We had debated on whether or not we should drive the extra two and half hours to see Jokulsarlon. I’m so happy I did drive the extra hours because it was spectacular. One benefit of traveling in Iceland in the middle of summer, is you really don’t have to worry about driving in the dark on the way back. None of the roads have lights and most of them don’t even have a center lane but since it is daylight for so long, I wasn’t worried that I would have a five hour drive back after visiting the lagoon.
The parking lot was pretty full when we arrived at the glacier lagoon, and of course there was a line for the bathroom. After waiting in line to go the bathroom, we went and bought tickets to do a 40 minute boat tour around the lagoon. You can get great views from the shore line but we still opted to do the tour since we drove that far. The first tour available was at 5 so I knew we wouldn’t be returning to Reykavik very early.
The boat was one of those that drives on land and then goes into the water. The guide was from Italy and the boat was pretty full. We all had to wear life jackets and then they have another boat follow us that I think was to pick anyone up that fell in the water. They had everyone stand on the boat which was a first for me. I can’t imagine how cold the water must be if you do fall in.
The blue part of the ice is because that part of the ice used to be under water. The black part of the ice is from various volcano eruptions in the past. They made sure to tell us it wasn’t pollution. They do bring a block of ice in the boat and the guide talked about the ice and then he cuts it up and gives a piece to each of us for a souvenir or for a snack 🙂
I really had to try hard to pick my favorite pictures because I really enjoyed this place. It was worth the 5 hour drive back, missing dinner and getting back at 11:30 PM. We left at 8 in the morning so it was a very long and full day.
I do wonder if these people ever made it out of the sand:
Fletch Travels 