Getting picked up for Iceland South Coast, Jökulsárlón Glacial Lagoon & Diamond Beach Tour at 7:30 am. We returned at 2 am from our Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) tour the previous night. So we were pretty tired, as you can imagine. We saw them. Anyway, less about that and onto the subject at hand, Iceland’s South coast tour.
The drive for this one was quite lovely as well. We had mountains covered with snow and clouds coming up from behind them. It looked cool. It was also apparent. Still cold, about -2 -3 ish.
On our drive, we saw lava fields and volcanoes. One of which being Hekla. The most active volcano on the island has over 20 since 874. A bit further up the road, we had a great view of the snow-covered Hekla on our left, and on our right, there were flatlands with volcanic ash in the air as it was very windy. The mountains looked especially interesting as snow was blown off them.
Skogafoss Waterfall
This is a huge waterfall. It was pretty close to where you park, but the floor turns to ice after about 100 meters of walking. The mist drops on the rocks below and is -3. The water freezes on the stones, making ice pebbles all over the floor. This was amazing to see, as it’s so massive.
Looking back at where the waterfall is, you can see the Eyjafjallajökull Glacier behind it. That seemed pretty cool, but I couldn’t get a photo.
Mýrdalsjökull glacier
Mýrdalsjökull glacier is a lot larger in size. I’ve not looked it up yet, but I believe these would have been on the glacier at one point in time, but due to global warming, they have split and become two.
Facts about Mýrdalsjökull glacier
Mýrdalsjökull glacier is Iceland’s 4th biggest glacier. Its peak reaches 1,493 m in height. The icecap of the glacier covers an active volcano called Katla. The volcano usually erupts every 40–80 years, and the last eruption was in 1918.
Driving to Vik
Driving to Vik, we had some stunning views. We came from a desert-like environment. To stunning snow and ice-capped mountains on either side of us.
In Vik, we took a quick 15-minute pit stop. I nipped into the toilet and ran to see the black sand beach. This was an odd sight. The wind picked up as I walked back to the car. I literally couldn’t see a thing due to the sand. I believe I got some micro-cuts on my face, and my pockets and shoes got full of sand.
Travelling from Vik to the Jökulsárlón Glacial Lagoon, we crossed tough a desert. This desert takes up 1% of the island. There were beautiful snow-capped mountains in the distance. The thing that was taking the stage was the black sand. We had somewhat of a sandstorm going high into the sky, making areas seem as though they had black fog.
Vatnajökull Glacier
Now we are coming up to the largest glacier in Iceland. The deepest part is roughly 7900 km² (3050.2m²) and 380m (1250ft). This Glacier takes up 8% of the island’s landmass. However, it is rapidly shrinking due to climate change.
We could also see the highest peak in Iceland Hvannadalshnúku,r coming in at a staggering 2,110m (6922.6ft)
Jökulsárlón Glacial Lagoon & Diamond Beach
This place was crazy and nothing like I had ever seen before. Not only with the sheer size of the Ice Bergs in the Lagoon but the smaller bits of ice on the beach. The Ice was so clear and didn’t feel like ice at all. We also had Incredible views of huge snow-covered mountains all around us. I didn’t see it, but we also had some people on our tour see a seal on the ice. I can’t confirm this, though.
I also have to mention the sand. If you are like me from the UK, and many other countries, we have golden sand beaches. Here in this part of Iceland, they have quite the opposite. They have black sand. It is an odd thing to see, but I like it. The most common black sand is usually created from basalt. This sand is formed by the rapid cooling of lava (When it comes in contact with the sea and glaciers). This is then turned into sand-like any other sand. Erosion until the pieces of rock turn small enough to be called sand.
Vik for dinner
After a long drive, we arrived back in Vik, where we had an hour for dinner. I had a little cold quiche, but other than that, it was lovely. I also had for dessert a honey and cinnamon bun; this was stunning. I found out about Iceland that they are good with pastries. I also went to the shop and got gifts for my family and work colleagues. If you’re reading this, I hope you enjoyed them.
Seljalandsfoss Waterfall
After a long drive, we arrived back in Vik, where we had an hour for dinner. I had a little cold quiche, but other than that, it was lovely. I also had for dessert a honey and cinnamon bun; this was stunning. I found out about Iceland that they are good with pastries. I also went to the shop and got gifts for my family and work colleagues. If you’re reading this, I hope you enjoyed them.
What do I think of the South Coast, Jökulsárlón Glacial Lagoon & Diamond Beach Tour
Seljalandsfoss Waterfall is a beautiful 65m tall waterfall. It was amazing to see. I am sad that I couldn’t use the path to walk around the back of the fall. This is because there was too much ice, and the path had been closed. I fully understand why they had to do this, as people could have gotten hurt or worse. I noticed two people slip as there was still black ice around where we could go (they were okay, I think).
What do I think of the South Coast, Jökulsárlón Glacial Lagoon & Diamond Beach Tour
This was a long day. 14.5hr overall, with 10 hours of driving. This was somewhere close to 465 miles. That means we only spent 4.5 hr at the places we visited. These were amazing things to see—something you may not see elsewhere, such as the glacier lagoon and diamond beach.
I would say that I am glad I saw them, but I would have liked more time at each place. Say, doing it in a camper takes 2-3 days to complete. Then you can do more in each area and fully take in the Icelandic south coast. However, we didn’t have that long in Iceland, so doing it the way we did it was our only way to see as much as possible. So I am glad that I did it, and if you are in Iceland with limited time, maybe you should check it out.
Suppose you would like to see more about my time in Iceland. You can check out any of the posts below or visit my Iceland trip category.
