Silfra Drysuit Snorkeling - Meet on Location | Free Photos

We booked this through Viator and were SO excited for it, only to be incredibly disappointed in the experience. After booking we received very minimal communication from Viator - basically just an email telling us to show up in a parking lot for our excursion. The only other information we had to work off was the excursion description, which said to wear a "base layer" to have under our dry suits. We didn't even know (and had no way to see) what tour company we were booked through. We showed up to the parking lot and there were at least seven tour companies, so we had to walk around asking each company if we were with them... in wind chills of 10 degrees farenheit. When we finally found our tour, we were given a very brief overview of the plan for the day...and then the torture began. We had to remove our coats and stand outside in the ten degree windchill for over an hour as we got our gear. We fully understand that we signed up to snorkel in cold water, and we were prepared to be cold during the experience - but we were NOT expecting to stand outside without our jackets (and for a long time, without our gloves and hats) for over an hour. The guides were visibly frustrated because THEY were freezing, and they seemed generally unprepared. For example, they seemed very surprised that all of our snorkel gear had frozen and had ice all over the goggles. The spray that they brought - which I'm assuming was supposed to be for sanitation and/or anti-freezing purposes - had frozen inside the bottle, so they couldn't do anything about the ice on our snorkel gear. Their suggestion to us: "try to get the ice off with your fingers." We were so cold by the time we had our dry suits on that it was truly difficult to put on our snorkel gear. By the time we got in the water, we were so uncomfortable that it was really hard to enjoy the experience. Also note - they do not provide waterproof gloves, so your hands are wet (in ~40 degree water) for the entire snorkeling experience. After spending ~20 minutes in the water, we got out and started the very painful process of getting our gear off. We were frozen and trying to get things unzipped and taken off, while our guides were yelling at us for moving too slowly because "their hands were cold too." It's unclear to us how these guides were unprepared for cold temps given that they, unlike us, at least knew what to expect. After finally getting our gear off we were supposed to sit in the van and wait to receive our hot chocolate and photos. There was no heat in the van and the door was open to the wind, so we just left. We're both in our 20s and were really physically struggling by the end of this - I truly don't know how more sensitive groups could tolerate this. If the communication and expectations had been clearer - and someone had told us that we were going to be standing outside with just one "base layer" for over an hour - we probably wouldn't have booked this in November. If we still had decided to book we would have at least known to wear several windproof layers, our warmest gloves and hats, etc. I reached out to Viator to express our disappointment and we were told that they were not willing to offer even a partial refund because "they are not responsible for the weather conditions" and "the local tour operator did not see anything wrong with the communication." We booked through a company like Viator because we thought it was a promise of a safe experience through a reputable vendor. We were sorely disappointed. If you want to snorkel at Silfra, DO NOT book blindly through viator. Find a vendor, read all of the details of their excursion, and reach out to them with questions before you book. Several of the other tour companies' customers looked MUCH happier than us. I will update this review if Viator reaches out to make this right.

Very unique experience and memorable experience with great guides Luis and Alberto! Felt safe in the equipment. Tip: did not need to wear swimsuit. Dry suits go on over clothes. Would recommend to anyone traveling in the area

Luis and Alberto were fabulous guides I would highly recommend this to anyone who wants to go snorkeling in Iceland

Beautiful clear water! Not as cold as we thought it would be. Alberto and Vlad were very attentive and helpful.

Alberto was a wonderful guide. This is a must do activity on your trip to Iceland! The day was rainy and windy, but that made no difference once we were in our drysuits.

Luis and Maria were EXCELLENT! Fun, funny, knowledgeable, and more. The water is cold but the experience is so worth it!

Quite an experience! The wind was very rough that day so it made for a very tough swim. Maria was a lifesaver and she was great and patient during the trip.

Maria and Alberto were fantastico! Very engaging and entertaining. They did a top-notch job and their patience with my anxiety was unending. 5 stars all the way. As far as the experience itself, we personally would not do again- the whole process of prepping into the dry suits and then waiting to get in the water all in was almost 3 hours long, so we were bummed to miss other items on our list that day. Not the tour group's fault by any means, but just be aware of the time it takes. As far as the snorkeling, it cannot be understated how uncomfortable the dry suit is. The time under water was interesting, but really not that much to see. Rocks. Super cool to see so far down, just overall for us the "what we got out of it" was just not worth the time investment. Make note to try to grab some cash for a tip, they definitely earned it but we had no cash with us and they did not have a way to accept Venmo tips.

Excellent experience! All equipment provided. Great instruction and guidance, anyone could do this tour with these guides. The underwater views are amazing. Highly recommend.

Without doubt one of the best things I have done in my life. I have dived/snorkelled all around the world but nothing prepared me for the incredible blues/clear water/colours I saw during this experience. I went with the wetsuit as could dive more freely, was cold at the end but Maria was excellent at providing dry robes & hot chocolate to warm us up. The Viking Adventure Team were fantastic!!