Ever imagined what it would feel like driving on the moon? Little did we know what an epic adventure was ahead of us. This is our story of our epic ice cave tour in iceland, so get your popcorn ready, cuz this is one adventure you will not want to miss!
About the Katla Ice Cave and Tour!
So where exactly were we headed? We met up with the tour guide at Vik at a popular restaurant. After Vik, we made our way north to the Kotlujokull Glacier which is right next to the dangerous and active Katla Volcano. Hence the tour name “Katla Ice Cave Tour” or also known as “KATLA ICE CAVE TOUR UNDER THE VOLCANO”.
The guide picked us up in a Super Jeep with giant tires. These are a must to drive on the dried up lava terrain. The tour guide released the air on the tires and we were off! It felt like we were in a Dessert Safari on the moon!
- Duration: 3 hours
- Language: English speaking tour guide
- Price: $160 – $200
After driving about 30 minutes North from Vik, we made it to the glacier.
We got a glimpse of the marvelous glacier we were about to walk into! The whites, blues and blacks blew us away!
This part of Iceland has had a lot of Volcano eruptions historically. Every time a near by volcano erupted tons of lava ash settled on top of the glacier. After hundreds of years another layer of Ice formed on top, incapsulating the lava ash from that volcano explosion. Its amazing to think how much history of volcano explosion is stored away in this Glacier and is now melting away.
Where to get picked up from?
This tour is available from Reykjavik and Vik. When signing up on the website, make sure to select the correct one. We choose to get picked up from Vik as we were already in the area.
Look out for the Super Jeep!
Gear Required?
Gloves, hat and a winter jacket is a must. The area was very windy and chilly even in the summer time. It only gets worse in winter time. The cave is all ice with glacier water gushing out.
The tour guide supplied us with helmets and metal spike crampons. The crampons are a must to climb the glacier and enter the cave.
I would highly recommending bringing your own flash light. Only the tour guides had flash lights and it quickly became dark and dangerous. We had our own flash lights and were able to navigate inside easily. Also, to truly experience the Ice Cave, its best to have your own light so you can check it out up close.
Inside the Cave
For the longest time ever since we spoke about Iceland, we wanted to visit an Ice Cave, and being fans Game of Thrones, Winter had arrived!
Once you climb up the glacier, the view inside and outside are phenomenal. It feels like you are in a Hollywood movie. Due to global warming the glaciers in Iceland are melting. Inside this glacier it is no different, water is dripping every where and there is a river of ice cold water gushing out.
The path inside is very narrow and only one tour could go in at a time.
The deeper we went in the cave, it got darker and darker. All we had was our flashlights and the sound of glacier water gushing out of the cave.
It felt like walking inside a huge ice cube. The ice was rock solid with ash particles stuck in between. It was dangerous at times, as you had to jump over the river and step down in the cave.
Can you drink Ice Cave Glacier water?
We had watched few youtube videos and seen people drinking glacier water. Our tour guide advised us not to drink the water here, as this glacier is mixed with volcanic ash. There are many other glaciers in Iceland which are safe to drink, however this one is not.
Do we recommend it?
We would highly recommend this tour. It is a little pricey, at about $160-$200 USD per person (depending on the conversion rate). However keep in mind that glaciers are rapidly melting and these caves may not even exists in 10-20 years. In fact there are glaciers in Iceland which are no longer considered as a glacier as they have melted away.
Make sure to check out our full experience below on our YouTube Channel!
Book your tour here with Adventure.is!