Hamden Scuba: SILFRA 2016 - The Ocean, Hot Springs and Silfra Diving
When: May 25th - 29th , 2016
This tour is a combination of Ocean Diving, Geothermal Hot Springs Diving, and Diving Silfra. In addition to exploring the unique underwater worlds of each dive site, we will also visit Thingvellir National Park and the geothermal activity in the area of Krýsuvík on the Reykjanes peninsula.
Dive Day 1: Garður, located on the Reykjanes peninsula. Here divers will see the marine life of the North Atlantic, with the possibility of visits from wolf fish, scorpion fish, flat fish, lump suckers and more. In addition to the fish, divers will spot crustaceans such as crabs, scallops, northern shrimp, cockles and mussels. The ocean is brimming with myriad species of marine algae, which not only provide essential nutrition for the other life in the sea but are also colorful and diverse in design.
Dive Day 2: Iceland’s geothermal activity is one of the defining characteristics of this country, both in terms of its landscape and the culture of its inhabitants. On the second day of the tour, you will dive into the heart of Iceland’s geothermal activity. The dive site on this tour is located in lake Kleifarvatnamidst a sprawling, stunning volcanic terrain. Lake Kleifarvatn contains newly discovered underwater hot springs and we will dive straight into these bubbling springs. To get to the lake you first drive through an impressive and mysterious volcanic landscape, full of high and amazingly coloured hills and weird lava formations. This is the territory of trolls and elves.Lake Kleifarvatn is nestled within this stunning scenery. However, what makes this lake even more special are the underwater hot springs about 10 meters from the shore on one side of the lake, which have only recently been discovered. In the center of the hot springs is a large crater that emits large quantities of warm water and gases. As the air bubbles are pushed through the crater on the lake floor, pressure causes the surrounding rocks to vibrate slightly. Divers can usually feel these vibrations themselves, which is a special experience!After the dive, we will visit the boiling mud pots and colorful sulfur deposits of a nearby area rife with geothermal activity.
Dive Day 3: On the third day of the tour, we will dive Iceland’s ultimate dive site, Silfra. Silfra is located in Thingvellir National Park, an area of immense interest to geologists and cultural historians alike. The rift valley of Thingvellir was created by the slow separation of the Eurasian and North American continental plates, and it was here that the original settlers of Iceland held their annual legislative assembly. The Silfra fissure is the exact location where the continental plates divide; at one point in the dive, you can touch the walls of each continent. As the water that fills Silfra is glacial water that has been filtered through basaltic lava rock for a distance of 30 miles, Silfra’s underwater visibility is unparalleled by any other dive site on the planet.
Diving is available on this trip to divers with PADI Open Water and Drysuit certifications. Snorkleing is available to non divers on this trip.
The trip includes diving (or snoreling for non-divers), transportation to the dive sites from the hotel and return, 4 nights accomodation and a visit to the world famous Blue Lagoon Resort. There will also be lots of opportunity to independently explore Reykjavik.
This is going to be an epic trip not to be missed.
Contact us to get in on this trip before it sells out. There is a strict limit of 15 divers on this trip with many spots already reserved with deposits.
More Infromation: Divers@HamdenScuba.com
