Iceland, South Coast: Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon and Diamond Beach

We drove the half hour from our hotel to the Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon, a highlight among highlights on Iceland’s southern coast.  The Jokulsarlon Glacier calves off into a lake, aka lagoon, where multiple icebergs float around, and in some cases ground themselves if they are too large to clear the bottom.  The reason it’s called a “lagoon” is that it’s open to the ocean, and the tide interacts with the glacial water.  It’s truly an incredible sight!

We had a zodiac tour of the lagoon booked.  First we had to put on “immersion suits” in case we fell in the water.  Our guide let us know the suit would keep us alive….for exactly 3 seconds longer…than if we fell in without it.  Good to know!  Objective, don’t fall in!  By the way, our youthful, crazy, full-of-life boat driver, Armann, is in the blue shirt.  If you do this tour, make sure you request him…he was awesome…absolutely the opposite of the kid at the bottom of this photo, who looks like he just hit the bong a little too hard.  I think his name was Hunter.

Right after getting underway Armann took us up close to several of the resident icebergs.  This one looks like it got hit by lightning.

We loved the blue in these icebergs.  This one appears grounded on the bottom of the lagoon, and the tide has gone out, hence the gap at the bottom of the iceberg.

Every iceberg is its own unique version of beauty.

If you come to this site, do the “zodiac” tour.  We saw the people on the amphibious Duck Boat, and they were packed in like sardines and just looked miserable.  Not our thing!

I just love this iceberg photo!

This was the only seal we saw on the entire lagoon.  I can’t believe they enjoy laying on the ice like this.  Apparently when the tide comes in, the seals have a field day with the fish pushed into the lagoon.  This guy is apparently relaxing until the tide changes.  Smart seal!

I was trying to narrow down how many icebergs to include in the post, but they were all so beautiful!

We had to get a shot in front of this one.  We met a super cool couple from Ontario, Canada, Dave and Cynthia, and Dave took this shot for us.  Dave, if you are reading this, send me a note!

We got really close to the face of the glacier, closer than I’ve ever been when on the water.

On the way back I sat in the front seat of the zodiac so I could shoot a few videos.  This one turned out the best.  It was really choppy moving at high speed, but somehow my phone minimized it.  Sweet!  The things these Samsung phones can do.

As we neared the dock, Armann noticed this iceberg flipping 90 degrees onto it’s side.  I only caught the last part of it, so it’s hard to see.  This is a very rare occurrence, so I’m disappointed I didn’t catch it all.

This video is after it’s done flipping, but you can see two small icebergs calve off the bottom of the main iceberg, and you can hear the iceberg cracking away.  Look at how blue the part that was underwater is!  Very cool!

A short distance away is Diamond Beach, so called because the icebergs that make it out of the lagoon on the outgoing tide end up washing back onto this beach, sparkling in the sunshine (if you are lucky enough to get sunshine).  We visited this beach the same day as we did the zodiac tour, and there was ice, but the below photos are from two days later, when it was JAM PACKED with ice!

This one looks like a chair, or a dude with a flat-top wearing a robe and exposing himself?  Ok, time to put down the beer!

Kim jumped into a line of Instagrammers to get this photo.

The ice against the backdrop of the black sand is stunning.  You can see ice stretching away into the distance.  There were at least a hundred people on this beach near the parking lot, but once you walked 200 yards down the beach they pretty much disappeared.  Make sure you park on the west side of the lagoon outlet.  We started on the east side and basically saw the equivalent of a bucket of ice.

Here is a video showing the interaction with the ice and the waves.

This is the closest thing I saw that looked like an actual diamond.

We walked back towards the lagoon before we left, and the tide was starting to come back in.  This video shows the interaction with the tide and the lagoon, sending a host of small icebergs into a circular dance.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped at another glacier, this one with a much smaller lake.  This glacier is called Fjallsarlon.  It reminds me of a ski slope in Keytstone, Colorado, called “Oh No”, one of my favorites.

The lake is also filled with small icebergs that have calved off the glacier.

Here is Kim, admiring the view.

Of course, I had to pull over for a shot of the last glacier of the day, this one is called Kviarjokull.

All of the glaciers in this post, as well as the next one, are created by the Vatnajokull icecap, the largest icecap in Iceland, as well as all of Europe.  I found this fact online…I have a hard time accepting that Iceland is part of Europe, with the exception of the tectonic plate.

This icecap is so large it covers 8% of the entire country!  You can see all of the glaciers it creates from this satellite view.  The Glacier Lagoon is so large you can see it in the lower right.

Coming up next, we visit the Vatnujokull National Park, and more waterfalls and glaciers!  I know, big surprise!