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A diving tour located in beautiful surroundings at Thingvellir National Park. Once you’ve acclimatized to the glacial temperatures, explore all four sections of Silfra in the clearest water you’ve ever seen and witness ethereal underwater rock formations. Dive to 22 m (72 ft) at its deepest point in the Silfra Cathedral and finish the dive at the Silfra Lagoon, a stunning culmination of your Silfra scuba diving experience. See for yourself why Silfra is one of the world's most unique freshwater scuba sites. Diving doesn't get much better than this!
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On arrival to Silfra, dive guides will give a thorough dive briefing. This will include details about diving procedures, signs and signals, national park rules, your equipment, the route, and important information on how to use the drysuit.
Once you’re geared up, it’s time to get in the water. Entry to the Silfra Fissure is via steps that lead onto a large metal platform, where you’ll stand waist-deep in the water to acclimatize. Take the time to splash your face and have a quick drink of the refreshing Icelandic water before the dive begins. After each diver has done a weight check with the dive guide, it’s time to begin!
During this scuba diving experience, you’ll be taken through each of the four sections of Silfra. Throughout the dive, there are plenty of opportunities to have a good look around and explore to your heart’s content. The first section near the entrance is the Silfra Deep Crack, which is long and narrow as it winds to the left and right. This then widens slightly into what we call the Silfra Hall, which in turn leads to the Silfra Cathedral. The Cathedral is the deepest point that we’ll dive to in Silfra at 22 m (72 ft) below the surface. After the Cathedral, we turn left into the Silfra Lagoon, which is incredibly beautiful and the final part of the dive. On the exit platform, your guide will help you remove your fins, and you’ll have a chance to warm yourself up with roughly a 300m (984 feet) walk back to the car park. We can always remove your weights or even your gear if you have trouble walking with your gear on, and you can also have a rest back at the visitor entrance on the way to the car park.
Once back in the car park, we’ll take the scuba gear off you so you can fully dry off. While you process the dive and everything you’ve experienced, warm your hands on mugs of soothing hot chocolate and fill up on cookies.
Please read our Diving Handbook for more information about the tour.
Meeting point
The meeting point is the Silfra car park in Thingvellir National Park. Please be ready in the Silfra car park to meet your guide 15 minutes before your tour is due to begin.
Directions
If you are meeting us on location, the meeting point is the Silfra car park in Thingvellir National Park. Click here for driving directions to where you can park your car (parking “Thingvellir P5”). To meet your guide: Walk 400m back along the road until you reach a smaller car park with all the snorkel and dive vans, and look for your guide. Please be ready in the Silfra car park to meet your guide 15 minutes before your tour is due to begin.
For GPS: 64°15’23.508″N 21°6’58.676″W
For those who have chosen to be picked up in Reykjavík, the pick-up time is at 08:30 am / 12:00 pm. Picking everyone up can take up to 30 minutes, your patience is greatly appreciated!
Available pick-up points: Arctic Adventures’ pick-up list.
If you choose the Reykjavik pick-up option, then you will return to Reykjavík around 13:30 pm / 17:30 pm approximately.
Dry suit diving experience in the form of either Dry suit certification or a minimum of 10 logged dry suit dives. You need to have dived in a dry suit within the last 2 years. Your dive guide will ask you to see proof of your certification or logbook before the tour starts.
All divers have to supply their height/weight upon booking to ensure we bring you suitable equipment. For safety reasons, all divers need to understand instructions in English and be able to communicate with the dive guide in English.
In order to participate in this tour, you have to have an Open Water diver certification or higher. Also please evaluate your physical health, if you have some medical issues please check your health certificate and get physician approval if needed.
Please read our Diving Handbook for more information about the tour.
Dry suit sizes: While we would like everyone to join our tour, our gear sizes reflect what is available on the market, and it is important guests are within the size parameters. This ensures the safety equipment can serve its purpose and keep guests from getting cold in the glacial water.
Weight limit: 99-265 lbs (45-120 kg)
Height limit: 4'11" - 6'7" (150-200 cm)
Kindly note: We are using top-quality neoprene drysuits. However, no dry suit in the world can be 100% guaranteed to stay dry unless it is custom-made, especially for you. There is a small chance of water entering the suit. Please bring a spare set of clothes just in case.
The National Park charges a small parking fee of 500 ISK for those that choose to meet on location.
This is a challenging dive where you need to be capable of carrying heavy equipment up to 400m.
Meet on location means travelling to the location of the tour yourself and then meeting our tour guides rather than being picked up and taken to the location.
This is a great question. We ask all participants to be ready from the start of the pickup time indicated. This is because you may well be the first pick up of the day. Please be at your assigned location at the start time that you chose when booking the tour.
Here you should wait for your guide.
Have your email and phone number listed with us so we can contact you if we run into any trouble finding you.
View our pick-up locations in Reykjavík.
Before and during activities on the multi-day tours consumption of alcohol is prohibited. If we suspect that a participant is intoxicated, we will prohibit them from joining the activity.
After the activities of the day are finished, you are welcome to have a drink and relax.
Yes, we do. Langjökull Ice Cave is a magical experience, the tour has no minimum age and is a wonderful option for the whole family. Whale Watching with our partner company Elding has been a favourite with families traveling with young children, these guys have a great success rate in seeing whales (upwards of 98% in the summertime).
Another option would be the Landmannalaugar Safari on this tour you get to explore parts of the Icelandic highlands and bathe in natural hot springs. Most of our super jeep tours are also suitable for children over the age of 6 years old. If you would like a nice and relaxing experience we would also recommend the Golden Circle & Secret Lagoon tour.
Your safety is our number one priority! Keeping this in mind, Arctic Adventures reserves the right to adjust the itinerary and/or take different routes depending on conditions. Please read more information in our cancellation policy.
Yes, there is a specially trained and certified guide on each of our tours. The only exception to this is for our self-drive tours.
All of our tours are guided in English.
No, for all your questions and concerns you would need to contact our customer service.
The standard in Iceland is 230V and 50Hz and we use F-type power sockets and plugs, so you might have to bring an adaptor if you are visiting from UK, USA, Canada or other countries using a different voltage, Hz or plugs.
Our tours are split into four different categories that help participants to understand what to expect from the tour. The categories are Easy, Moderate, Challenging and Demanding. Each tour is rated making it easier to find tours that suit you.
For further information about the difficulty ratings and descriptions.
We’ve partnered with the Kolviður Fund in a new carbon offsetting program, which passengers can select to participate in at the time of booking.
The Kolviður Fund is the oldest, most respected carbon offsetting program in Iceland. With your support, one tree will be planted in special Kolviður forests in Iceland to carbon offset your tour with us.
Kolviður forests are strategically planted to absorb the maximum amount of CO2 and the forests are protected for a minimum of 60 years. During their lifetime the trees absorb carbon and store it in their root system, trunk, and branches. Trees also prevent soil erosion and maintain storage of carbon in the soil.
All relevant information for the tour can be found in our diving handbook.
Yes, you can bring a camera, but we recommend to have a waterproof one if you want to have it in the water with you.
If you plan to drive and meet us on location, the meeting point is at the Silfra car park, in Thingvellir National Park.
GPS: 64°15’23.508″N 21°6’58.676″W.
Note that the National Park charges a small parking fee of 500 ISK.
We kindly ask you to be at the Silfra car park 15 Minutes prior to your tour starts.
Some snorkeling tours match with a dive tour, and then you will be in the same area at the same time. You will, however, be in separate groups with separate guides, and won’t be in the water exactly at the same time.
You are not able to participate in the diving tour if you are pregnant.
Yes, it is important that you can both understand and communicate in English in order to participate in the tour.
The age limit for diving Silfra is 18 years old. We also recommend that you are physically fit and healthy if you have some medical issues, please check health certificate and get physician approval if needed.
Because of the dry suit sizes, there are height-weight limitations. The minimum height is 155 cm, and the minimum weight is 50 kg. The maximum height is 200 cm, and the maximum weight is 120 kg. You also need to be able to carry your full dive gear for about 250 meters.
We will need to see proof of your certification. If you do not have your card, please contact us well ahead of your tour and we might be able to find you in the PADI Open Water Scuba Diver online database (if you are certified with PADI). If you come to the diving tour without your card, unfortunately, we will not be able to take you diving.
The guide will normally not take a camera on the first dive. Silfra can be a challenging dive, and the guide needs to have his or her hands-free in case a diver needs assistance in the water.
The maximum depth we are allowed to go to in Silfra is 18 meters. Most of the dive is spent at a shallower depth due to the topography of the site. The dive time is about 30 minutes per dive.
The water temperature is 2-4 degrees C (35-37 degrees F) all year round. The water comes from the Langjökull glacier which keeps it nice and cool, and very refreshing!
We use high quality neoprene dry suits from Waterproof International and O´Three.
Yes, you must be able to swim independently without a lifejacket, and you must be comfortable in the water.
Yes, there are 2 toilet facilities at Silfra. However, we don’t recommend that you use them for changing, as it can result in long queues.
Sometimes fish venture into Silfra from Þingvallavatn lake, but they will quickly swim back, as they don’t like chilly glacier waters. However, there is plenty of colorful seaweed, including a bright green variety known as “troll hair”, which makes the fissure unlike anything on the surface.
Before reaching Silfra, the water coming from Langjokull Glacier is filtered through porous underground lava rock for 30 – 100 years! This makes it the clearest water in the world, as lava rock is an excellent filter. It also means that the water is the clearest in the world allowing for underwater visibility of over 100 m (328 ft).
