One of my reasons for visiting Iceland in the winter was to
visit the beautiful Glacier Caves of Iceland. I had seen photos of the blue
caves and had become fascinated. Visiting Iceland would solve two items I had
really wanted to do. See the Northern Lights and Visit a Glacier Cave.
We had originally planned to visit the Glacier Caves the
second day of our trip. You need to drive approximately 5 hours from Reykjavik
to reach either the office of the tour company or the Jokulsarlon Lagoon where
you are picked up from for most of the Glacier Cave Tours. We had bought tickets (4 of us) ahead of
time from Canada from one of the tour companies for the 2nd day of
our trip in February of 2015. We choose to do this, because it appeared most of
the Ice Cave Tours in January and February were sold out. We wanted to visit in
one of these months to maximize our chance of seeing the Northern lights, and
as such needed to buy the tickets ahead of time.
As we explored the town on the day we landed we heard of a
wind and snow storm warning for the next day for the area south east of
Reykjavik. The area we would need to drive past to get to the Jokulsarlon
Lagoon for our tour the next day. This made us sad, and the four us debated
back and forth on whether we can drive through the storm to get to the Lagoon.
The four of us were from Toronto and Ottawa in Canada. We were comfortable
driving in heavy snow and in slippery conditions. We also had a 4 wheel rental.
We tried calling the tour company to see if they will be
able to give us a different day tour (we were planning to be in Iceland for 7
days) . They didn’t have any other openings and they mentioned they may not be
able to provide us a refund. This made us even further depressed. The tour cost
approximately $200 CAD each. We decided we will wake up the next morning and
see how the weather is.
The Day of the Storm
The next morning we got up early and tried driving toward
Jokulsarlon Lagoon from Reykjavik. It was quite windy and it was snowing. We
were used to the snow, but we were not used to winds of that speed. The
combination of snow and wind made driving treacherous. Also the road was
blocked. We were only able to drive out for 20 minutes before we found the road
to be blocked. I guess the Icelandic authorities trying to protect the silly
tourists who drives around in unsafe conditions? So we turned back and did
other activities closer to Reykjavik that day. I also called and emailed the
tour company explaining the situation and requesting a refund. We did get a
refund, but it required a lot of follow through and negotiations on our part. I
don’t think you would normally get a refund for a missed glacier tour. Most
companies highlight when you book one line, that you will not get a refund due
to bad weather conditions near where you are staying. This is because Iceland
has different type of weather for different regions. You can drive in and out
of a storm in an hour, and you may run into summer like conditions driving out
of the storm. One of our fascinating discoveries during our time in Iceland.
That day I looked up other Glacier Tour companies to see if
I can find another spot for the 4 of us. Luckily for us there was another
opening with a different company. This time around we booked our tour with :
http://www.iceguide.is/ . I had initially
wanted to book with them based on all the reviews and research I had done, but
at that time they didn’t have any openings. Luckily for us we were able to find
a time slot for the 4 of us after we had to cancel our tour with another
operator due to weather.
Our plan was to drive to Jokulsarlon Lagoon from Reykjavik
early morning, do the tour and came back in the evening. This is what we did. I
would actually recommend staying near the Lagoon for one night. This way you
can do the drive at a slower pace and enjoy the drive itself more, and it gives
you the oppourtunity to plan around bad weather conditions. Lesson learned for next
time.
The Day of the Ice Cave
The drive between Reykjavik and Jokulsarlon is beautiful. It
is one of the most diverse and beautiful drives I have done. The day of our
tour, the weather was sunny which made the drive much more enjoyable. We saw
beautiful snow covered mountains, stunning coast line, pulled over at
waterfalls, black beaches, glacier pieces on a beach and just rugged,
undeveloped scenery all throughout the drive. I think I enjoyed the drive as
much as I enjoyed the blue glacier caves!
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On the way to Jokulsarlon |
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On the way to Jokulsarlon |
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On the way to Jokulsarlon |
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On the way to Jokulsarlon |
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On the way to Jokulsarlon |
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On the way to Jokulsarlon |
Our glacier tour was around 3:15 pm. We left Reykjavik around
7:30 am so we could have some time at the Jokulsarlon Lagoon prior to the tour.
We made some stops along the way, and made it to the lagoon. The Lagoon itself
is stunningly beautiful. See some photos below. The Lagoon is separated from
the Atlantic Ocean by a road and a bridge. We crossed over the road to the
beach on the other side. The beach with big chunk of ice is one of the most
unique sights I have seen. Photos below.
We drove back toward west to the iceguide office. It is
about 15 minutes from the Jokulsarlon Lagoon. Ice guide is a family run company
owned by Oskar Arason and his wife Heiour Johannsdottir. Heiour registered us
and provided us with the equipment needed to walk on the glacier. Oskar picked
us up and another six people and drove us to the Crystal Cave on the
Vatnajokull glacier.
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Black Beach |
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Black Beach |
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Jokulsarlon Lagoon |
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Seals @ Jokulsarlon Lagoon |
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Black Beach |
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Glacier Piece on Black Beach |
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Jokulsarlon |
It was a beautiful drive, and the crystal cave was just magical.
It was worth going all the way to Iceland. Inside the cave it is actually blue
with so many patterns in the ice. The ice has been frozen for thousands of
years. It is a truly unique sight and a
must do if you have the opportunity to do so. I believe glacier caves like
this where you have guided tours are rare! At least based on my searches. What
we visited was a glacier cave. A glacier cave is formed by water flowing through
the melting glacier in the summer. An Ice cave is a normal bedrock cave with ice
inside it. I didn’t know this till I started researching the glacier caves in
Iceland. The brilliant blueness is only
seen in a glacier cave.
See below for some photos of the beautiful glacier
caves. We walked/crawled into the cave for about an hour and half and went back
to our tour vehicle for the drive back to the office.
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Vatnajökull Glacier |
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Crystal Glacier Cave |
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Crystal Glacier Cave |
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Crystal Glacier Cave |
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Crystal Glacier Cave |
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Crystal Glacier Cave |
We thanked everyone, and headed back to Reykjavik. That
night we were lucky enough to see the Northern lights! More on that in another post!