful! That was nice since we were there for about 12 minutes and got to see it erupt twice. Here's a video:
Our last stop of the day was Gullfoss waterfall which was gorgeous. It's an iconic waterfall in Iceland and one of the top tourist destinations. It plunges down in three steps for a total of 32 meters into a crevice. When you first see the waterfall you can't really see the crevice so it appears that the water just vanishes into the center of the Earth.
On the way to our hostel we stopped to take some pictures with these beautiful purple flowers we've seen all over Iceland. I love them!
Our hostel is really nice. It doesn't even feel much like a hostel but more like a B&B, except without the breakfast. We have a private room and the common living room is very open and light. There's a hot tub and beautiful scenery. There's a pizzeria right next door but not much else around. We really like it! We're only here for one night though. After making ourselves a cheap dinner we soaked in the hot tub for awhile and chatted with a mother/daughter from San Diego!
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