Iceland, Silfra Fissure

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lowflyer

Divemaster
Scuba Instructor
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I just don't log dives
This is a dive into a fissure between two separating tectonic plates. I did this dive early January, 2017. Even though the guide said it was a good day weather-wise for the time of year, air temp was about freezing, some wind, occasional snow. There is no indoor place to gear up, and it takes at least an hour for the group to do so and have the briefing, then a walk to the entry point with all gear on, including tank and weights, then a wait for your group’s turn to enter the water behind other groups. We were a bit cold before we got to dive.

After the dive there is a long hike back to the parking area with gear on. I think the trip description says the total walking distance with gear on is about 400 meters round trip.

I was surprised how many people were there to dive or snorkel. I don’t think most of them knew what they were getting into. There were a lot of shivering people.

I was also surprised that many of the divers had just recently been Open Water certified. For them the constantly changing depth of the dive and the challenging circumstances created buoyancy problems. Since many or most of the divers had no dry suit experience, buoyancy was controlled via BCD rather than the dry suit.

Having said all of that, I highly recommend the experience. We were a group of six divers with two guides, who were friendly, supportive, experienced, professional. The provided dry suit and kit was very good.

There is no wild life to see, but the scenery is spectacular in the super clear water. View pictures online. Time in the water about 50 minutes. Deepest allowable depth by park rules is 18 meters.
The water temp by my computer was 36 deg.F.

Do it, but be aware, particularly in the winter. Great experience with great guides and support team. Nice scenery on way to the national park.Biggest negative: winter weather and the crowd, though they do space people out so not much interference.
 
Thinking about this since WOW Air is coming to Pittsburgh with $99 one way flights to Iceland. Thanks for the review. Interesting info regarding the walk and lack of changing facilities.
Just an FYI, most divers use the BC for buoyancy control rather than the suit. That's the purpose of a BC, buoyancy control. The suit is exposure protection. That's the way I teach drysuit and how it is laid out in the new SDI Drysuit course.
 
I would love to do this dive, although the long walk would be an issue. Winter weather not a problem since I love cold.
 
I used Arctic Adventures. One of the other companies (not sure which) has the same owner. I couldn't see much difference in the operations.
Regarding buoyancy and dry suit, I certainly agree with what you say, though PADI still teaches using the dry suit for buoyancy control.
 
Not diving specific, but here's a video showing the dive.

 
PADI still teaches using the dry suit for buoyancy control.
Not exactly. PADI says it depends on the kind of dry suit (shell or neoprene) and the kind of diving (rec or tec). For rec diving with a shell suit, they recommend -- not require -- you to use the drysuit for buoyancy control, so you are not managing two separate buoyancy systems. For all other combos, they recommend using the BCD for buoyancy. Many PADI instructors just go to that point ab initio: use the BCD, and add only enough air to the suit to prevent squeeze.
 
I bow to authority. Thanks for clarifying.
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Here is what it says in summary in the PADI Dry Suit Manual, PADI 2010, Rev. 01/16, page 44 under Dry Suit Guidelines #2:
"Always wear a BCD for surface flotation and backup buoyancy control. While underwater, use your dry suit for buoyancy control. (Note: This community guideline doesn't apply to neoprene dry suits or tec. diving in a dry suit.)"

I guess I took the first part to heart since I'm not a tec. diver or using a neoprene dry suit.
 
I booked for this a while back and just got an email from the dive company today saying they changed their requirements and now require either dry suit certification or 10 dry suit dives worth of experience. I contacted another company and it turns out this is now a silfra requirement... starting march 13th. Super disappointed. I haven't been able to find a dive company in S Florida that has the gear to certify me.
 
I booked for this a while back and just got an email from the dive company today saying they changed their requirements and now require either dry suit certification or 10 dry suit dives worth of experience. I contacted another company and it turns out this is now a silfra requirement... starting march 13th. Super disappointed. I haven't been able to find a dive company in S Florida that has the gear to certify me.
That's a bummer. Although, having recently seen what 6 drysuit noobs look like trying to maintain a steady depth in shallow water with a silty bottom when overweighted, I can sort of understand it.

One possibility might be to do a drysuit certification while you're actually in Iceland. The outfit I went with used to offer just such a course, with the final qualifying dive in Silfra itself, but it looks like that is no longer the case. (And that particular course is "seasonal" too, and not available until May.)

PADI Dry Suit Speciality in Iceland - Scuba Iceland

Having said all that, pretty much everything is 3 or 4 times more expensive In Iceland, so if I were you I'd aim to do it before you go.
 

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