You don’t need to be a certified diver in order to experience water at its clearest! Snorkeling Silfra is for everyone who feels comfortable in water and is ready for a fantastic snorkeling adventure.
We offer daily snorkeling trips to Silfra where you will float between two continental plates, surrounded by the astonishing clarity of the water and the mesmerizing colors of this underwater world.
If you choose to use the transportation service, they will pick you up at your accommodation in Reykjavík and drive with you to Thingvellir National Park. During the one-hour drive, your guide will provide you with background information about the unique geology and cultural history of Silfra as well as the surrounding area of the Thingvellir UNESCO world heritage site.
Upon arrival at Silfra, your guide will give you your dry suit and snorkeling equipment. Your guide will explain how to use this equipment and how to ensure that you will be warm and comfortable during your 30 to 40 minute snorkeling tour of Silfra Hall, Silfra Cathedral, and Silfra Lagoon. Duration of the tour in total is approximately 5 hours from the time of pick up in Reykjavík to the time of drop off. If you choose to drive yourself to Silfra, you can expect to be with us for about 3 hours.
During your snorkel you will explore the four main parts of Silfra. You will float through Big Crack, Silfra’s narrowest section and where the continental plates are so close you can almost touch them. The fissure then widens into Silfra Hall. Here the full spectrum of Silfra’s colours and clarity become all the more apparent. At this point if you look at just the right angle you can see all the way to Thingvallavatn, over 150m away. Near to the opening to Thingvallavatn we will enter the Silfra Cathedral; as the depth reaches 23m you feel like you are flying over the boulders and glacial silt. Your snorkel is finished in the endless visibility of Silfra Lagoon.
The Silfra fissure, is known as one of the top dive sites in the world for two main reasons. First, the Silfra fissure is actually a crack between the North American and Eurasian continents, meaning that you dive or snorkel right where the continental plates meet and drift apart about 2cm per year. Silfra is the only place where one can dive or snorkel directly in the crack between two continental plates. Secondly, the underwater visibility in the Silfra fissure is over 100 meters, which creates an underwater experience that will rarely, if ever, be surpassed. The reasons for this astounding water clarity are twofold: the water is cold (2°C – 4°C year round ) as it is glacial water from the nearby Langjökull and this water is filtered through porous underground lava for 30-100 years until it reaches the north end of Thingvellir lake, seeping out from underground wells.
Make sure to drink some of the Silfra water while you are snorkeling! Who knows when you will be able to drink water so pure again.