travel

So you’re planning a trip to Iceland…. and one of the top activities that is recommended is the Blue Lagoon.  For good reason too, it’s AMAAAAAZING.

However, with limited time in a new country so many questions begin swirling around.  When is the best time to go to the Blue Lagoon?  How much time should I spend in the Blue Lagoon?  Is it true you have to shower NAKED?

Well, I am here to help guide you through the Blue Lagoon so that your first visit goes by smoothly, and you know exactly what to expect.

Is it worth it?

Iceland is filled with so many incredible lagoons to swim in, that this is a question that comes up a lot.   Should I even go to the Blue Lagoon, or go to another one instead?  This opinion can vary based on your personal tastes.  I loved the Blue Lagoon so much that I went twice.  Is it touristy?  Yes.  But is it worth it?  Yes.

It is very organized and easy to get around, the landscape is gorgeous, and it’s huuuuuge so it doesn’t feel overly crowded.

How to Get to the Blue Lagoon

If you do not have a car,  and plan to go to the Blue Lagoon either before or after the airport, you can book your transportation through the Blue Lagoon’s website.  When you buy your Blue Lagoon ticket you can add on transportation options.

Or, if you already booked your Blue Lagoon Ticket, you can book your bus voucher with Reykjavik Excursions.

Going to the Blue Lagoon before or after the Airport

Since the Lagoon is so close to the airport,  a convenient option is to go after you land at the airport, or just before you go to the airport.  I did both, and I can tell you that either option is fine.   The Blue Lagoon will safely store your luggage too, so you don’t have to worry about lugging it around with you.

If your flight arrives early in the morning,  then this is a great way to relax before checking in to your hotel.  Our flight arrived in Reykjavik at 4:30AM, and the first bus to the Lagoon isn’t until 7:30am, so we killed time by eating breakfast at the airport.

Another option would be to include your visit to the Lagoon after a trip around the Reykjanes Peninsula. If you take a day tour, you will arrive at the lagoon at around 5pm.  You will get the chance to see the sun set and swim in the lagoon at night. The tour will drop you off at the Lagoon, and it will be up to you to get home. This is easy, since you can book your bus voucher online and go back to Reykjavik when the Lagoon closes.

Prices for the Blue Lagoon

The Blue Lagoon offers various packages when you book (as of 2019):

• Comfort (6990 ISK – about $90 CAD)
• Premium (9990 ISK – about $130 CAD)
• Luxury (53000 ISK – about $670 CAD)

What does it include?  Each package includes a towel, a drink, and the Silica mud mask.  The Premium package adds in a robe, slippers, an Algae mud mask, a reservation at the Lava Restaurant and a champagne drink while you are eating there.   The luxury one is super expensive, check it out if it is in your budget.

If you have the extra space in your luggage, it is fine to bring your own robe and towel (that’s what I did).  It’s SO MUCH easier to find your robe among all of the other Blue Lagoon provided robes that are there.

If you don’t want to bring a robe or slippers with you, I would recommend getting the Premium package since it’s nice to get out of the Blue Lagoon and wrap yourself up in a nice warm robe, and you don’t have to walk around or shower in your bare feet.

Check out the Blue Lagoon’s website here.

Tip:  Book your Ticket in Advance!
This is essential! You need to reserve the time that you will enter the lagoon in advance, and these can fill up very quickly! The good thing is that once you start swimming at the Blue Lagoon you can swim around in the water for as long as you want, but you need to get there within your booked time.

Best time to go

The busiest time to go is in the afternoon. The early morning and evenings the crowd begins to thin out.

We went at 8am when it opened, and the sun was just beginning to rise.  It was so calm and quiet, and there weren’t a lot of people there.

By about 10am more people start to come and it gets busier.  This isn’t a deal-breaker since you can swim off to a more quiet area.  The Lagoon is huuuuge, so there were times we were the only two people in certain sections of the lagoon.

How much time to spend at the Blue Lagoon

2-4 hours is the usual amount of time that people spend at the Blue Lagoon.  We were there for four hours both times and didn’t get bored. We bobbed around in the water, put on the Silica masks, stood under the waterfall, went in the steam room, had a drink from the bar, and bobbed around in the water some more until about 12pm.

Eating and Drinking at the Blue Lagoon

Keep in mind that the food in Iceland is EXPENSIVE.  I had heard this before I went, but nothing prepared me for how expensive it actually was. To give you an idea, each meal at a restaurant per person ranged from 30 to 40 dollars CAD.

If you eat at the Lava Restaurant, located at the Blue Lagoon (which looked amazing, btw), make a reservation at the same time you book your Blue Lagoon ticket.  Ours was initially at 1pm, but after seeing how expensive the food was we decided to get a snack at their lunch bar (which was also painfully expensive) and eat a meal in Reykjavik instead.

Tips for drinking at the Blue Lagoon

• Don’t worry about bringing cash.  To buy drinks from the bar (which you can swim up to in the Blue Lagoon), you are given a bracelet which you can use to pay for your drink!
• Bring a water bottle!  The heat from the water can dehydrate you,  save some money and re-fill your water bottle.   Don’t keep your water bottle in the locker room – you have to shower every time you leave the locker room!   Put your water bottle in the pocket of your robe, so that you can easily access it.

Where to store your belongings at the Blue Lagoon

To store your luggage,  the Blue Lagoon will store your luggage for you (for a small fee).  It is in a small separate building in the parking lot, just before the walkway to the Blue Lagoon.

To store your personal items,  (like your wallet, phone, camera, swimsuit, change of clothes, etc), they have secure lockers in the changing room.   The lockers can be a bit tricky to use.   To use them, scan the bracelet that you are given, choose any locker you want, and then scan your bracelet again to lock it.  There are instructions and attendants there just in case you need help.

Tip – Don’t leave your robe and towel in the changing room!  They have hooks outside next to the Lagoon so that you can easily grab them.  I kept my water bottle in my robe’s pocket so that I could quickly access it.

Taking Pictures

My tip for taking photos would be to enjoy the Lagoon when you first arrive, then go to your locker to get your camera.   You can always put your camera back in your locker after you’re finished.

Be wary about storing your camera in your robe while it’s hanging outside with the other robes.  All of the Blue Lagoon robes look exactly the same so it could be easy for someone to accidentally grab the wrong robe with your camera in it.

Showering 

Will you have to shower naked at the Blue Lagoon?  The answer to this is yes.  Will you see other people naked? Also yes.  But have no fear! No one will need to see YOU naked if you don’t want them to – here’s a step-by-step guide for how!

The changing room.   The changing room is essentially an open space with lockers.  A lot of people choose to just strip down and change in the open.  However, there are a few private changing rooms you can use.  If they are busy, you can either wear a towel around yourself and change under it.

The showers.  Ah, the dreaded showers.   They have open showers and LOTS of private showers.  I obviously opted for the private showers.

The trick to showering is go in one of the private showers with your bathing suit on AND a towel wrapped around you.   Once you’re in the shower, take off your bathing suit and hang your towel and bathing suit over the door.  You’re now ready to shower naked without anyone seeing you! Easy peezy.

Bonus, they have shampoo, conditioner and body wash there. Use LOTS of conditioner before and after because the lagoon makes your hair very, very dry. I tried using a shower cap my second time there but ditched it because it got too annoying.

Wearing glasses or contacts

Ah, for any glasses wearers out there, you know that the struggle can be real.  The short answer is – wear your glasses!  Both times I was there I wore my glasses because I was too nervous about getting the water in my eyes (it stung even without contacts in). The water will hurt your contact lens, and your eyes even more if there are contacts in.

Water WILL get in your eyes, no matter how careful you are. If you want to stand under the waterfall to massage your neck, or put on one of the Silica Mud Masks (which you most definitely should, my skin has never looked so good), then you will need to use the water to get the mask off.

The only downside to wearing glasses is that they can steam up in the early morning, and water droplets will get on them. But if that happens you can just go to your towel and wipe it off (again – make sure you DON’T store your towel in the locker room!  Take your towel outside and hang it up!).

You can choose to not wear glasses at all, but my vision is waaaaay too bad to do that. It was fine wearing glasses.

Other random – but important – things to know for the Blue Lagoon

The depth of the Blue Lagoon varies. I am 5ft tall, and there were some parts of the Blue Lagoon where I had to stand on my tip-toes because it got to about 5 ft deep. Other sections are super shallow (like maybe 1 foot deep).

What does the bottom of the Blue Lagoon feel like? I don’t like swimming in lakes because it freaks me out when I can’t see the bottom. You also won’t be able to see the bottom of the Blue Lagoon either. But it’s fine, I promise. The bottom of the Lagoon is concrete in the majority of areas, and in other areas it is sandy.

It will dry out your hair. I’ve already mentioned this, but the Blue Lagoon will make your hair feel like straw. Wear LOTS of conditioner before, and condition it thoroughly after. It may take a couple of days for it to return back to normal. I wore a shower cap my second time, but it got annoying and I took it off.

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Have you been to the Blue Lagoon before, or are planning to go there? Let me know in the comments below!

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