The Blue Lagoon, Iceland: Manage your expectations
If Iceland has been on your bucket list since the moment you understood that you needed one… then stop hesitating and book it. You're only getting older and the Land of Ice is but a short hop away (if you're in the UK, and it has EXCELLENT air links if you're in the US).
Winter is beautifully cold. The kind of place where icicles grip to the edges of grooves. Look up and marvel at these crystals, smiling in the short-lived sunshine. The days are short but luckily Iceland is just as welcoming in the dark.
We set off early. It wasn't even that early. Maybe 8am at the most? And it was still dark. The Golden Circle tour did not disappoint. I might write about that another time (like how awkward it was to be witnessing something as stunning as a natural geyser exploding towards the sky while trying to call my dad and my recent ex snapchatting me. Millennials, am I right?) but this current work of art is painting a picture of the Blue Lagoon for you. And what an experience that is.
The Blue Lagoon is, by all advertisements, a spa. A place of tranquillity, a moment of restoration and peace. A natural hot spring where you can rest your traveller bones and feel earth's power warm you right to the core…
Incorrect. The Blue Lagoon IS a spa. But if you are paying the flat rate admission fee then you will receive a flat rate experience.
By no means should you skip visiting the Blue Lagoon. Not at all. It was one of my favourite parts of the whole trip. However, I wish I had been more aware of what I was receiving for the money. Expectation vs. Reality.
You'll want to prepay your admission time and such. Easy enough to do online. You are given a key fob and a dressing gown and all the trimmings you expect from entering a spa facility. You're then ushered quickly to a changing area.
This is the part of the process that made me sincerely uncomfortable. I'm a very private dresser and undressed. At the very least I enjoy a bit of space and respect while I de-robe.
The sheer amount of visitors to the Blue Lagoon makes this impossible. You will be herded towards a changing area where you have to seek out vacant lockers in small rooms where you then get into your swimming costume alongside many others. It's ok, we were all women. But I do not enjoy baring my body to complete strangers. I did not consent.
But fine. We undressed. We placed out phones into waterproof pouches (strongly suggest buying one) and headed out.
The air is frozen. It clutches at your lungs like death itself. And I love it.
Quickly, dump your dressing gown (don't worry, you won't remember where you left it among the dozens others and it will be stiff as a board in the icy air by the time you return) and wade into the warm water.
Here are some facts about the Blue Lagoon:
It is man-made. I know, biggest shocker. It is heated via a geothermal activity, but the whole facility is made to be a tourist trap. (And a bloody good one!)
The water has a high mineral content, especially silica, which creates the milky-blue hue.
The water temperature ranges from about 37-40 degrees. Yummy!
The water can leave your hair a bit… frazzled? It just doesn’t enjoy it and will let you know for the next few days. Keep it out of the water if you can, if not, use the conditioner on offer in the showers.
It is nearly 5ft deep in places, but it’s gradual. You won’t disappear down a hole.
The water is not re-usable and so has to be ditched in pools by the nearby lava fields when they change it every few days.
It's an Instagram trap, but that is ok. Embrace it. There may be a lot of people surrounding you, but that number is minuscule compared to the number of people who will never see what your seeing, or feel what you're feeling.
Swim around to the face mask bar (different kind of face masks, I wonder how they can continue operating in current and post-covid restrictions) and lather up. Then go get your "free" drink (one included with your admission price).
Paddle through the steam, bounce along in the warm-hot-warm water and disappear towards the dark quiet at the back of the pond.
The sun was setting when we entered the water and by the time we had found this eerily quiet area, it was fully dark.
If you have ever found yourself in the clutches of a thick curtain of fog, you understand how it mutes everything. Even your own thoughts. You can be cloaked in the moment and I encourage you to bask in it, enjoy it, because for a few precious minutes you are quite alone, surrounded by people, but utterly present within yourself.
Me and Sophie took our favourite photo while bobbing around that joyous pool. It's ridiculous and stupid and just encapsulates everything we were feeling at that moment. If there was a picture to describe our friendship, it would be that one.
(I could share it, and I think we probably have once upon a time, but right now I just want to hold it close to my heart and keep it my own. If you've seen it, good for you, I hope you see everything I do within it)
I loved everything about being in the lagoon itself. But everything must come to an end, and our time was up.
Unfortunately, this was where things really went south for me. It wasn't entirely clear how you were supposed to proceed through to the changing area but I remember showing and then putting my towel around me… and then being refused entry into the changing area because I still had my swimming costume on under the towel and I was "dripping wet".
Cut to a very awkward scene of my crying in a very public corner, taking off my swimsuit while that particular gatekeeper watched. I was mortified.
You might be thinking "what's the big deal?" And I respect that opinion. But for me, it was a big deal. I felt violated.
I refuse to let that desperate moment colour my whole experience there. Like I said, it was among my favourite memories of Iceland. But I wish I was better equipped to deal with the conveyor belt system. Knowledge is power, and without it I was left feeling bullied and embarrassed.
If you have the opportunity to go to Iceland, do not pass on the Blue Lagoon. My advice? If you can afford it, level up your ticket. If you're a shoestring traveller (hello, friend!) then go prepared! It's a very touristy attraction and has to push through a LOT of visitors every day. Be aware of that and you'll have a great time.
written by Sarah
