Blue Lagoon | Iceland 2025

Dec 5. 0427. I Woke up screaming, with a terrible cramp in my left calf. Funny, I’d been fine this whole trip. Maybe it was dehydration? Our fellow traveler Susan (not my cousin) gave Merrianne some Aleve, so I took one of those.

This morning we departed after breakfast at 0830, barely enough time to use the bathroom. It was dark, of course. We were headed back to the Central Plaza Hotel in Reykjavik. There was one bathroom stop after about an hour at a shopping center. I saw a (presumed) local woman come out of her car with no jacket or coat, and walk across the parking lot to the bakery. I guess that even though it was about 3 ℃, it wasn’t windy, so she didn’t bother for such a short walk?

We first went to the Bónus grocery store.

I popped into the bakery to get a couple Icelandic knot donuts (Kleinur). Very much like Japanese andagi, except bigger and different shape.

It was too early for check-in when we got to the hotel, but we were able to drop off our bags. At 1230, we headed out for the famous Blue Lagoon.

Lauren and Alex, two of four non-Hawaii people on our Collette tour.

The lagoon is a heated field where water pooled up that was not too boiling hot for humans. Over the years, it was paved over and built up to a tremendous extent. It’s now a huge, fully-paved shallow pool. The region is geologically active, of course, and a year ago, a lava flow wiped out part of their parking lot. It was slow-moving, so no one was hurt, and in fact, they were able to divert the flow away from the main complex. It was unremarkable to me, as I grew up in Hawaii, except for the realization that it was only one year old.

We walked a path that was cut through the solidified lava, which was 13 feet deep.in places.

At the lagoon, we were given waterproof wristbands, which were used to lock and unlock our lockers. Clever system. Everyone took showers, then we went in. The pictures of the lagoon were taken with the XP80 camera, because it’s water resistant to 10m.

After taking showers, we entered the pool. Two ways to go: traditional, through the door to outside, then down the steps into the pool, or using this indoor ramp so that you’re in the warm water always, in case the air is cold outside. Note Merrianne’s green rashguard top.

The pool varies in temperature from about 96 to 104 ℉. Considering that the air is about 40 ℉, it’s quite comfortable.

The lagoon is huge. There was actually more of it behind me as I took this picture.

There’s a bar you can walk up to without leaving the pool. They scan your wristband for payment. First drink is included in the admission.

The white silica face mask is included with admission. For other types, you must pay. Earl Wakai.

There was also a dry sauna (shown), and steambath. The sauna was uncomfortable, and the steambath was horribly unpleasant – it was hard to even breathe. I took video, but will not post here.

Merrianne later found that she had lost her rashguard, perhaps when changing after the pool.

After 3 hours at the Blue Lagoon, we were whisked back downtown for a Farewell Dinner at Höfnin, another restaurant on the harbor, a few doors down from our Welcome Dinner.

Fran and Linda, from New Jersey and New York, the other two non-Hawaii people on the tour.

I was tired enough to go to bed, but after dinner, we still had to redo our cruise aboard the Andrea. Merrianne’s iPhone SE made a reasonable capture, but the best pictures came from friends with better cameras and phones.

This is the best my camera could do, a picture of other people with their good cameras and phones taking pictures. I think I could actually see more with my naked eyes than my camera.

From Merrianne’s iPhone SE (with post-processing)

Long day. I didn’t get to bed until 1 am.

Visited 27 times, 1 visit(s) today

Leave a Reply Cancel reply