One of the coolest experiences ever, we snorkeled in between continents.
Silfra is a rift formed in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge – the divergent tectonic boundary between the North American and Eurasian plates – and is located in the Þingvallavatn Lake in the Þingvellir National Park in Iceland. (The Þ is pronounced like "th") So it's pronounced "Thingvellir National Park"
The park itself is of course beautiful with all of the land features that Iceland is famous for, including glaciers.
And it's this glacier water that we swam in! Our guide said that at the Silfra Fissure, the glacial melt-water flows through underground caves for 40 years before coming out of the crack in the rocks where we began our snorkeling!
So this water (Between 34 and 38 degrees Fahrenheit) was seeing the sunlight for the first time in 40 years as we were swimming in it. We were told to wear our long johns, then given a full-body insulated onesie, THEN the dry suit, hood, gloves, mask and fins. So the coldest part was waiting in the parking lot. By the time we were in the water, I wasn't thinking about the temperature at all.
The actual snorkeling was just amazing. It felt like we were flying through a canyon. Some parts would be a few feet deep, then we'd go over an edge, and it would be hundreds of feet deep. There's even an extra fissure that developed during the big volcanic eruption in 2010. Iceland's geo-thermal activity is, well... active... with volcanos, geysers, boiling mud pots, etc. But at a location where North America and Europe's tectonic plates are constantly grinding on each other, you'd expect nothing less.
I brought along a GoPro (thanks, Garrison! and Thank you, Allie!!) and caught a sliver of the beauty and majesty. Hope you enjoy!