← All articles · Iceland ·

Blue Lagoon

Wading through steam at the Blue Lagoon in March: milky water, silica handprints under the bridge, and winter sun over the lava field.

March 2013, air just above freezing, water at bath temperature: the Blue Lagoon is exactly as surreal as the pictures promise. You wade through drifting steam in milky blue water with a lava field at your back and try to remember which direction the swim-up bar was.

Inga wading through steaming milky-blue water at the Blue Lagoon, with bathers and dark hills behind
Steam, silica and winter sun. The water is warmest where you can see least.
Inga in the water beneath the Blue Lagoon's wooden bridge, its beams covered in white silica handprints
Under the bridge, where every visitor leaves a silica handprint.

Tip from experience: condition your hair before you get in, and accept that your camera lens will fog the moment it smells the lagoon. Pair it with Reykjavik and Geysir for the full Iceland hit.