Iceland · Thingvellir

Silfra Fissure

Diving is possible year-round, but the warmest travel season is the easiest planning window.

Silfra is a fissure in Iceland's Thingvellir National Park where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates pull apart. The water is glacial meltwater filtered through 50km of lava rock — so clear that visibility regularly exceeds 100m. It's a geological dive, not a marine-life one.

Good season

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Year-round. Summer (June–August) is most pleasant on the surface; winter offers shorter days but the same crystal water.

Trip duration

Half-day or day trip from Reykjavík; most divers fit Silfra into a longer Iceland itinerary.

Dive style

Drysuit only. Easy current, shallow (max 18m), short (30–40 min) dives.

Dive level

Dry Suit Diver certification required by operators, plus 10+ drysuit dives logged. No drysuit experience? Many ops offer snorkel-only.

Reef health

No survey on file

We don’t yet have a survey or thermal-stress record on file for this location. That doesn’t mean the reef is healthy — it means we can’t say either way.

Dive sites here

1 curated

Silfra Fissure

Crack between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates filled with crystal-clear glacial meltwater. Visibility regularly exceeds 80 m…

7–18 mtech+

Gear

What to bring

Basic kit

• 🥽Mask
• 🧥Wetsuit
• 🎒BCD
• 🫁Regulator
• 🦶Fins
• ⌚Dive computer

Site-specific add-ons

Some dive sites here call for extra gear. Check the individual site page for full context.

• 🧥Drysuit — 2-4C glacial water — wetsuit is unsafe. PADI Dry Suit cert required by operators. · Silfra Fissure
• 🪖Hood — Exposed face and head freeze in seconds without insulation. · Silfra Fissure
• ⌚Computer — Cold-water dive computer to monitor exposure. · Silfra Fissure

What divers say

“I've seen 30m visibility plenty of times. Silfra is the only place I've ever felt like there was no water in front of me.”