
Silfra Snorkeling & Paddleboarding
The perfect tour for the water fanatic!
Snorkeling in glacial water, paddleboarding on a geothermal lake
As unbelievable as it sounds, we make it happen!
Silfra is one of the most popular attractions in Iceland and it is located in the Thingvellir National Park, just a short drive away from Reykjavik. This makes it a great sightseeing stop on your Golden Circle route but, if you want to take it easy and enjoy it for a bit, Silfra also offers a great opportunity to do a fun activity. Our Silfra Snorkeling Tour is an amazing activity for groups and families and we take it up a notch by adding a unique paddleboarding adventure on the Laugarvatn geothermal lake.
Did you know that everyone can snorkel, you do not need certifications, only to know how to swim. All snorkelers get a warm undersuit and a drysuit so everyone is dry and warm during the snorkel trip. Age limit is 12 years old so bring your teens to Silfra with you.
This snorkeling tour with DIVE.IS was chosen the best snorkeling trip in the world and the 4th best experience in the world on Tripadvisors' Travelers Choice list in 2019.
Start off your day by meeting your guide at the Silfra meeting point. Here, our experienced guides will welcome you, give you a detailed briefing of the activity and help you gear up with the high quality equipment we provide. All you need to bring is a base layer of warm clothes, preferably long thermal underwear. We will provide you with a thick, fleecy undergarment and a dry suit, as well as mask, snorkel, fins, hood and gloves.
Once you are in your dry suit, you will make your way to the entry platform - a metal staircase that allows you to enter the water slowly and safely. Your snorkeling tour will take about 30 minutes, during which you will explore the four main sections of Silfra: the Big Crack, the Hall, the Cathedral and the Lagoon. You will have enough time to take in the fascinating underwater scenery, made up of rock formatins and colorful algae (in the summer).
After the snorkeling tour, you wil make your way back to the meeting point, where your guide will help you get out of your dry suit and offer you hot chocolate and cookies to warm up.
At this point, it will be time for you to drive for about 30 minutes to reach lake Laugarvatn and the meeting point for your paddleboarding tour.
Laugarvatn is a charming little village immersed in stunning landscapes and characterized by the intense geothermal activity that has made it a popular bathing spot since ancient times. The flat and shallow waters of lake Laugarvatn are the ideal setting for your paddleboarding experience, whether you are a beginner or an expert. All the necessary equipment will be provided by our trusted partners and their guides will also give you detailed instructions to ensure you have an enjoyable experience. The most adventurous participants will also get the chance to experiement and have fun always under the supervision of their experienced guides.
This is an excellent opportunity to enjoy the surrounding scenery from an unusual point of view.
We think this tour is the perfect adventure for any group. We always take a maximum of 6 snorkelers into the water at a time, but for larger groups we can coordinate the groups of 6 so that everyone is done at approximately the same time. With the most experience in showing Silfra to our guests out of any tour operator in Iceland, we know how to make sure things go smoothly!
Tour Details
-
This tour can be tailor made to fit the needs of your group
-
Snorkeling tour: 2.5 hours - Paddleboarding tour: 1.5 hours (add 30 minutes drive between Silfra and lake Laugarvatn)
-
All year round, daily. Available on request, we will find the best time for your group.
-
Max 6 snorkelers per snorkel guide, but we can accommodate multiple groups of 6
-
Maximum 8 people per paddleboard guide
-
Free photos with all group tours
-
Price is based on 10 people, we can find the right price if you have a larger group
-
Contact us at dive@dive.is for details and bookings
Included:
- Highly trained snorkeling guide and paddleboarding guide
- Guided snorkeling tour
- Guided paddleboarding tour
- All necessary snorkeling and paddleboarding equipment
- Hot chocolate and cookies between snorkeling in Silfra and paddleboarding
- Entrance fee into Silfra
Not included:
- Transporation (we can make you an offer for food and/or transportation if needed)
Please bring:
- Long underwear
- Thick socks
- Suitable clothes for the weather of the day
- Contact lenses if you wear glasses
Bookable extras:
- Lunch at our restaurant in the woods
- Entry to The Cave People exhibition
Safety requirements
For their safety, all participants must:-
have read, signed, and followed directions on the online Snorkeling Silfra Medical Statement (link provided in confirmation email) PDF
-
have our Snorkeling Medical form signed off by a doctor if they are age 60 or older (page 2) PDF
-
sign our liability release form at the start of the snorkeling tour PDF
-
be at minimum 150cm / maximum 200cm
-
be at minimum 45kg / maximum 120kg
-
fit within our dry suit size chart PDF
-
be at least 12 years of age on the year and at least 45 kg / 99 lbs
-
be comfortable in the water and be able to swim
-
be physically fit
-
be ready to wear a sometimes tight & constricting dry suit
-
be able to communicate in English
-
not be pregnant
YOU WILL VISIT THIS AREA
OUR FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
-
Are photos always taken on the Silfra Snorkeling Tours?
-
In general the answer is yes. However, it can happen in rare occasions that your Silfra snorkeling guide is not able to take photos because he/she might be busy assisting other snorkelers in the water. Another uncommon reason could be that the camera has a problem. In this unlikely case you will be refunded for the tour photos should you already have purchased them online in advance.
-
-
Are the dry suits very tight / uncomfortable?
-
We use top quality equipment for our Snorkeling and Scuba Diving tours.
The dry suits only do a certain amount of dives / time before they get sold and replaced by new ones.
This ensures that our guests will always dive/snorkel in top notch dry suits frequently tested, serviced or replaced.
However, it is of high importance to provide us with your correct size (height and weight), so we can make sure to bring the best fit for you. If we receive an incorrect size, the guest will receive and incorrect dry suit fit. We assure you that your size information as well as all other personal information stays confidential with us.
We also want to point out that if you are sensitive to having something tight around your neck and/or wrists you might feel uncomfortable in a dry suit. It goes with the territory to have a well sealing neoprene neck seal and rubber wrist seals in order to stay dry.
-
-
Are there toilet and changing facilities available at Silfra?
-
Yes, there are toilet facilities at Silfra. However we kindly ask you to not use them for changing, as there are only 2 toilets at Silfra and it can cause long queues to form. We do have a changing room vehicle, and often several other cars at Silfra for participants to change clothes in. Due to this layout, we highly recommend that participants arrive at Silfra already wearing their thermal base layer.
-
-
Can I bring my GoPro,waterproof camera or phone on tour?
-
Of course! You are free to take your own photos or video on tour with us, but we ask that your equipment is attached to your body in one way or another, for example with a wrist band. We do however not advise that you take your phone in a waterproof case, due to the fact that it is generally not possible to operate it whilst wearing the gloves. Make sure that you read the instructions that come with your photography equipment of how deep and/or cold you are allowed to take it underwater, we strongly encourage you to follow them thoroughly. We do not take any responsibility of lost or damage photography gear that may happen on tour with us.
-
-
Can I buy food at Silfra?
-
Unfortunately, there is no food sold directly at Silfra. There is however a restaurant at the Thingvellir Information Centre which is located just 3,5km away from Silfra.
-
-
Can I free dive/duck dive while snorkeling in a dry suit?
-
You can try :) However our dry suits are very buoyant and won't let you sink. Due to safety reasons we unfortunately do not provide weight belts. Few people are able to free dive in these suits, most are not. You are more than welcome to try, but please be aware that moving around that much and at extreme angles will raise the risk of water entering your dry suit through the neck seal.
For those of you who are enthusiastic freedivers, we also offer freedive tours of Silfra through our trusted partners who are specialists in freediving. These tours are conducted in a wetsuit, which makes freediving possible.
-
-
Can I have a German (or any other language) speaking guide?
-
Our company policy is that all participants must be able to communicate in English as that is the working language of our guides. We are happy to accept a non-English speaker, as long as they have an English speaker with them who can translate for them. This must be at a ratio of no more than 2 people to a translator. The translator must participate in the in-water activity. If this is not possible, you may contact us and ask, as we do have very multi-lingual guides and are happy to discuss the possibility of a private tour (at additional cost), but it cannot be guaranteed.
-
-
Can I use my full face snorkel mask?
-
Although we understand that many people prefer to snorkel with a full face snorkel mask (also known as a Easybreath mask or Ninja mask), it is regrettably not possible to use them here in Iceland as it is not possible to get them to seal around the hood that you need to wear. This would result in your mask constantly flooding with water, which would not be an enjoyable experience
-
-
Can I use my own snorkel equipment?
-
You are most welcome to bring your own snorkeling equipment, but please be aware of the following. If you are thinking of bringing your own fins, please make sure that they are open heeled fins, as they will need to fit over a drysuit boot. Most people will wear a drysuit with similar sized shoes to their normal shoe size, but sometimes that is not the case, and therefore your fins may not fit. If you have your own neoprene hood and gloves, you are welcome to bring them, but please remember that this is 3°C water - we highly suggest a minimum of 7mm hood and 7mm three finger mittens as these are the warmest options, and what we will supply. You may find that 5mm five fingered gloves are quite cold, and we do not advise wearing anything less than 5mm thickness.
-
-
Can I wear my gloves?
-
We advise that you bring gloves, at all times of the year, to keep your hands warm before you get in and warm them up after you get out of the water. This is especailly important in winter. However, whilst in the water, you will be wearing neoprene mittens that we provide for you.
-
-
Can my child wait on the surface while I snorkel/dive?
-
Silfra is indeed very beautiful. However it can be very dangerous for kids left unsupervised. There is unfortunately no child care at Silfra and no staff member who can take responsibility of them. We advise you to bring someone with you that can be with your kids during the activity.
-
-
Can my children snorkel?
-
Children that are 12 years old on the year can snorkel with Dive.is.
-
-
Do I need to be able to swim in order to take part in Snorkeling?
-
Even though the dry suits are very buoyant and keep you afloat, it is a requirement that all participants must be able to swim and feel comfortable in water to join the tour. This is for your own safety and comfort. You do however not need to be a very strong swimmer, merely able to swim and be comfortable in the water.
-
-
Do you have prescription masks?
-
Unfortunately we do not offer prescription masks, due to the amount of prescriptions we would need to cover. If you use glasses we recommend that you bring contact lenses as the glasses do not fit under the mask. If you do however own a prescription mask, you are of course welcome to use it on the tour.
-
-
Do you provide life jackets?
-
Unfortunately, we do not offer any life jackets on our tours. All our participants must be able to swims and feel comfortable in water.
-
-
Do you see any life in Silfra?
-
Although there is plenty of life in Silfra, most of it is either plant life or microinvertibrates, which are not visible with the human eye. Silfra is home to a unique amphipod called Crymostygius Thingvallensis found only in Thingvellir Lake and the surrounding fissures, such as Silfra. With regards to fish life, there are three different species of fish that live in the lake: Brown Trout, Arctic Char and Sticklebacks, however, only the Arctic Char visit the fissure; they are frequent visitors during mating season in August and September. Throughout the rest of the year, the only fish who live in the Silfra fissure are the Dwarf Char, a subspecies of the Arctic Char. These range in size from a few centimetres, to approximately 10cm maximum, and live down in the darker recesses near the rocks and as such are not often spotted by divers or snorkelers.
-
Show all FAQ
You might be interested in
We use cookies to give you a better experience on our website and chocolate covered cookies to give you an even better experience on our tour.
By continuing to use our site, you are agreeing to the use of cookies as set in our
Privacy Policy.