Happy Boxing Day to all who celebrate and welcome to a new video series. This is the first of a ten-part series on “which is the best geothermal pool / lagoon / spa / hot spring / geothermal experience” in Iceland. Now, I’ve struggled hugely with what to call this. There are ten of these things but I can’t quite decide on a collective noun for them. They’re not all lagoons. They’re not all spas. “Pools” doesn’t differentiate them from local swimming pools and “hot springs” doesn’t differentiate them from the natural ones that pop up in fields and mountains. What they have in common is that they’re broadly aimed at tourists rather than locals, with price tags to match.
Obviously I’m starting with the Blue Lagoon. I’ve decided to work from oldest to newest, starting with the one that so many others model themselves on. This is basically my “Ultimate Best Icelandic Lagoons” post from November in video form, so expect to see the same point-scoring system but as I’ve been filming, I’ve been making corrections and allowances so the results may not be the same.
When I conceived this series, I didn’t anticipate volcanic activity closing the Blue Lagoon. Depending on what happens in the coming days or weeks, this series will either be “which is the best geothermal pool in Iceland?” or “which pool will win over the tourists while the Blue Lagoon is closed?”. For reference, it closed for six or seven weeks because of increased tectonic activity, ie earthquakes ripping massive cracks in the region, reopened for less than 48 hours when it all calmed down and then promptly had to close again because an eruption started on the other side of the road. That died down within about two days but uplift immediately started again, so another cycle of uncertainty begins. They’ll reassess tomorrow whether it can reopen and if it can, I assume it’ll be at the weekend but honestly, who knows? At time of release, the Blue Lagoon is closed.
On with the video!