Iceland - Snorkeling between Tectonic Plates

Hello!!!

Here we are at the Thingvellir National Park again! This time we came with the Scuba Iceland Dive Team to dive in the lake, more precisely at the Silfra crack, where the melted glacier water joins the lake, a 50km journey through lava fields that gives this water an all year around temperature of 2 to 3ºC, no matter the water or the season of the year!!

Iceland - Snorkeling between Tectonic Plates

This water is famous among divers because of it’s clear view of +100 meters!

So, there are 6 of us, 4 going to snorkel and 2 going to dive. I am on the first group. Time to get ready and dress the dry suits – a complex procedure that involves a couple of layers and a tight hood, a bit claustrophobic really!

Annnd we are ready!

Once we get in the water it’s a funny feeling because we can feel how cold it is, but our body is still dry, well except for our face and hands (the gloves are not water proof).

With the snorkeling mask on here we go… heads in the water! The view is WOOOWW!
A mix of blues and greens rocks. This part is about 20 meters deep.

Our guide explained we are right in between the North America plate and the Eurasian plate,and the tension between this two, drifts them apart about 2cm per year.

It is believed that this tension generates big earthquakes every 10 years. This crack divides the Atlantic Ocean in two, but it isn’t visible in the deep ocean, only here – in Iceland.

Now we come to a part not so deep, with golds touching the blues..

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Now we come to this part with some fluorescent green algae…

…and the last part of this tour, a peaceful lake.

By the end I cannot feel my hands and yet they are painful! But it was such an amazing experience! I LOVED IT!!!

My friend Verena did diving, here is a picture of her 😉