Diving between two continents at the Silfra Fissure, Iceland
You've seen it. You know, those pictures of scuba divers touching two continents in the clearest water you have ever seen. It has been Silfra's claim to fame for the past few years and I was all in!
I am not going to lie, scuba diving the Silfra Fissure was pretty high up on my scuba diving bucket list so you can imagine how pumped I was for the dives. When I decided on going to Iceland, I knew I was going to scuba dive Silfra instead of snorkel it. I started researching it and found that you a) need to be open water certified and b) dry suit certified. The first part was already done, but the second part was going to take more planning. I contemplated getting the dry suit certification in Iceland, but it is a two course, and I was only there for 5 days total. So I got certified in San Diego before I left since the ocean is pretty cold 9 months out of the year.
With a newly minted dry suit certification card in hand, I was ready. I chose to dive with DIVE.IS which I booked 3 weeks early so that I could ensure I got the date and time that I wanted. They are AWESOME, and I couldn't have had a better experience. While we had a rental car, I didn't want to drive to the fissure so DIVE.IS picked me up from the guesthouse that we were staying in. I chose the 8am time slot since I wanted to dive early so that I can meet up with my friends later. In the summer when the days are (much) longer, they have dive tours at 8am, 4pm and 9pm (?!). I asked which time was the best to dive Silfra, but the dive company said that it was all the same -- they just take advantage of the daylight since the sun doesn't set until late during the summer.
The morning had come and true to their word, at 7am a van was outside to pick me up (it takes an hour to get to the dive site, so they pick you up an hour before your dive). The groups are small, one guide to a max of 3 divers. This allows for individual attention especially when it comes to putting on the equipment and oh, there a lot of equipment!
The buildings start to get scarce and within minutes we were out in the middle of nowhere. It was glorious! and peaceful. The towering mountains still had snow on them and there were sheep everywhere just roaming the open plains. Loved it.
After about 45 minutes we arrived at Thingvellir National Park. We learned that the fissure was formed in 1789 after the energy from earthquakes created a crack in the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. The water is from the melting Langjökull glacier which is nearby.
Scuba diving and snorkeling staging area at Thingvellir National Park.
We arrived at the scuba diving and snorkeling area and there were already a bunch of other companies/vans there. The backdrop of the park is incredible. In the parking lot there are changing areas, benches and even bathrooms. We get our pre-dive brief from our guide, this cheeky guy from the UK who loves diving in cold water! We start putting on our thermal underwear (mine), over garments (provided by DIVE.IS), and our dry suits. There are a bunch of additional staff from DIVE.IS that are walking around helping out too. After we are locked into our dry suits, then comes the hood and gloves. We are helped into our BCDs (with an extra 18lbs of weights for me!) and we are given our fins and masks to hold. We are instructed to walk across the parking lot, across the street and wait in the "queue" as the guide kept calling it. Basically it is a line up in which both the scuba and snorkeling groups wait in for entry into the water. It is one of the most efficiently run processes I have ever seen, especially for moving large groups of people into the water.
Waiting in the queue for the group of snorkelers to get into the water.
When it was our turn, we walked down to the platform spit into our masks so that they wouldn't fog up, got them cleaned and were helped into our fins. We did a weight check one-by-one near the platform and this is where it got real for me. I don't do too much cold water diving. Period. So the the shock of 35 degree water went straight to my ear and freaked me out. But I sacked up and it was go time. And oh, was it worth it.
The water is a constant 35-40 degrees year round (2-4 celsius) so the dive companies are able to dive in the winter as well. The guide mentioned that visibility is 300ft+ (or 100m+) but it sounds like this figure might vary depending on where you hear or read it. Regardless though, the water was insanely calm and clear. The max depth for the whole dive was 39ft (or 13m), I am assuming because of safety. At a few points during the end of the dive you are basically just a few feet from the surface.
Mission accomplished. I touched both the North American and the Eurasian tectonics plates and dove between two continents.
We continued on our dive and it was beautiful. There isn't much life, except for algae but the colors from the rocks and water mixed together are really unique. In total the dive lasted about 30 minutes.
At the end of the dive, you get out of the water and walk about 8 minutes back to the parking lot. This is literally the hardest part of the dive especially since you just want to get your hood off! After you finally reach the parking lot, you take off your gloves, hoods, BCDs etc, and they give you hot chocolate and cookies.
After about 20 mins out of the water, you get ready for the second dive. But this time with dry hoods and gloves! This was a nice touch, DIVE.IS really does think of everything! The second dive is very similar to the first one, except for me, I enjoyed the second dive much more. Maybe I got used to the cold water, maybe I was less nervous -- I am not sure. I do feel like I understand dry suit diving much better though than I did before.
The second dive also lasted for about 30 mins and then we had our long walk back to the parking lot. We changed out of our wet gear and back into street clothes while our guide packed up everything. It really is a full service shop and I was pleasantly surprised with how efficiently everything ran.
If you are evenly remotely interested in diving Silfra, I would highly recommend it. This is truly a once in a lifetime experience and it is really something that you have to experience for yourself.
Recommendation: If you would like to take your own photos, I would recommend bringing your own gloves for added dexterity with your camera. The gloves they provide only separate the thumb from the fingers so it nearly impossible to take photos.
