Top ratedYou float face down between basalt walls, in water that left the Langjökull glacier about thirty years ago. A PADI instructor leads six of you at most through Silfra Hall, the Cathedral and the Lagoon. Your drysuit, warm undersuit, heated changing van and Silfra permit are all in the fare. You drive yourself to the park, so the two and a half hours go on the fissure, not on a bus.
Your group is capped at six, with a PADI instructor in the water beside you.
A drysuit, a warm undersuit, all your snorkel gear and the Silfra entrance permit come with the booking.
The suit keeps your body dry, and only your face and hands meet the cold.
You swim through Silfra Hall and the Cathedral and finish in the open water of Silfra Lagoon.
You suit up and change back in a heated van, then warm up with hot chocolate and cookies.
A full refund up to a day ahead, which matters when the weather decides.
Most visitors meet Thingvellir on a Golden Circle coach and see it from the paths. This tour puts you in it. You drive into the park, park at P5 and walk back to the vans, and from then on every minute is about the water. The whole visit runs two and a half hours, from the briefing to the hot chocolate.
Silfra is one of about 100 fissures in the rift zone between the North American plate and the Hreppar microplate. It is at most 10 metres wide and reaches 60 metres deep. The water has spent about 30 years underground on its way from Langjökull, which is why it is so clear. The name means silver, for exactly that clarity.
One thing to set straight before you go. The plates here are about five kilometres apart and the fissure sits inside that zone, so you do not touch both continents at once. What you do is float through a crack the rift has opened in the valley floor, with rock walls dropping away beneath your mask.
Your instructor fits your suit, briefs the group on land and swims the route with you. Later in the day the entry platform gets busy with other groups, and the wait happens in your suit, so an early start is worth choosing. Still weighing it up? Compare it with the other Iceland day tours to Thingvellir before you pick a date.
Plan on two and a half hours from meeting to finish. Your instructor sets the pace in the water, and the group moves through the narrow sections before the fissure opens out into the lagoon. P5 is also the car park nearest the church, so the rest of the park is on your doorstep when you are dry.
You meet the DIVE.IS vans at the Silfra car park, inside the park. From Reykjavík the drive is about 40 km on Route 36. Once you are in the park, turn onto road 361, stay on it for a few minutes and take the third right, where you will see the vans. Drive on a little to P5 to park, then walk back to meet your guide.
P5 is a paid car park. One payment of 1,000 ISK covers a car for the whole day at P1, P2 and P5, and cameras read your number plate, so pay at a machine or online at Checkit.is. There is no public bus to Silfra. Every car park and meeting point is on the Thingvellir map.
★★★★★
The crew were kind, quick and funny, the kit was clean and modern, and it kept us warm in the fissure. Our guide Arman was wonderful with two of our group who were very anxious beforehand, and they enjoyed every minute.
Deborah W. · Group · August 2026
★★★★★
We took the 9am slot and it was far quieter than later in the day. The team gives you a warm jumpsuit for under the drysuit, but bring thick socks and a wool base layer as well.
Kelsey C. · Traveller · September 2026
★★★★☆
The guides and the whole crew were first-rate and got everyone suited up fast. I dropped a star for the drysuit, which is heavy and restricting, and for waiting over an hour in it for the queue to the water. Once we were in, everything was great.
Michael A. · Traveller · August 2026
★★☆☆☆
Water got into my suit and I was cold for the whole snorkel in 2–4 °C water. The place is unique, but I was too uncomfortable to enjoy it.
Burak T. · Traveller · August 2026
★★★★★
One of a kind, although you are not swimming between the two plate walls themselves, which lie far apart. Our guide Konrad queued for us and took plenty of photos, so we did not need a camera in the water.
Jennifer D. · Traveller · September 2026
A PADI instructor, a drysuit and the permit, with six to a guide. Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
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