A snowy morning at Hvammsvík

Posted on by Juliet Frost

I’m back from Iceland and I currently have plans for twelve blog posts on the subject! Given that fitting them into my schedule means I’ll still be posting them in June, I might adjust that number as I go along but this one was in no doubt whatsoever from the moment I arrived, so let me introduce you to Iceland’s newest hot spring/geothermal bathing experience, Hvammsvik.

My back, with two red plaits hanging down and the bright blue straps of my polar bear swimsuit. I'm sitting at the edge of the Beach Pool, arms on the side, elbows out, looking out at the view. From here you can see the sun on the water in the pool, the rocks surrounding it and then the ridge of snowy mountains directly opposite, with just a slither of fjord visible.

Hvammsvik is off the tourist trail, on a promontory sticking out about two-thirds of the way up Hvalfjörður. It’s actually only an hour or so from Reykjavik but ever since the tunnel opened across the mouth of the fjord in 1998, it’s very rare for people to make the effort to drive around it. It takes about an hour to drive the entire fjord whereas you could be through the tunnel in six minutes. Hvammsvik’s signage is also extremely minimal and discreet at the moment. I drove past it twice last summer, in opposite directions, when it had been open a matter of weeks, and had no idea it was there. I will be correcting that error this summer.

Hvammsvik building. A black round-roofed building like an oversized bunker, with a black-painted wooden front and a restaurant on the side. Out the front are irregular-shaped paving slabs and behind you can just make out the mountains around the fjord.

Its story is a familiar one. “We had a hot spring on our land and we realised we could profit from it” is a cold and cynical way of looking at but I’ll remind you that the Blue Lagoon opened in 1987 and I now have 10 geothermal experiences on my list, seven of which opened in the last decade. “Have hot water, will get tourists to pay to sit in” is rapidly becoming a motto. Yes, Hvammsvik has a farm and some lovely rural accommodation but it also had this hot spring, which has now been formed in seven hot pots of various sizes and temperatures right on the shoreline. One of them is in the fjord at high tide, or at least has the fjord lapping around its edges. It’s like Krauma, a collection of hotpots, but done right. Whereas Krauma’s is all shiny polished black rock, Hvammsvik’s is all made – or at least outwardly appears to be made – out of boulders and rocks, with wooden sleepers laid out to make paths around the gravel, wood and rope fences to guide you to the rough-hewn steps down into the pool, that sort of thing. All very natural-looking.

A cloud-splattered blue sky over a fjord surrounded by snowy mountains. In the foreground is a pool surrounded by boulders, with wooden posts and ropes to form rails and paths.

The changing facilities are like a mini version of the Sky Lagoon, dimly lit and immaculate, spa-style. You have an electronic bracelet to close the locker of your choice and the showers have opaque glass doors on them – small detail but I love the old-fashioned brass wheel to turn the showers on. Then you step outside into blistering February weather and decide whether to dart to the right, to the big 38° Lounge Pool, straight on to the Rock Pool collection, to the left to the Beach Pools or onto the beach to the Tidal Pool. I’m inclined to like the Beach Pools best. The Old Hot Spring, 40°, bubbles up in a high-sided hot tub (admittedly, an undignified scramble to find a way in) and the water then tumbles into the Upper Beach Pool which is 38° and has some amazing views and then again into the Lower Beach Pool, which is 36°, a tiny bit chilly for February but pleasant enough and likely my favourite pool on a hot summer day.

A timer in the Upper Beach Pool. Me, with a hint of bright blue swimsuit straps, in water up my shoulders, sitting leaning on a rock and looking towards the fjord. The sun is shining on the water in the pool and behind me is a ridge of snow covered mountains.

The Upper Rock Pool is nice, although the Lower is a bit chilly because the fjord spills into it once a day. It’s connected to the Ocean Plunge Pool, the point that I only realised that because I’m sitting here with the map open on the other screen. I picked my way across the beach barefooted (don’t do this; hire the water shoes or take some flipflops) to the Tidal Pool. The map says this one varies between ocean temperature and 35° depending on the tide. It was definitely cooler than the others but because we were there at low tide, it was probably on the warmer end of its scale. It had interesting cold spots in it which aren’t entirely unpleasant when you’ve been sitting in hot water for an hour, a gentler version of the hot-cold-hot-cold that you’re supposed to do at spas. It had bits of shell and seaweed in it, tossed in by the tide or dropped by birds. Finally, for the sake of completeness, I went in the steam bath. I’m not a huge fan of steam baths; I find them too hot and wet and oppressive for me personally so I didn’t stay long. It smelled really sweet, like sugar-caramel-80s-sweet-shop sweet. I know saunas often smell vaguely chocolatey but I’d have said this steam bath was powered by melting Parma Violets. That’s a compliment, by the way – steam baths as natural as I assume this one to be usually stink of sulphur.

Inside the steam room. It's a square empty room, dimly lit and full of steam but you can just make out wooden walls. On the right-hand side is a bench made of thin planks of wood. Bright light glows from underneath it making four bright lines across the room.

But the real winner is the setting. It sticks out into the fjord and it’s spectacular. There’s the water dead ahead, with a little island, a black sand beach, large flocks of eider ducks and all that. Steep-sided mountains to the right, the southern wall of the fjord, and then because it’s two-thirds of the way along, you’re looking directly out at a ring of mountains in front of you, most of them completely snow-covered in February. The sun had just crawled up above those steep southern mountains – earlier in the winter, it probably doesn’t get that high – and then it got obliterated by a snowstorm that completely hid the view. If we’d arrived an hour, maybe an hour and a half later, if I hadn’t seen the view under that mid-morning sun, I might not even be writing this post.

The view from the Beach Pools. A pile of rocks in the foreground gives way to a gravelly black beach. Beyond that, the low winter sun shines on the still water of the fjord and beyond that are snowy mountains of all shapes.

Another view from the Beach Pools, this time towards the round building. There should be a beautiful sky and ridge of snowy mountains behind it but instead there's nothing but a thick white cloud almost touching the low roof of the bunker-life main building.

My one criticism is that you need some kind of shoes, especially in winter. The pools are spaced out in a way that does work well once you’re in, but if you want to go to the Beach Pools or particularly the Tidal Pool, or even the Rock Pools to an extent, it’s a bit of a walk over uncomfortable ground. Yes, to concrete it, or even to lay more hexagonal rock paving, would hugely damage the whole atmosphere of raw authenticity but the fact remains that it’s a bit uncomfortable on your feet.

So, big thumbs up to Hvammsvik. I really liked it, I thought it was very special and very beautiful and pretty much everything was done very well. Its one major failing is the price. It’s more expensive than almost any other geothermal experience I’ve visited except the two really big tourist ones, the Blue Lagoon and the Sky Lagoon. That’s third most expensive out of the ten that I know of, and that’s a lot. 6,900kr for adult entry this week, which works out at about £40 using Oanda’s currency exchange today, rising to 7,900kr after 4pm and 7,900kr all day during the summer. I’ll pay it, because I really like Hvammsvik, but I’ll also mutter “unreasonably expensive” as I do so.

Me floating on my back in the Lounge Pool, which is the big warm one with underwater benches and actual right angles. To the right is the curved roof of the changing rooms and behind me the restaurant. The sun is touching my face and knees and there are streaks of blue in the sky above.

Let’s add it to my points from the “What is the best geothermal spa in Iceland?” post from November.

Changing facilities:

A rustic concrete walled and floored room with a toilet hidden in a wooden cubicle. To the side are three shower cubicles with brass shower heads sticking out and frosted, striped glass doors. To the right of the showers is a high dark wooden wall concealing the changing area - no photos of that because there were people changing.

  • Private showers – yes, every shower cubicle has a door. It’s one that shows your feet and head but it hides the important bits
  • Shampoo and conditioner provided – Half a point. There’s shampoo, an interestingly herbal-smelling proprietary brand, but no conditioner.
  • Locker tokens provided – you get an electronic bracelet which locks the locker of your choice.
  • General vibe: 2.5/3 – I can’t really fault the place, it’s just maybe a bit small.
  • Score: 5/6

Facilities

A map of the site, in the form of an aerial photo at low tide with the various pools numbered and a key down the left showing what they all are and their various temperatures.

  • Somewhere to swim – No
  • Hotpots – 7 of them!
  • Sauna – No
  • Steam room – Yes, and it smells really oddly sweet
  • Waterfall – No
  • Anything extra – Not in the winter, as far as I could see, but the website mentions free use of paddleboards which is a very novel extra
  • Score: 3/6

Experience

A selfie in the lounge pool, with the sun full on my face and blue sky above. My face is reflected in the water and so is my hand holding the camera.

  • In-water drinks – yes, you swim up to the bar window in the lounge pool and give your locker number
  • Fun extras – actually, yes. They do yoga retreats and a short intro to the Wim Hof Method (free!) and there’s a monthly ocean swim (also free).
  • Towel provided – towels for hire but not for free
  • Robe provided – no, not even for hire. This is one place where this would be a genuinely useful thing to have though
  • Good view: 3/3, as long as it’s not snowing. Yes, great views
  • General vibe: 2/3. I love it but it is cold and uncomfortable getting between the pools, especially if you don’t have/hire water shoes.
  • Score: 7/10

Now, if you were to add that to the end of the “What is the best geothermal pool in Iceland?” post, it would be a bit messed up. I give between 1 and 6 points for price, 6 being for the cheapest, 1 for the most expensive. I’m going to have to re-do that because there are now 7 to compare to, so the updated points go like this. Prices are the cheapest, most basic entry on February 24th 2023.

  • Blue Lagoon: 18 + 1 price point = 19 total
  • Fontana: 18.5 + 6 price points = 24.5 total
  • Krauma: 13.5 + 5 price points = 18.5 total
  • Myvatn Nature Baths: 15 + 4 price points = 19 total
  • Secret Lagoon: 8 + 7 price points = 15 total
  • Sky Lagoon: 16 + 2 price points + bonus point for public transport accessibility = 19 total

and our newest contender…

  • Hvammsvik: 15 + 3 price points = 18 total

That puts it disappointingly at 6th place out of 7 and this is the point where my entire scoring system falls apart because I love Hvammsvik. I’ll definitely be going back, I’ll definitely be raving about it and waving the photos at you forever. It loses points big-time by being the third most expensive of the seven I’ve visited. If it had been priced more along the lines of Krauma (similar facilities) or Secret Lagoon (similar air of raw authenticity), it would be sitting very firmly in second place. That’s a big difference, 6th place up to 2nd place for the sake of even 1000kr per person. Had I ranked without including the price point, it comes in joint 4th, alongside Myvatn and ahead of the Secret Lagoon and Krauma. Actually, I’m not going to re-mark anything right now, but the Sky Lagoon has got really popular and really busy and needs some points pulling from its Vibes category.

But this is why we ignore rankings! I love Hvammsvik! I sat in those hot pools going “I love it here, this is amazing, I’m going to write a glowing blog about it (which I hope no one reads because I don’t want this place getting overrun like the Sky Lagoon is now)”.