I had tried to refrain from getting excited about our trip to Iceland. From the moment I bought the airline tickets it seemed like maybe we had made a mistake, like somebody didn’t want us to go. But we had prepared and we couldn’t stop from get excited. We had a pretty tight schedule planned right after arrival. If anything delayed us we would miss one of the few tours we had paid for.
Two nights before we were to leave I was tracking flights and saw the flight we would be on had been diverted. As I started panicking I saw that New York’s JFK airport had shut down due to terrible weather and rain. I really hadn’t thought about weather interrupting our flight. Last year British Airways had a computer malfunction that affected other flights and helped to cause delays for us on Virgin Airways so I had already prepared myself that something was going to go wrong. And me being me I was now certain we wouldn’t get out of New York.
Amazingly the forecast cleared and we left Austin, TX on time. Things still seemed to be going too smoothly. I enjoyed a very overpriced glass of wine at JFK while we waited for our next flight. It boarded and left 45minutes late. This is what I was prepared for. We get on the plane to learn that none of the video systems are working on the left side of the plane (where we are sitting). Amidst grumble the flight attendant announces that they opted to allow people to stream on their own devices for free instead of cancelling the flight over this. I was ok with it because my goal was to sleep. However one thing everyone noticed – this was an older and far less comfortable plane than what most of us had just been on. Sleep did not come easily squished in the middle seat where I developed some claustrophobia and decided to never sit in the middle again. My husband likes window seats. I like aisle. On long flights I compromise and give each of us a turn in our preference for alternating legs of the journey. This time I decided I can’t do that anymore. I did notice some couples on the flight home who had booked similar preferences. The gamble worked for them. No one booked their middle seat. Our amazing pilot gained time and we actually arrived in Keflavik 45 minutes early.
We were excited to arrive early because we felt like a great deal of pressure had been removed. We would have ample time to get through customs, get our luggage, pick up our car, and find our meeting point in a park 45 minutes away to go snorkeling. We should have known better.
Our travel dates to Iceland were May 17- May 26. This is considered the shoulder season. Technically it is still spring so things may not be green and blooming yet. Some attractions and roads aren’t open yet. Iceland is famous for its unpredictable weather throughout a single day. But late May is traditionally thought to be pretty good with highs in the mid 50’s and the fewest days of rain. Jeff had been checking the weather and reporting to me regularly that it was snowing and colder than we were expecting. I wasn’t worried though because we had packed for that. Good thing; we had “unusual” weather for this time of year according to the locals. Well of course we did. I kept pointing out that at least we still have the benefit of shoulder season lower tourist numbers. Making lemonade!
So as soon as we landed a heavy snow storm hit. For a Texas girl that was pretty fun to see. Initially we were told that because we had arrived early there was no open gate for us and we would be kept updated. I swear my seat got smaller and tighter as our wait continued. Any advantage we gained from arriving early was quickly slipping away as an hour passed by us. We were then informed that the snow storm caused problems with the planes waiting to leave. They had to be de iced. Finally someone took pity on the landed planes and we were all directed to an area to park. Stairs were brought out and shuttles to take us back to the gate. Hurray! We were off the plane and we had arrived!
Iceland is an extremely safe country with a very low crime rate. I expected customs to maybe be a little more intense than it was. This may have been the easiest country I have ever entered. We got our stamp, then our luggage, and walked out the door.
Car rental had been a huge decision for us. One thing that stands out on many Iceland blogs and travel groups is what a nightmare people had with the rental company. Most negative reviews involve declining insurance. We contacted our credit card company and found out what we needed to do to be covered. They recommended that we print out a letter stating that we were covered and declining the rental agencies insurance. We did ask the credit card company if their coverage included sand and ash and they assured us it did. We chose Blue Car rental (bluecarrental.is) and booked through Guide to Iceland (guidetoiceland.is) as it gave us a discount. We did opt for 4 wheel drive and I do recommend it.
We had been told we would be able to walk to the car rental and not wait for the shuttle. We could not see a way to get to the rental car agency but as we boarded the shuttle we were not alone in exclaiming, “Oh there it is!” We arrived and took a number and waited our turn. We expected an argument when we declined the insurance. They could not have been more helpful. Icelandic law requires that we must take the CDW insurance but we knew we had to decline it to be covered by our credit card. The rental agent told us no problem. She printed one receipt showing no CDW and one showing we had it. Problem solved. We checked the cars for dings as we had been told by other travelers that they would be very diligent looking for the smallest of scratches when we returned. Of course it was when we pulled out on the highway and turned on the windshield wipers that we saw the chip in the windshield. That chip laughed at me on our whole trip. I was certain we would be charged for the preexisting ding when we returned the car.
We were off! We fiddled with our GPS and managed to move it from Spanish to English and programmed in our first stop – þingvellir National Park. We had bought a snorkeling tour with Iceland Adventure Tours (https://icelandadventuretours.is/)to snorkel Silfra. I was very excited about this. I think my husband thought I had lost my mind or maybe his wife had been abducted by aliens.
Þingvellir National Park is an important UNESCO World Heritage Site in Iceland. This is Iceland’s most historic site and an area of unsurpassed beauty. It was here that the world’s first and longest running parliament was established in AD 930. The park exists in a fissured rift valley that is caused by the meeting of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. Iceland is the only place in the world where the mid Atlantic Ridge is visible above sea level. You are literally able to see the North American plate and the Eurasian plate.
So why sign up to snorkel in ridiculously cold water? Where else in the world are you going to have a chance to snorkel between the tectonic plates in the most beautiful clear, clean water in the world? That’s why!
Silfra is a freshwater fissure about 200 feet deep between the continental plates. The water filling this glacier is 1000 year old melted glacier water. The water stays at a steady temperature of 35 degrees Fahrenheit year round. The water seeps from the glacier through lava over a period of about 30 years. This natural filtering process results in water clarity with visibility up to almost 500 feet.
We arrived at the park uncertain about where our meeting place was located but happy to be on time. Iceland Adventure Tours was highly recommended to us so we had chosen them over other companies. We did book through When in Iceland and this was where we developed a problem. We pulled up to a building that looked like a visitor center and asked a ranger if this was the correct meeting location. She looked at our paper work and said we needed to be at the service center and directed us there. When we arrived there we asked the people at the desk if we were in the right location. They said some groups meet at the site but looked at our paperwork and said it appeared we were in the right location. We knew Iceland Adventure Tours was picking people up in Reykjavik so we assumed from our emails and paperwork that this must be correct. Jeff went to the car to change and I got some coffee and breakfast. Remember we came straight here from the airport. 
We continued to wait and Jeff saw a guide. She told him she didn’t work for that company but knew they met there and should be along in a bit with a bus. Ok. We continued to wait. At one point when we first arrived at the service center my phone rang. It looked like a US number and knowing how many spam calls I receive I didn’t answer it. We’d been waiting a while and started looking for a number to call. Yeah, I should have answered that call. I didn’t have great service so I struggled with this call. The woman at the other end told me she tried to call to see if we were lost and now there was nothing she could do because the guides were not answering the phone and must be in the water. We were driving frantically trying to find the meeting point. She had no patience with me and at this point I was exhausted from being up all night and losing my patience with her. She said it was on us that we were at the wrong location. I told her we did what our paperwork said to do. She said When In Iceland should have corrected that six or nine months prior. How was I supposed to know that, I asked? We went round and round with her only solution being that we could come back at 2 or she could try to help us get a refund. I told her this was one of the things I had been most excited about doing and was really upset because we had been waiting for an hour and had asked all the right questions to be in the right place. I told her we unfortunately could not come back at 2 because we had to be all the way to Hella by 10 PM and had several stops on the way. She told me they could not have a guide take just the two of us. But suddenly a man in the office with her suggested that they could do that. So she told me to be at the car park in 45 minutes and they would have a guide take us. I could not have been more grateful.
So we found our meeting point and nervously tried to do a little sightseeing before heading to the parking area. We knew how fortunate we had been that they agreed to work with us so we headed over early. We met David who was a driver that day for Iceland Adventure Tours. He was so kind to us and told us many interesting historical and geological facts about Iceland. When the group we should have been with returned he told Ivan about our situation. He immediately knew we were the missing snorkelers. He checked with the office and said ok, time to suit up. It was cold (maybe 40 degrees F) and wet when we were getting ready. You start by stripping down in the parking lot to your thermal underwear. Jeff still seems to feel awkward about this. I was more covered than in a swimsuit so other than being cold and only in socks I was good. You are then handed a warm onsie type layer to put on and then the real work begins. Ivan helped us get into the dry suit. By the time he was done zipping and securing us in only a small bit of our face was exposed. We then walked with him to the entry where he told us about what we were about to see. He met Louis as he was returning with his group and surprised him with the news that he got to go right back in the water with us. I could tell this was an unusual thing to do and while mildly surprised at first Louis gave us a wonderful tour. I’ sure he was thrilled to be going back into the water right after spending 30 -40 minutes there, Jeff and I couldn’t believe our luck. There were no other groups in the water at this time so it was really just the three of us.
I won’t lie. It was cold when I got in the water. But I wasn’t freezing. David and Louis had told us to keep our hands on our backs to keep them dry and to stay warmer but I didn’t even try. I need my hands to get my amazing dog paddle on. The dry suit was an adjustment. Jeff commented that there was a small feeling of claustrophobia when we were initially zipped in. Then you get in the water and the buoyancy takes some getting used to. But even with all of that I was immediately transported into another world when I hit that water. It was amazing. The clarity of the water made it seem like you weren’t in water at all but maybe flying through space. True confession time – I am always a little afraid when snorkeling in the ocean. I mean there are things that might eat me or sting me or just cause me some sort of bodily harm. This was the first time I wasn’t worried about anything while pursuing this activity. And the water is amazing to drink. We came up at one point and it was snowing. Now remember I am a Texas girl with limited exposure to snow. And her I was SNORKELING IN FREEZING WATER WHILE IT WAS SNOWING!!!!!!!! I couldn’t decide where to look – below or above the water! I can honestly say it was an amazing experience.
After a nice walk back to the car park we were removed from the dry suits and given hot chocolate and cookies. Louis shared the link to find our photos the next day. One great thing about Iceland Adventure Tours is that they take photos for you so you can just enjoy the experience and the pictures are included in the price of the tour. Louis told us they had cancelled the tours for the following day due to wind expectations so we felt even more fortunate to have been able to do the tour.
It snowed on us as we walked back to our car. Feeling exhilarated after our experience we also now felt relaxed enough to explore some of the other areas of the park. We hiked some of the trails and read history about the trials and executions that took place in this area. We also made it to Öxarárfoss waterfall. This was our first waterfall to visit. It was such a peaceful yet powerful feeling sitting there enjoying the majesty of it. While several tourists were there everyone was quiet and respectful allowing the majesty to be appreciated fully.
It was on these trails that we had our first experience with Icelandic hail. It looks like snowballs. A guide we met later pronounced it as Yale. The distinctive trait to me was the way it felt like it was slicing your face open as it hit any exposed skin available. We got to enjoy this sensation many times on our trip and much more dramatically than this first time.
We decided it was time to head to our next stop. We really didn’t know how long our activities would take for the rest of the day and we knew we had a long way to go. Our next stop was supposed to be 46 minutes away and we didn’t know what we might see before that so off we went. We grabbed sandwiches at the service center. Jeff got a pepperoni taco (which became a quick favorite – ham, pepperoni, cheese, sauce on a parmesan roll – highly recommended) and I decided to try smoked lamb and white bean. At home I don’t eat food from gas stations. In Iceland it was some of my favorite food.
So we had a pretty great start. I’ll tell you more about day one in my next post.