The Blue Lagoon

I had heard a lot of noise about visiting the Blue Lagoon: it’s a tourist trap, it’s ridiculously crowded, there’s nothing there that you can’t get at another hot spring.

We had planned to do a hot spring hike earlier in our trip, but ended up canceling that in favor of trying a second time to see puffins on Vestmannaeyjar.

I had booked our tickets, day passes, to the Blue Lagoon about a month before we left for Iceland, and am glad that I did.

The Lagoon was so easy to find and very well marked on road signs. We got a parking spot in the front row, though there were clearly a lot of your busses there.

The entry line for groups snaked all around, but the entry for comfort passes (the cheapest passes I saw to buy) was nothing, we were first in line.

They gave us towels and sent us on our way to the locker rooms. The women’s side was well appointed, but confusing to me. It wasn’t completely clear how to exit the room, and I did not love that most of the toilets were on the shower side, meaning you were going to get your feet/shoes wet in there.

The lockers were spacious and I easily could have brought more inside if I wanted. I left my phone and our GoPro in the locker, just wanting to relax.

Outside of the locker room is an entryway and “meeting point” that joins with the Men’s side. It was easy to find Peter and decide on a place to leave our towels (there are hooks everywhere, inside and outside).

With that done, we walked down a watery ramp, out a door, and into a quieter side of the lagoon. It was busy, but I wouldn’t say full or too crowded.

Our first step was to get a face mask from the swim up bar. Peter and I both upgraded our mask to a paid version, which ended up costing us $9 in total (worth it). His mask was time-sensitive, so we settled into a sort of grotto and waited for him to rinse off.

There were plenty of areas where we could be away from the crowds. Actually, at no point did I feel like we were trapped with other people. The place is huge and if you swam outside of the main area, there was always a private space to be had.

Both the drink bar and the face mask bar were crowded, but well staffed and we had no trouble getting service. We had a strawberry and a banana smoothie that was included with our passes, both well-received after what felt like an entire week of drinking.

All told, we spent about 3 hours at the Blue Lagoon. I would have stayed longer, but Peter was pruning and ready to go. We did a lot of swimming and relaxing, so I was fine to leave.

They ask you to shower before you enter, and I strongly recommend showering after as well. I didn’t notice until my second shower that I was covered in a calcium silt (perhaps not the normal experience, but we did swim right to the edge, where it is most silty and natural).

My overall opinion about the Blue Lagoon:

• Do it if: you don’t have any other hot spring visits planned. You’re looking for a spa experience. You’re okay with a manufactured space.

• Don’t do it if: you’re looking to be alone and quiet the way it looks in the pictures. You will have to go looking for that solitude, and while you can find private spaces, I don’t think you can find quiet spaces.

I’m very glad that we went and it seemed like the perfect way to end our trip and reset. I’m not sure if I would go back, mostly because it was expensive, but it was definitely a good experience this time.

Love,

PD