I thought I’d write this article because I wasn’t sure what to expect when I went to the Blue Lagoon in Iceland. It was a beautiful place and I really enjoyed my time, so here are some tips for when you check it out!
So the Blue Lagoon as I’m sure you know is a huge geothermal spa and outdoor pool area in Iceland, Reykjavic. The actual Blue Lagoon site is not in the centre of Reykjavic and it’s about a 45 minute drive into the middle of nowhere. When you first pull up to near the site, it looks like a giant steam factory, with huge pillars of steam rising into the air.
You then get a bit closer and see the main pool area. As you get off the coach, there is a fairly long walk to the actual reception, through a beautiful trail of lava rocks (which were covered in snow when I went). Then when you get to the reception, there are things like a gift shop and restrooms.
I actually filmed my time at the Blue Lagoon in Iceland which you can see below, but the pictures and videos don’t really do it justice because it was so steamy! It really is a bucket list destination and lots of people go to Iceland JUST to visit the Blue Lagoon. It wasn’t super busy, but there were lots of people from all over the world there.
What to bring to the lagoon
So let’s not get ahead of ourselves, here’s what you need to bring to the Blue Lagoon. These aren’t required, but I’d suggest bringing these things in a rucksack or small bag.
- Camera: Ideally waterproof, but an iPhone would do fine if you can also buy a waterproof case for it (they do sell them on site but they’re about $30 or more). You’re going to want to take photos and videos, and in fact most of the people in the lagoon were bobbing round filming or taking selfies.
- Waterproof phone case: As I said, they sell these on site but they’re not cheap. On site you can pay about $30 or more, but online they’re sold for much less (about a third of the price). The steam and water can ruin your phone without a case unless you’re careful, and if you drop it in the water, it’s likely going to break, because of the salt and sulphur in the water.
- Water: Everything that’s sold at the Blue Lagoon is expensive (much like most things in Iceland) so I’d suggest doing what I did, and bringing a bottle of tap water in your bag. The tap water in Iceland is safe to drink and in many cases, cleaner and better for you than bottled water.
- Bag, with food: Again, there is a cafe and restaurant area, but it’s NOT cheap and to be honest, my thinking is you can eat food anywhere, the real experience is the geothermal lagoon itself. Bring your own food or snacks and save your money!
- Change of clothes: Make sure you have comfortable warm clothes to wear after the lagoon (Make sure you arrive in comfortable warm clothes) because the freezing cold air is a shock after being in a giant hot bath for 4 hours.
- Shampoo and conditioner: I’ll get onto the hair care tips in a minute but bring your own GOOD quality shampoo and conditioner. You will need it unless you want to have scratchy brittle hair for 2 weeks afterwards. I’m not kidding.
Things to do in Blue Lagoon
Ultimately, the main thing to do in the Blue Lagoon is just bob around and have a good time, but there are a few things you can do to make your time more fun. Don’t miss out on doing these, because the chances are they’re included for free. Your first drink, and the mud mask are actually included for free in your entry price, so it makes sense to do them.
1: Get a mud mask
Once you’ve entered the main pool you can swim to the mud mask bar, which is a little round hut near the left hand side of the lagoon. There’s someone inside handing out dollops of mud mask gel that you put on your face. It’s healthy, relaxing and good for your skin, but they tell you to wash it off after 5-10 minutes.
The first mud mask is free but you can then pay for better masks and things like that from the same bar, and they’ll charged to your wristband which you pay off at the end, when you leave. When you wash the mask out in about 5 minutes, make sure to not get any of the water on your lips, it tastes horrible.
2: Get a smoothie
You can swim to the bar in the Blue Lagoon and order a drink! They have a limit of 3 alcoholic drinks per person, but because I don’t drink, I ordered a smoothie. It was actually really good, and freshly made. It contained Ginger, Carrot, Mango, Banana and some other things. The size of the drinks is not impressive, but you can always buy another one afterwards.
They also sell ‘Skyr’ smoothies which are blended smoothie drinks made with Skyr. Skyr is Icelands local cheese/yoghurt type product which tastes really good in drinks like strawberry smoothies. It just acts at a cream or thick milk to make the smoothie that bit smoother.
3: Bob around happily
Just bounce around and enjoy the experience. If you get too hot, just stand up and the freezing air will cool you down again. Or just walk around the edge or over one of the little bridges, you’ll very quickly be ready for the hot water again! (If you’re coming in Winter, which you should!).
There was actually quite a lot of space considering how busy it was. There were of course LOADS of people but you always felt like you have enough space around you, and because there’s steam everywhere, you don’t really notice other people!
4: Make friends
Bob around and talk to people. It’s interesting because you’ve got people from all over the world just sitting in a bath together, having a good time. Make friends, talk to people and ask where they’re from! Try not to do what I did, and step on a womans foot underwater!
5: Explore the entire lagoon
Don’t make the mistake of just sticking to the edge of the lagoon! It’s actually really big, and you can explore the entire lagoon by just swimming around it. The pool is about 200 metres across (not exact measurement, but it felt very big) so explore the different parts of it! There are little walkways, caves, bridges and little bits you can go into, so make the most of it!
6: Go to the steam cave
One of the more interesting little bits of the lagoon was this little steam cave I found! It’s located on the left hand side as you look at the lagoon from inside, and it’s a tiny cave made from lava rock. I think the cave itself is man made but it blends perfectly into the lagoon. There’s actually another sauna area made from lava rock too, but it’s not as hot as the main lagoon.
7: Swim to the edges
The edges of the lagoon are nice because you have little streams of underwater freezing water mixing into the hot water coming from the middle of the pool. This makes a lovely effect as the streams of different temperature water run over your body underwater! Just be careful about the sides because things gather there, like bunch of hairs and cups and even white stuff from the rocks. This leads me nicely onto:
8: Find the secret freezing cold corner
There was one edge of the lagoon that seemed colder than all the others. So in the center, you have the geothermal pillars which pump boiling water into the pool. If you get too close to these, the water is REALLY hot so be careful!
Then as you go out towards the edge, there’s a tiny little nook of the lagoon that collects cold water! You’ll know when you’ve found it because it’s really cold. As you face the lagoon from inside, swim right towards the bar and then keep going round the bar, and when you’ve found it you’ll be able to see the Blue Lagoon restaurant.
Ignore the many discarded cups and things that seem to collect in that corner, and you can enjoy freezing cold water as well! I don’t know if the waters cold in that spot all year round, but in Winter it was freezing, giving a lovely contrast to the lagoons hot water!
Things to NOT do in the Blue Lagoon
Sadly, with every tourist destination there is a downside (or several). The Lagoon was no different, and there were a few things I noticed that annoyed me a little bit, that you should try and avoid doing in the Blue Lagoon. That being said I had a REALLY good experience at the Blue Lagoon!
1: Make loads of noise
Of course have a good time, talk, etc but there were some people who were screaming for a moment or two, and it just ruins the environment for everyone else. Don’t scream and shout and certainly don’t drink or get drunk before coming here, it’s not the place for drinking! People are there to relax and enjoy the beautiful experience, not to hear idiots drunkenly shouting.
It blows my mind that people would come to somewhere as beautiful as Iceland just to drink, but some people do! My thinking is you can drink anywhere, so why come to the most expensive beautiful place in the world and just sit around inside drinking. There are many hikes and awesome experiences to have in Iceland, but getting drunk isn’t one of them.
2: Drop your cup into the water
There were lots of plastic cups floating near the edges of the lagoon. This is because lots of people drop their cups into the water when they’ve finished drinking from them. Don’t do that, there are plenty of wooden platforms to leave you drinks on but ideally, just take them back to the bar! If it’s windy, the cups can be blown off the platforms, so your best bet is to just take the cups back to bar.
3: Drink or taste the water
I’ll be honest, the water tasted horrible. I didn’t mean to taste it, but when I washed the mud mask off my face I accidentally got a bit of the water on my lips and it’s very salty. I don’t know if it’s bad for you, but it certainly doesn’t taste good! Bring your own drinking water in a bottle in your bag and go inside if you need a drink. Don’t fall for the scam of buying super expensive water from the lagoon bar!
4: Get the water on your hair
You may have heard about ‘Blue Lagoon Hair’ and how the water ruins your hair. This is true. The water contains various things like sulphites which are not good for your hair. They actually suggest putting conditioner in your hair before entering the lagoon, but this doesn’t protect it at all I found.
My girlfriend had her hair ruined because it was dangling in the water, and she covered it in loads of conditioner before going in. The thing is, putting conditioner in your hair is great but the second it touches the water, it’s going to wash out!
I covered my hair in conditioner and then tied it up so it wouldn’t dangle in the water. My hair STILL got a bit dry afterwards but nowhere near as bad as my girlfriend. Her hair was knotted, dry, and felt really scratchy and rough to touch!
This hasn’t gone away and it’s been days. Your best bet is to wash and condition your hair before entering the lagoon, leave the conditioner in your hair, tie it up, and then try not to get any water on it. I didn’t see anyone with shower caps, but that would also be a good way of protecting your hair.
Then when you EXIT the lagoon, wash it again, and condition it again, and let it naturally dry. You could also use a hair drier which is in the changing rooms for you to use for free. In fact, your hair might freeze In the cold air if you don’t dry it!
5: Bring food into the lagoon
I didn’t actually see any food floating around, but I imagine every year some people bring food into the lagoon and drop it when they’re done. Food is not meant to be eaten in the Blue Lagoon, so don’t bring any into the water!
If you need to eat something, either use the cafe or bring some food in your bag, and just go back to the changing room to eat it. The changing rooms are actually really easy to access by just walking back inside, so it’s not like it’s difficult to just eat from your bag if you’re hungry. It would also save you a lot of money.
More tips for visiting the Blue Lagoon
I only visited the Blue Lagoon once, but I spent a long time there, and I always like to fully explore and experiment with places when I go there, so I feel like I’ve got a lot of tips to share about the lagoon! The only thing I wish I’d done was maybe get some more photos, or bring a fully waterproof camera in. There were times when I’d been filming a lot, but my arms got tired and cold, and I couldn’t put them in the water because I had to hold my phone above the water.
If I’d had a waterproof camera I could have just put my arms and hands and the camera into the water to warm up and rest! It wasn’t the end of the world though, and I actually had shorts that had a waterproof pocket inside them (Aquanautica).
The lockers are a bit confusing
Although the process of checking people in and getting from the coach to the water was easy, the lockers were not at first. I had to ask someone how they worked, but basically you have a digital wristband when you go in. Find a locker that’s already open (the door is swinging open) and go and put your things in it. Then close the locker, and a timer will start counting down on the central screen on the wall of lockers. Make sure to tap your wristband against the scanner before the timer hits zero.
This links your wristband with that locker that you just closed, and so when you come back to open it, just tap your wristband against the scanner and your locker will pop open. The lockers are a weird shape too, like a big L shape. I’m not sure why but I think you’re meant to hang your coats in the long section. I just stuffed all my things into it and closed it.
Then you walk down through the showers section and out into the lagoon. There’s only two options for where to go in the changing rooms, either exit which is back to the reception and out of the complex, or ‘to lagoon’. The system is actually simple and easy, but the lockers just took me a minute to figure out.
Your wristband controls it all
The digital wristband you get when you go in logs all the things you do, so when you buy an extra drink or a mud mask, it adds it to your digital ‘tab’. Then the you check out and go to leave, they’ll charge you for whatever extra you’ve used or bought. I didn’t actually buy anything extra, because to be honest, you really don’t need to.
By the time you’ve swum all around, explored the steam rooms, bridges, caves and things, got your free mud mask and drunk your free smoothie, you don’t feel like you’re missing anything. There are people of course who buy extra, but I don’t think you really need to.
Blue Lagoon vs secret lagoon
There is actually more than one geothermal lagoon in Iceland believe it or not, and the Blue Lagoon is just the most popular one. I would say that from research and word of mouth, I believe the Blue Lagoon is the most popular because it’s the best, but I might be wrong about that. I know that there is another alternative known as the ‘secret lagoon’ which is similar, but not as big.
There are also not options there like mud masks, a bar, and indoor changing rooms and things like that, which make the Blue Lagoon the best and most obvious choice because in freezing weather, you need a changing room to say the least!
Should you get the expensive package?
A couple of friends of mine got the more expensive package when they went to the Blue Lagoon and paid extra for slippers, and robes. I’ll say this, you REALLY don’t need to to do that. The actual distance you’ll need to walk from indoors to the hot water is literally 3 meters. You can see the distance actually in my videos of the lagoon, it’s really not far at all, so I don’t see when you would ever need the robe and slippers.
The floor is not that icey, and you can easily just walk it barefoot. I walked around for ages barefoot in the ice and didn’t mind too much. If your feet get cold, just step into the hot water! The other thing, is that if you hire a robe, when you use it to walk the 3 meters to the water you’ll have to hang it next to HUNDREDS of others on a massive hanger thing, and there’s no easy way of finding YOUR robe when you’re done.
Pointless, and not to mention it’s super expensive. I also didn’t try the restaurant, because I didn’t go to the Blue Lagoon to eat! I went there to check out the huge geothermal spa. So it’s up to you which package you go for, but from my experience, the basic default package is MORE than enough to fully experience the Blue Lagoon.
Visiting the Lagoon before or after a flight (It’s near the airport)
The only thing I didn’t do right, was I planned it slightly wrong. We stayed in Iceland for 4 days and flew home in the evening of the 4th day, but we actually went to the Lagoon on the 3rd day meaning we had to wait an entire day before our evening flight on the last day.
The Blue Lagoon for those who don’t know, is located REALLY close to the airport and they actually have an entire building for storage of suitcases and luggage because so many people go there before or after a flight. If I went back to the lagoon, I’d make sure to go straight there from the airport, or go before an evening flight! Especially because the transport is expensive from the city centre of Reykjavic, you might as well just combine it with the airport and save your money/time.
What’s the best time of year to go?
Again, I’ve only seen it in the Winter, but I’d say Winters the absolute best time to go. You want the surrounding rocks to be covered in snow and ice to give you that slightly more special warm feeling in the water.
One of the best spas I’ve ever been to was a spa in Sussex, England and it was snowing at the same time! I was outdoors in a hot tub with snow falling around me, and it was magical. The same can be said of most spas, it’s better and more refreshing when it’s FREEZING outside the spa! I’d say book the Iceland trip and Blue Lagoon for a time when you know it’s going to be cold and snowy. The lagoon rarely closes, even in Winter, so it’s perfect!