8 dives
5 day highlights of Iceland dive tour Selfdrive
8 dive sites in 5 days
Set up your own Iceland diving adventure
8 dives in 5 days
We here at DIVE.IS offer a variety of diving tours in Iceland. If you would like to try more dive sites then the bucket list dive, Silfra, then we have got you covered. We have set up self-drive multi-day diving tour itineraries to make it easier for you to book your Icelandic diving adventure.
This is our best suggestion for a 5 day tour in South and North Iceland.
The dates of your dives do not have to be back to back (if you want to relax in between dive days) and you can choose which dive to start first depending on your preferences and own plans in Iceland. You choose your own dates in the booking process so it is all up to you!
We suggest you book your accommodation in Reykjavik and Akureyri and drive to the dive site each day. That way you can sightsee and choose your activities as you like. You can, of course, use our pick up service where that applies.
In addition to suggesting dives, we have hand picked activities in the area you will be in each day which we think would add to your perfect diving adventure in Iceland.
Check out more information about the dive sites in the day tabs below.
Fissure and Ocean double dive
I had the best time doing the Davidsgja and Akranes double. Because I’d done Davidsdja before, our guide Briosh, took us to a completely different area where we explored our way through various fissures and cracks. At Akranes we explored kelp forest and saw a plethora of crabs and sea snails. Would highly recommend Briosh and Dive.is!
Timeline of your tour
Akranes Diving tour
Join us on an ocean dive in the North Atlantic. The town of Akranes is located about a 40 minute drive from Reykjavik on the other side of the bay. This small town is not visited by a lot of tourists although it boasts a beautiful lighthouse and Guðlaug, a geothermal pool on the beach, that are both well worth a visit.
We will enter the ocean from a beach right by the Akranes campsite. The entrance is accessible and easy to enter and exit.
The North Atlantic ocean is full of Kelp forests which offer a great habitat for a number of marine species, including lumpsuckers, nudibranches, and a wide variety of invertebrates. Colorful algae also flourish here off the coast of Iceland.
You will most likely notice pairs of eyes sticking out of the sandy patches of the ocean floor where the flounders live. Soft orange coral also intermittently decorates the sandy ocean floor. In the area of the kelp forests, a wolf fish might pay you an unexpected visit or stick its head out of a pile of rocks, looking a bit like a prehistoric creature.
The pick up time of this tour depends on the tides. We usually want to end our dive around the peak of the high tide. Note that ocean dives in Iceland depend on the weather and it can happen that scheduled ocean dive trips have to be canceled due to unfortunate weather conditions. If that is the case we usually have a plan B and can offer you other dive sites, such as Garður, Bjarnagjá fissure, Kleifarvatn, Davíðsgjá fissure or Silfra that do not depend on the weather as much as the ocean.
Add more activities to your day
Nesgjá fissure and Litlaá double Snorkeling combo
This double snorkeling combo is located on the Diamond circle in North Iceland. Both dive spots are located approx 15 min from each other making this combo a great addition to a Diamond Circle selfdrive.
Nesgjá fissure snorkeling tour
Nesgjá fissure is a fresh water fissure with the crystal clear water that is so unique to Iceland. It is often called the Silfra of the North as it has such similar qualities as the famous Silfra in the South. Nesgjá is quite shallow but amazingly beautiful. The lagoon is huge and as one of our instructors says: “The visibility depends solely on the quality of your dive mask.” You can see further than 100 meters. Sometimes we get to see arctic charr, a certain type of salmonide in the fissure.
Litlaá river - bubbling sands snorkeling tour
Litlaá river , meaning "Little River," is located near the northern coast of Iceland, just south of the Arctic Circle. This is an unusual spot to find warm water, but thanks to a nearby geothermal active area, we get to enjoy snorkeling in water with a temperature of about 20°C, allowing us to explore its different parts in a very relaxed way.
The tour takes place in a lagoon called Brunnar, meaning "Wells." The water in this lagoon comes from two sources: hot water from a geothermal area nearby and freshwater from wells on the bottom of the lagoon. The lake's floor is full of mesmerizing dancing sands; it looks like something from a different planet. Some act like underwater eruptions, while others resemble underwater beaches. The cold water erupting from the bottom causes these beautiful designs described as the "Bubbling Sands" that you must see with your own eyes. Because of the warm water temperature, we also find fields of strange green algae, plants, multicolored sediments, and a countless number of snails. In the shallow rocky area at the edges of the lagoon, we find countless numbers of sticklebacks traveling around in large groups. The majestic Brown Trout eats sticklebacks and is sometimes spotted by snorkelers.
Add more activities to your day
Strýtan dive tour
Strýtan is a hydrothermal chimney in the fjord that leads to the town of Akureyri in the North of Iceland. This is the only hydrothermal chimney that we know of on earth that is at a depth recreational divers can dive to. Please note that Akureyri is 400km north of Reykjavík.
The Strýtan day tour is guided by Erlendur Bogason, the discoverer and researcher of Strýtan and Arnarnesstrýtur, or divers he has trained.
The day tour consists of two dives, one dive in each of the hydrothermal chimneys, Arnarnesstrýtan and Strýtan.
Only a 5 minute zodiac boat ride away from the shore, Arnarnesstrýtan is the first dive site of the day. Between the dives is a resting period in the Strýtan dive center. The second dive is the Strýtan herself, a 10 minute zodiac ride this time.
Strýtan is unique and breathaking. It stands alone at 65m and rises up to 15m. It has been building since the last ice age, for around 11000 years. It is a very vulnurable rock giant that can break easily.
We will show you the variety of animals and plants living on the cones and you can help us discovering new animals we haven’t seen before. At the small cones we will feed the wolf fish named Stefanía with the shell Arctica islandica.
You will feel the 79°C hot water steaming out of the cones and we will take some hot water with us up to the boat and make hot chocolate.
This tour is only for experienced divers that want to dive to a truly unique dive site.
Add more activities to your day
Silfra and Davíðsgjá fissure
Silfra fissure is on many divers' bucket list and rightly so. But not as many divers know about Silfra's darker, wilder sibling, Davíðsgjá fissure. This local diver's favorite is a hidden gem located just a few kilometers from Silfra in Thingvellir national park. On this Silfra and Davíðsgjá diving combo tour, you will be able to dive them both in one day.
We will start with the Silfra dive where you will dive into the most unique body of water in the world with unparalleled visibility. Silfra is a crack in the Earth ripped open by the movement of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. The crystal clear glacial water, providing over 100 meters of underwater visibility, has been filtered for decades through underground lava rocks. The underwater scenery that you experience in Silfra can be found nowhere else on Earth.
Davíðsgjá is usually slightly warmer than Silfra. Divers walk straight into the water and after a shallow swim, they enter the long, deep and narrow Davíðsgjá fissure. The maximum depth of the dive in this fissure is 21 meters. Davíðsgjá often has incredible underwater visibility, although this varies and is more dependent on the weather than in Silfra. Therefore, Davíðsgjá is sometimes called Silfra's wilder and darker sibling. The top of the fissure in Davíðsgjá is actually about 7 meters underwater, which allows for more contact with the water in Thingvallavatn lake. It is therefore common that trout join the divers exploring this fissure.
Silfra fissure is located at Thingvellir National Park which is on the Golden circle, a very popular sightseeing route in Iceland. Other sightseeing locations on the Golden circle are Gullfoss waterfall, Geysir hot spring and Kerið crater.
Add more activities to your day
Garður Ocean diver tour
On the Ocean Diver Day Tour you will join the undersea inhabitants of the North Atlantic for a swim through Iceland’s cool coastal scene.
Garður dive site, is located at the tip of the Reykjanes peninsula and a one hour drive from Reykjavik. Garður is a shore dive.
Kelp forests offer a great habitat for a number of marine species, including lumpsuckers, nudibranchs, and a wide variety of invertebrates. Colorful algae also flourish here off the coast of Iceland. You will most likely notice pairs of eyes sticking out of the sandy patches of the ocean floor where the flounders live. Soft orange coral also intermittently decorates the sandy ocean floor. In the area of the kelp forests, a wolf fish might pay you an unexpected visit or stick its head out of a pile of rocks, looking a bit like a prehistoric creature.
After the dive, we will warm up with hot chocolate and cookies before heading back to Reykjavik.
The start time of this tour depends on the tides. We usually want to end our dive around the peak of the high tide.
Note that ocean dives in Iceland depend on the weather and it can happen that scheduled ocean dive trips have to be canceled due to unfortunate weather conditions.
If that is the case we usually have a plan B and can offer you other dive sites, such as Bjarnagjá, Kleifarvatn or Silfra that do not depend on the weather as much as the ocean.
Add more activities to your day
Nánari upplýsingar
-
July
-
8+ hours each day (depending on activites selected)
-
Maximum ratio of 3 divers per 1 dive guide
-
Minimum 2 divers per guide
Safety requirements
-
be a certified diver at the level of PADI Open Water Diver or equivalent
-
Have dry suit diving certification OR have at least 10 logged dry suit dives within two years of the Silfra tour date and be able to provide written proof from a diving instructor of these dry suit dives PDF
-
have read, signed, and followed directions on the online Diving Medical Statement PDF
-
have our Diving Medical form signed off by a doctor if they are age 60 or older PDF
-
sign our liability release form PDF
-
be at minimum 150cm / maximum 200cm PDF
-
be at minimum 45kg / maximum 120kg PDF
-
fit within our dry suit size chart PDF
-
be at least 17 years of age (signature of legal guardian required for under 18 year old participants)
-
be able to communicate in English
-
be ready to wear a sometimes tight & constricting dry suit
-
not be pregnant
-
eat well before the tour
Upplifðu ferðina
Leiðsögumenn í þessari ferð
Þú munt fá leiðsögn frá einum þessara frábæru leiðbeinenda
You will dive here
Heimilisfang
Akranes campsite
Akranes campsite
Akranes, 300 Iceland
Your accommodation in Akureyri
The town of Akureyri
Nesgjá
North Iceland
Keldunes
North Iceland
Strýtan Dive Center
601 Akureyri
Your accommodation in Reykjavik
Reykjavik city
Silfra
Thingvellir National Park
801 Selfoss
Davíðsgjá fissure
Thingvellir National Park
801 Selfoss
Garður Ocean diver tour
Garður Pier
250 Garður
