Sophie Coates
Tour Consultant
__
__
Lagoon Lowdown
Whilst on our tour around Iceland we were lucky enough to visit both The Blue Lagoon and The Secret Lagoon. It is difficult to pick a favourite as they are both completely different experiences so here is my lowdown on both…
The Secret Lagoon
The first of our lagoon stops was the Secret Lagoon on our first afternoon in Iceland. The Secret Lagoon is Iceland’s oldest geothermal pool where people have been going to bathe since 1891 and during the winter it is a great place to view the northern lights. Having heard so much about it I was intrigued to get there and see what it was all about. There is no fancy entrance to the Secret Lagoon, just a turn off down the main road so it would be easy to miss if you didn’t know where you were going! Once inside the main building we collected our towels and headed to the changing rooms, all shoes must be taken off before entering and they can either be left on the shoe racks or taken through to your locker. Once inside the lagoon we all floated around, relaxing in the warm water and taking in the nature that was surrounding us. There is a small river that flows right next to the lagoon where the water temperature reaches up to 100 degrees! There is also a pathway that you can follow around the pool so that you can have a closer look at the scenery including a geyser which explodes every 10 minutes. If you look closely, you can also spot little elf houses around the lagoon which are extremely important to the people of Iceland – but that’s a whole different story!
The Blue Lagoon
The Blue Lagoon is easily one of Iceland’s most famous attractions with hundreds of thousands of people travelling to bathe in its milky blue waters every year. Unlike the Secret Lagoon, it is a man-made pool which is fed by the excess water from the nearby geothermal power plant. We arrived at the Blue Lagoon to a completely different experience than the Secret Lagoon. First of all the place is huge. There is a building in the car park dedicated solely for people’s luggage for if they are visiting on their way to or from the airport. We walked down the pathway to the main entrance where there is a gift shop, spa services and a café. There is also an on-site hotel and restaurant. We were each given a wrist band upon arrival which can be scanned to open and close your lockers and can also be scanned when purchasing any drinks at the pool side bar which you pay for when you leave. The lagoon itself was quite vast to the point where we couldn’t find two of our colleagues for a while when we first got in – they actually said it was down to them not recognising us as our faces were covered in the silica mud mask provided! We enjoyed some time relaxing in the pool and taking in the surroundings of the milky blue waters and volcanic rock. There is a man-made waterfall that guests are able to swim up to which is great for massaging your shoulders and there is also a sauna and steam room which makes the Blue Lagoon more of a spa-like experience and it is easy to lose track of time just relaxing and taking it all in. The Blue Lagoon was the final visit on our itinerary and it was a perfect way to round off an action packed trip!