Underwater world of the land of fire and ice “Iceland”.
November 15, 2013
Iceland is known as the land of fire and ice because of the strong volcanic activity and plenty of glaciers present. The capital city is Reykjavik.
Iceland is also known for its beautiful and magical waterfalls, its gorgeous nature and the magnificent geysers present in this place.
Another reason for which Iceland is famous for is “scuba diving and snorkelling”. There are many famous dive centres over here which offers various scuba diving courses both for advanced level divers as well as for beginners.
I am very keen to explore the marine world of Iceland. Are you?!
Come let’s discover some fantastic places which will take you to the fantasy world but don’t misunderstand me for fantasies because these are absolutely, without any doubt real places which exist over here.
Dive sites of Iceland.
1.Silfra
It is the world’s number three diving site. It is located in just about an hour drive from the capital city Reykjavik.
When you are diving in Silfra, you can dive from Europe to America and back and vice versa and guess what? You need absolutely no visas. The constant temperature here is from 2 to 4 degree Celsius the year around.
The water at Silfra is pristine as water can get and you can easily drink it anytime during your dives.
a) Silfra hall
b) Silfra cathedral
c) Silfra lagoon
In this dive site, divers can see the underwater scenery mirror from the surface as if diving through a tunnel.
You can even spot many beautiful fishes over here such as the brown trout, arctic charr and the three spine stickleback.
2. Strytan
This dive site is located in the north of Iceland not far from the second largest town akureyri.
At a depth of about 70 metres, hot springs have been releasing hot water into the ocean.
Here divers can explore the flora and fauna underwater. Apart from this scuba divers can see schools of cod swimming up and down the chimney.
However, this site is only for advanced divers because in order to dive here, divers need to have good control of their buoyancy to not come in contact with anything. They also need to be physically fit as the water currents can be very strong over here.
3. Gardur
It is very easy to enter the water by just walking into it or by climbing down a ladder from the pier.
Huge rocks lie around here which make a home for many different kinds of fishes, hermet, crabs and starfishes.
There is Tommi the wolffish living in Gardur. You can also spot monkfishes. This site is a very good night dive site.
4. David’s ravine
This dive site is in Thingvellir lake. It can be entered from the shore. The visibility here depends a bit on the weather.
In this dive site, you can spot the arctic charr and the trout.
5. Bjarnagja
This dive site is an 18 metre deep lava ravine on the Reykjavik peninsula.
Water is mostly fresh groundwater in this dive site.
This dive site is located near the very famous Blue Lagoon.
6. Ottastadir
This is a very nice and naturalist dive site.
Here many different kinds of species can be observed.
At dusk, many nocturnal animals become active, making it an interesting night diving site.
7. El grillo
In order to dive here, divers need to be a certified padi advanced open waters.
Here many beautiful fishes and many underwater creatures can be explored here.
The above sites are some of the very interesting places to go for scuba diving and as well as for snorkelling tours.
So whenever you are on a tour or a visit to this land called Iceland, you can always go for these beautiful places where you can travel and discover a whole new world of marine life.
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