Silfra: Snorkeling Between Tectonic Plates - Meet on Location

Overview

Available languages

English

2 hours 30 minutes

Mobile ticket

Enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime experience with a snorkeling tour of Silfra fissure!

Float between two tectonic plates, between the continents, in the clearest water in the world (100m+ visibility) while admiring the mesmerizing colors of this underwater world.

You don’t need to be a certified diver in order to experience water at its clearest! Snorkeling at Silfra is suitable for anyone who feels comfortable in water and knows how to swim. This family-friendly activity is suitable for children from 12 years old.

The snorkeling tour of Silfra is done in a dry suit, helping you to stay warm and dry inside the suit while swimming in the cold, crystal clear water.

Silfra is located in Thingvellir National Park which is a Unesco heritage site. The beautiful park is one of the wonders on the famous Golden circle route.

Additional Info

Public transportation options are available nearby

Not recommended for pregnant travelers

Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health

Suitable for all physical fitness levels

IMPORTANT - Participants who are 60 years of age and older must have their doctor sign the approval form in order to participate

All participant's height, weight and age information must be provided to local operator to ensure they bring the best fitting drysuit. The tour operator will contact you after booking to ask for this information.

All participants will need to fill out a medical form before participating in the tour. The form can be filled out online

Drysuits are worn over your own clothing. We recommend wearing long thermal underwear and thick wool socks as a base layer under the dry suit

Minimum height is 4ft 11in (150cm). Minimum weight is 100lbs (45kg).

Maximum height and weight is 6ft7in (200cm) and 264lbs (120kg).

Participants must be comfortable in water and able to swim, physically fit and healthy

Please note that that dry suits can sometimes feel quite tight and constricting

All participants must be able to communicate in English

Not suitable for pregnant women

All participants must be at least 12 years old

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

What To Expect

Upon arrival 15 minutes before the start time, you will check in with the guides at the meeting point at Silfra. Once your group of max 6 people has been formed, your guide will give you your drysuit, warm undersuit and snorkeling equipment. Your guide will explain how to use this equipment and how to ensure that you will be warm and comfortable during your tour. You can change in our heated Changing Van and the guide will help you with putting all the gear on. We recommend wearing long underwear and thick socks. Your guide will brief you on Silfra and safety as well as information about Thingvellir national park, the tectonic plates and the continents. The briefing and gearing up takes approx 1 hour. You will walk 5 minutes to Silfra and start your 30 - 45 minute snorkeling tour of Silfra Hall, Silfra Cathedral, and Silfra Lagoon. After snorkeling in the cold water, we warm you up with hot cocoa and cookies. This is your chance to chat with your guide, ask any questions you might have and take a look at the pics taken during the tour. The service level at Dive.is is the best, there is a reason TripAdvisor chose our Snorkeling Tour the No 4 experience in the world!

What‘s Included

Heated changing van

Live guide that is a PADI instructor

Hot chocolate and cookies

Entrance fee to Silfra (ISK 1,500)

Guided snorkeling tour

All necessary snorkeling equipment, drysuit and warm undersuit

Souvenir photos of your snorkeling tour (available to purchase)

Gratuities

Options

Evening tour

Time of day: Snorkeling in Silfra in the evening midnight sun

Snorkeling Tour at Silfra

Reviews

4.95

4,990 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

4836

110

Cool and Unique Experience!
GheeButtersnaps19,,Jan 4, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00
We loved this cool, unique experience to explore the tectonic plates here in Iceland via snorkeling. There are a lot of companies that host this activity and I’m sure they are all good, but we had a blast with Dive.IS especially with our guide Quim. He and his co-host made us laugh the entire time and were an additional highlight on an already unique experience. The snorkeling is simple, but fun. It’s about a 20-30 minute snorkeling trip through frigid waters in an area that looks like a rock quarry. While the water was cold, the suits and gloves keep you warm outside of your lips that numb up. Water can get into the gloves, but was not unpleasant. The whole experience was a couple of hours: 30 minutes to get the appropriate gear, 30 minutes to walk across the parking lot to the launch point and for a safety session, 20-30 minutes to snorkel, and then 30 minutes to enjoy hot chocolate and return gear. We would recommend as a cool experience especially with Quim and Dive.IS!
Amazing guide!
Loren B,,Dec 31, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00
This was a once in a lifetime experience that I would highly recommend but I would only recommend doing it once. The suits were necessary for the weather, kept us warm but if you are claustrophobic you will struggle. Shove the fear down and do it anyway because it’s worth it. Our tour guide was absolutely amazing; knowledgeable, kind, and a great sense of humor. Arrive early, we were late, struggled with the parking app and the tour almost left without us. When we first walked up we were told it was too late but our guide advocated for us and said her group was small enough she would take us any way.
An experience to remember!
Passport36963016425,,Dec 30, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00
Great experience totally recommend it! Our instructor who asked to be remained anonymous did a great job with the group and made this experience memorable!
Once in a lifetime experience
Nicole G,,Dec 28, 2025
- Review from Viator
5.00
Boris was an amazing guide. He educated us on the fissures and tectonic plates and history of parliament. We had a wonderful experience snorkeling as a family, our youngest being 15. Everyone loved it!
Once in a lifetime experience.
Olivia H,,Dec 26, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00
Once in a lifetime experience. Accessible for most people. The hardest part is walking back from the end of the swim. The water is stunning and clear and the dry suit does a very good job of keeping you warm. It’s really only your hands and head that feel the cold. It is expensive but very glad I did it.
Great family experience!
melissabC7004MW,,Dec 26, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00
Great guide and knowledgeable staff! Highly recommend Nikolas! Once in a lifetime experience snorkeling between tectonic plates!
Loved it!
Teresa V,,Dec 24, 2025
- Review from Viator
5.00
The guides were super helpful with us getting into the gear. Good safety briefing and short walk to the snorkeling. Gave us plenty of time for viewing and taking in the adventure. Wow, so great. Loved every second! Thank you!!!
Highly recommend!
Rachel M,,Dec 22, 2025
- Review from Viator
5.00
This was incredible!!! I’ve been snorkeling in many places, and this was one of my favorites. Instead of seeing fish like you would in other places, you see incredible rock formations. Also, you can literally drink the water you are swimming through - it’s that clean. Running off straight from the glacier. The suit actually does a decent job at keeping you warm, and even though it’s chilly at first, we warmed up fast in the water. Our guide was so much fun, and was great at making sure we were always feeling safe and okay in the water. He also took some great underwater photos and did a fun viking baptism at the end! The tour company was also super responsive and helpful over email & phone when we needed to change our reservation at the last minute. The tour company has been doing this for ages, and they were very well organized at the reef. Common misconception - you can’t actually reach your arms out and touch the Eurasia tectonic plate and North American tectonic plate. The left and right walls of the reef are not the two plates. However, while above the water, you can see the tops of the two plates on each side, further out. Don’t let this stop you from doing this activity though - still so much fun, and you’re still technically swimming in a rift that is between the two plates. It’s just that the rift is quite wide, and the reef is part of it.
10/10 Recommend!!
Ximena J,,Dec 22, 2025
- Review from Viator
5.00
Such a great experience to be able to see and be between the tectonic plates. The water was super clear and a bit cold at first but you get used to it. Shout out to Hugo, he was an amazing guide!
Great experience and highly recommend!
Brad S,,Dec 22, 2025
- Review from Viator
5.00
The company and the tour guide (Nickos) was amazing. Highly recommend Dive IS and Nickos as the guide. He was very professional and helpful with our family.