As you read this, we are in Iceland, preparing for some diving in the cold, but amazing, waters of the Arctic circle. We started planning this trip a couple of months ago knowing that we wanted to dive Silfra (it's on our bucket list!) and we worried that slots would fill up. But we also realized that while our main reason for traveling here was diving, that we would also have a lot of other time to explore. This is when I began researching other things to do in the area. I would hate to travel there, just to be scrambling to find things to do during our surface intervals. Here, I have listed some of the things that we want to try to do and see, either on days that we are diving, or on our dry day before we head back to Germany.

1. Scuba Diving

This one is a no brainer for us, but most people don't associate Iceland with diving (unless you are already an avid cold water diver). From what we hear, Iceland has some fantastic dive opportunities. Perhaps the most famous is the Silfra ridge. It is where the North American and Eurasian continental plates come together, and is filled with crystal clear water. I mean, just check out this picture from dive.IS! Hoping that we get some equally impressive pictures while we are there!

But we are also diving at some other sites. We booked the 3 Day Reykjavik tour with Dive.IS which includes dives in the Icelandic Sea and a hot spring. We are completely stoked about this!

2. Blue Lagoon

This is another iconic stop in Iceland. It is a natural thermal hot spring with lots of minerals in the water. In fact, the water isn't clear, it's more like this otherworldly, opaque blue color. It is about half way between the airport and Reykjavik, so many people do this either on their way into town or on their way back to the airport. I'm thinking we will do it on our last day to relax.

3. Thermal Pools in Reykjavik

Known as the Land of Fire and Ice, it's not really a big surprise that there are hot springs just about everywhere. There are some pools in Reykjavik that take advantage of this and we are hoping we have time to visit one of them. I hear that you can get there on the Reykjavik bus system pretty easily, so that's what we will most likely do.

4. Hallgrímskirkja Church

This is a really modern church, which I typically shy away from in preference for older, more majestic cathedrals, but from this pictures, both the inside and the outside of this one look absolutely stunning! You can even take an elevator ride to the top to get an amazing birds-eye view of Reykjavik. Since the days are getting longer there, I think we will have a good chance to catch it at sunset.

5. Rent a Car for a Day Drive

Iceland isn't the cheapest country to travel in, and rental cars tend to be a little pricey, so we won't have one for the entire trip there. We are debating whether or not we want to rent one for our last full day there in order to get out of Reykjavik and see some more of the country. Any opinions on this would be appreciated.