South Coast & Katla Ice Cave
Icelandic ice caves have been on my bucket list for ages, so today was a dream come true and the highlight of the trip so far.
Given that ice caving can’t be done outside a tour group, our “One Day South Coast and Katla Ice Cave Tour from Reykjavik” was booked somewhat impulsively and last minute. It was definitely the biggest splurge of the trip but entirely worth it.
The day started an hour before sunrise in Reykjavík (8 AM), and I fell asleep for most of the drive south. We caught glimpses of the infamous volcano, Eyjafjallajökull, in the distance (responsible for the 2010 eruption), but I only fully woke when we approached the town of Vík.
There, our guide switched our minivan for an intense 4×4, and our group of a dozen piled in for quite a ride across a field of ice, snow, slush, and gravel, en route to our destination: the glacier Mýrdalsjökull. The only experience I could compare the drive to was dune buggy-ing — so bumpy that it teetered on a roller coaster ride.
It was hard to draw our eyes away from the scenes that greeted us as we went off the main road and further into the ice field (apparently where the first 5 minutes of Rogue One were filmed!). It was an overcast day, but the horizon glowed and the landscape of clear blue glacier and volcanic peaks were incomparable to anything I’d ever seen in my life.
When the vehicle parked, we strapped on our crampons, harnesses, and helmets, and headed to the first ice cave inside the glacier (unnamed, due to the rapidly changing nature of such caves). Our guide explained that the black lines of gravel on the ice marked the passing of seasons, namely the number of summers.
From the colours to the stillness, every part of the experience was breathtaking. We were fortunate to have no wind, and I barely felt cold (could have been attributed to channeling Queen Elsa; I had to resist the urge to sing).
We moved on to a second ice cave after that, which was more of a tunnel given its open front and back ends. The perfect entrance made for a portal-like view, and I felt like I was stepping into another dimension.
Our guide led us on a short hike of the area and every step seemed photo-worthy. It was a scene so unique that I didn’t even know how to imagine it beforehand, but I couldn’t take enough of it in.
After some walking and occasional (intentional) sliding down glacier sides, we headed back to our car, and I felt like the entire day, and even the whole trip, seemed complete already with these views.
Our way back was more eventful than the morning’s drive. The first stop was at a beach by Vík, known for the jet black volcanic sand. It was definitely not a swimming beach; on a supposedly “calm” day as today, the waves crashed to the shore at immense heights.
The group split up for a late lunch in Vík, and we wandered to some stunning sights. The sun peeked out of the clouds, casting a golden glow over the basalt columns by the ocean.
Skógafoss waterfall was next on the road back to Reykjavík, and while lovely to see, the highlights from earlier in the day were unbeatable.
Our last stop was at Seljalandsfoss, where we took a short walk around the area before heading home to the beginnings of our first Icelandic snowstorm.