Blue Lagoon - the Icelandic wonder

Blue Lagoon looks like a large lake.

A week in Iceland had been spent gaping at one natural wonder after another. Only in the morning we had arrived at Reykjavik after a long drive from Akureyri. Last one week had us driving around 2400 km. And now late in the evening there was a chill in the air but we were lazing in a hot bath sipping beer. The bath was an open air natural wonder and the color of water was a different blue.  This was the famous blue lagoon of Iceland.

The Blue Lagoon in Iceland is their largest visited attraction. They call it a natural wonder of the world. It beats all the waterfalls, Glaciers, iceberg Lagoons, crater lakes, national parks, geysers and even the whale watching expeditions as far as tourist inflow is concerned. Many people transiting through Keflavik airport just come here to soothe themselves in the nice warm water.

In 70's a Geo thermal power plant was built near Reykjavik, not very far from Keflavik Airport. A pool accidentally came into existence from waste water from this plant and some people after bathing in it felt that the water had healing qualities. People started bathing regularly and in 1992 a Company was formed which built the facilities and 'the blue lagoon' came into existence.

The geothermal water originates around 2 km below the surface of these Lava fields. The  freshwater and seawater combine at extreme temperatures and then this water is harnessed via drilling holes at a nearby geothermal power plant to create electricity and hot water for nearby communities.
On its way to the surface, the water picks up silica and minerals and emerges at a perfect 38 deg to 40 deg C which is lovely to have a bath in.

The Lava fields near Reykjavik. Blue Lagoon is situated in their midst. 

When I asked the person at the counter at the facility why the water was so blue (it looked artificially blue) I was told that the geothermal water has a unique composition, featuring three active ingredients – Silica, Algae & Minerals. These minerals give the color to water and they have healing properties for lot of skin diseases. 

We had left the visit to the blue lagoon right to the end of our trip. Our thinking was that we could perhaps visit the bath at the Myvatn nature bath situated in the Northern side of the country on the way to Akureyri. These nature baths have also been rated very highly and had we actually managed to have  a bath there, our group of 7 would have saved Euros 750.00 ( Rs 56000). This is how the elements conspired to make us spend more money :

- We made no bookings for Blue Lagoon in advance as the intent was to have bath in similar Myvatn nature baths at the Geo thermal area of Myvatn. We were travelling that side and self drive vehicles with us. 

- If you book in advance the Blue Lagoon has 4 categories of tickets a) Standard : Euro 40 b) comfort : Euro 55 c) Premium : Euro 70 and d) Luxury: Euro 195. We would have booked standard as that is without any frills. All details can be got from the website www.bluelagoon.com

-  As we reached Myvatn area, it started pouring. As the rain did not stop even after several hours we skipped the lava fields and Geo thermal area and proceeded towards Akureyri. So, we missed out on the thermal bath. 

- A decision was then taken to book the blue lagoon tickets but as we were very near the date, most tickets were sold out. We finally got standard tickets for Euro 65 and for the same evening as we were reaching Reykjavik. They start messing around with ticket prices based on demand and supply. So each ticket came at a premium of Euro 25. And as Blue Lagoon is more popular than Myvatn, the price of ticket at Myvatn  is much cheaper at Euro 25.

-  On the return to Reykjavik we had to return our cars so there was no option but to go to Blue Lagoon by cabs. The cabs would not charge per vehicle but per person. And believe me, they charged hell of a lot.

Well, now that accounting is over, it is time to visit the blue lagoon.

 The Blue Lagoon- a natural wonder

It did not take too long to enter and once we had registered and handed over our customized wrist band we could operate lockers with it and also purchase anything to eat or drink. Payment for all extras were to be made at exit time.

The standard ticket gave us access to certain kind of lockers and showers.  It also gave us a silica mud mask to put on face.The premium ones would have given us a free drink, better showers, towels and Algae mask. We were smart and had carried towels from hotel.

Regulations says that shower without clothes is compulsory before entering. We followed all rules. 

The water has silica etc so use of conditioner in hair is recommended before and after bath. This is important as the hair can really go sticky. Conditioner and Shampoo is all provided there.

It was cool and crisp with temperature around 15 deg C so getting into warm 38 deg C water was great fun. There were loads of people and the the place was quite full. It had a lot of people but it wasn't cramped for space. The place is huge. Blue Lagoon is open till midnight and I think we were there around 8 PM and spent an hour in water. Adjoining the main pool there was another pool and a trainer giving some exercise training to those who had opted to do so. There was a pool bar which was quite popular and lot of people were having Beer. Many like us had put on Silica or Algae mud packs for some time on our face. At a price there are lot of facilities like massage, restaurants, spa and they even have a luxury hotel. 

For quite some time I stood under a waterfall and it felt great to have hot water massaging shoulders as it fell with great force. It took all the tiredness away.

Under the hot waterfall. 

Near where this waterfall was there were a few steam rooms and Saunas. We did justice to everything and spent time in each of these facilities.

All around the bath there are hills, lava fields, smoke and some kind of a smell. The drive to the facility is through lava fields. Many people describe it as a rotten egg smell but really - it wasn't that bad. It was some kind of a smell but one got used to it pretty quickly.

This is just outside the blue lagoon complex. The water is the same. 

It is just as well that we went to the blue Lagoon. Many people ask me how my trip to Iceland was and invariably the next question is : "How was Blue Lagoon ?"