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Jökulsárlón
This glacial lagoon is one of THE main tourist attractions in Iceland. Nowadays this – at least during the summer months – means that you might have to deal with a lot of other people when visiting this place. It is nevertheless one of the locations in Iceland that you must visit.
A very wide tongue of the Vatnajökull glacier, the largest on firm land in Europe, reaches down to the sea here and ends in a large lagoon very close to the ocean. Into this lagoon break large junks of the glacier in big numbers and create a flotilla of icebergs of the most fantastic forms and – depending on the light – colours.
The lagoon is connected to the sea by a short river that reverses its direction during high tide, when sea water flows into the lagoon. This obviously leads to an abundance of food for birds and seals in the lagoon as they regularly swarm it.
Through the short river bigger chunks of ice get swept into the sea where the swell often pushes them back onto the black sand beach. The vision of these absolutely clear chunks of ice on the black sand with crushing waves in the background has already been banned on millions of photographs but still is fascinating.
Two large parking lots along the main road provide plenty of space for the ever-growing number of visitors. During summer months a variety of restaurants and fast food huts and a couple of boat tour operators await the busloads of tourists. Despite the over-crowding in main season the lagoon keeps its magic. It nevertheless is recommendable to visit this place during the very early or very late hours of summer days. You´ll get rewarded by less people and often fantastic light.
For more impressions check the galleries beyond.
Related stories: Iceland Saga, episode 3 “The Search – Southeast”
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