Silfra has been on my bucket list for a while and had to be done, here's how we achieved it and hopefully of some use if you are planning a trip.
BA from Heathrow, great flight and the timings work really well for trips. Out on a Friday 07.40 arriving 09.30 due to time difference and back at 10.30 Wednesday giving us 5 nights. The real bonus is their baggage allowance which meant we took our own gear and saved the hire cost, 23 kg hold + 23kg cabin bag + 23kg laptop bay (I took my regs bag instead and put dive camera in there too)
Iceland is expensive, 2 dives coming in at circa £250-£300 but we went as a group of 4 which enabled us to share costs of things like car hire, villas and hotel rooms
Day 1
Scenic drive from the airport to Akureyri which takes about 5 hours (250miles) but you get to see so much of Iceland on the way and we stopped en route to see some waterfalls and other sights
Day 2 and 3 - Strytan Dive Centre
The key reason to go up here was to see the Wolf Fish and the only Thermal Chimney that is dive able
Run by Erlendur and his daughter Saevor, highly knowledgeable guides and custodians of this wonderful fiord. The ladies who skipper the boat and provide surface cover were very friendly and great fun to interact with.
The thermal chimney dive is great and nice to do as it is the only one in the world that is at a depth you can dive but for me the signature dive is with the Wolf Fish, fantastic to see these ancient looking fish and they are well looked after and monitored by Strytan but the dive doesn't end there, the cod swarm in to be fed literally bumping into you, thermal vents where the water coming out is circa 80 degrees so very nice to warm up your hands. (So good we did it twice).
Rather than do a 4th dive we choose to go whale watching, the fast ribs used by Strytan are ideal and over a couple of hours I lost count of the Humpback whales we saw, an amazing end to our 2 days.
Very chilled and relaxed dive centre with plenty of room to kit up inside if the weather is poor (we were blessed with calm and sunny days) with a light lunch provided between the 2 dives, and a hot tub to end the day in overlooking the fiord if you wish.
In hindsight another 2 days up here would have been worth it, there is dive similar to Silfra but far less crowded and a warm river you can dive. There are a couple of great waterfalls to see too near Akureyri.
We stayed at Skjaldarvik guest house that was recommended by Strytan, a couple of miles outside Akureyri with wonderful staff, rooms are very comfy and each corridor of circa 8 rooms share 3 shower rooms which are very clean. Breakfast is included too, the guest house offers great value for money and I would stay here again without hesitation.
Day 3 evening - drive back down to Reykjavik where we had booked a 4 bed villa for the last 3 nights, I think this is the cheapest option if there are a few of you and we actually took out porridge and coffee etc in our cases for breakfast at the villa
Day 4 - Silfra
Booked with Byron at MagmaDive, good service, pick up was on time and it was about 45 minutes out to Silfra, decent briefings and guides, checked our cert cards including dry suit. It more than lives up to expectations & we did 2 dives, water temp was 2-3 degrees but we all used dry gloves - lots of others there used 3 finger mitts.
It is amazing how the water can be so clear with viz out to infinity...
The site is pretty busy with snorkelers and divers but everyone waits their turn and goes in order, we did not see any other divers on our trip through Silfra
Day 5 - Sightseeing
Escorted tours are very expensive and this is where a car comes in handy (the 4 of us hired a large Rav 4 from Icerental 4x4 who were very good, it meant we could use F roads, tip - buy your excess insurance over here, far cheaper)
A full packed day driving out to see Thingvellir national park (this is where Silfra is) then onto Geysir and Gullfoss. If you drive on past Gullfoss up F35 then left F335 the landscape is stunning and gets you within 0.5 mile of the glacier. To finish the day chill out at the Secret Lagoon with a cold beer (39 degrees and a much cheaper option than the Blue Lagoon) finally as you are out in the sticks with little natural light hang around and if they are active & the sky is clear you can see the Northern Lights
Day 6 - fly home 10.30
BA from Heathrow, great flight and the timings work really well for trips. Out on a Friday 07.40 arriving 09.30 due to time difference and back at 10.30 Wednesday giving us 5 nights. The real bonus is their baggage allowance which meant we took our own gear and saved the hire cost, 23 kg hold + 23kg cabin bag + 23kg laptop bay (I took my regs bag instead and put dive camera in there too)
Iceland is expensive, 2 dives coming in at circa £250-£300 but we went as a group of 4 which enabled us to share costs of things like car hire, villas and hotel rooms
Day 1
Scenic drive from the airport to Akureyri which takes about 5 hours (250miles) but you get to see so much of Iceland on the way and we stopped en route to see some waterfalls and other sights
Day 2 and 3 - Strytan Dive Centre
The key reason to go up here was to see the Wolf Fish and the only Thermal Chimney that is dive able
Run by Erlendur and his daughter Saevor, highly knowledgeable guides and custodians of this wonderful fiord. The ladies who skipper the boat and provide surface cover were very friendly and great fun to interact with.
The thermal chimney dive is great and nice to do as it is the only one in the world that is at a depth you can dive but for me the signature dive is with the Wolf Fish, fantastic to see these ancient looking fish and they are well looked after and monitored by Strytan but the dive doesn't end there, the cod swarm in to be fed literally bumping into you, thermal vents where the water coming out is circa 80 degrees so very nice to warm up your hands. (So good we did it twice).
Rather than do a 4th dive we choose to go whale watching, the fast ribs used by Strytan are ideal and over a couple of hours I lost count of the Humpback whales we saw, an amazing end to our 2 days.
Very chilled and relaxed dive centre with plenty of room to kit up inside if the weather is poor (we were blessed with calm and sunny days) with a light lunch provided between the 2 dives, and a hot tub to end the day in overlooking the fiord if you wish.
In hindsight another 2 days up here would have been worth it, there is dive similar to Silfra but far less crowded and a warm river you can dive. There are a couple of great waterfalls to see too near Akureyri.
We stayed at Skjaldarvik guest house that was recommended by Strytan, a couple of miles outside Akureyri with wonderful staff, rooms are very comfy and each corridor of circa 8 rooms share 3 shower rooms which are very clean. Breakfast is included too, the guest house offers great value for money and I would stay here again without hesitation.
Day 3 evening - drive back down to Reykjavik where we had booked a 4 bed villa for the last 3 nights, I think this is the cheapest option if there are a few of you and we actually took out porridge and coffee etc in our cases for breakfast at the villa
Day 4 - Silfra
Booked with Byron at MagmaDive, good service, pick up was on time and it was about 45 minutes out to Silfra, decent briefings and guides, checked our cert cards including dry suit. It more than lives up to expectations & we did 2 dives, water temp was 2-3 degrees but we all used dry gloves - lots of others there used 3 finger mitts.
It is amazing how the water can be so clear with viz out to infinity...
The site is pretty busy with snorkelers and divers but everyone waits their turn and goes in order, we did not see any other divers on our trip through Silfra
Day 5 - Sightseeing
Escorted tours are very expensive and this is where a car comes in handy (the 4 of us hired a large Rav 4 from Icerental 4x4 who were very good, it meant we could use F roads, tip - buy your excess insurance over here, far cheaper)
A full packed day driving out to see Thingvellir national park (this is where Silfra is) then onto Geysir and Gullfoss. If you drive on past Gullfoss up F35 then left F335 the landscape is stunning and gets you within 0.5 mile of the glacier. To finish the day chill out at the Secret Lagoon with a cold beer (39 degrees and a much cheaper option than the Blue Lagoon) finally as you are out in the sticks with little natural light hang around and if they are active & the sky is clear you can see the Northern Lights
Day 6 - fly home 10.30
