Silfra Snorkeling vs Diving 2026: Certification, Cost & Views

Booking choice: The Silfra scuba dive, from $279 per person. Check dates Compare the options below

Snorkelers float along the surface and look down through water clear enough to see well over 100 m. Divers go down among the boulders and walls of Silfra Hall and the Cathedral, to a maximum of 18 m.

The catch is the paperwork: the national park only lets certified divers with real drysuit experience into the water with tanks.

The quick answer

Snorkeling needs no certification, starts at age 12 and costs $139 to $159 self-drive. Diving needs Open Water certification plus a drysuit certificate, or 10 logged drysuit dives in the last two years; the DIVE.IS dive costs $279 for ages 18 and up, with a maximum depth of 18 m. If you are not drysuit qualified, snorkel.

A scuba diver in a drysuit squeezing between two lava boulders — Divers get up close to the walls and boulders snorkelers see from above.

What is the difference between snorkeling and diving Silfra?

Snorkelers float on the surface in a drysuit with no certification needed; divers go down to 18 m and need Open Water plus drysuit experience.

	Snorkeling	Scuba diving
Certification	None	Open Water plus drysuit certificate, or 10 logged drysuit dives in 2 years
Minimum age	12 (14 for the wetsuit option)	18 on Viator
Depth	Surface	Up to 18 m
Group size	Up to 6 per guide	Up to 3 per guide (DIVE.IS)
Suit	Drysuit, or a thick wetsuit	Drysuit only
From	$139 to $159	$279
Rating	4.9 (5,161, DIVE.IS)	5.0 (2,155)

What certification do you need to dive Silfra?

Open Water or an equivalent certification, plus a drysuit certificate or at least 10 logged drysuit dives in the past two years.

That is the national park's rule. DIVE.IS adds that you need a logged drysuit dive within two years of the tour date if you are certified, or written proof of the 10 drysuit dives from a diving instructor. Bring your certification cards and logbook.

Drysuit qualified? DIVE.IS takes up to three certified divers per PADI instructor into Silfra.

★ 5.0 2,155 reviews · 3 hours · from $279

Explore the Silfra scuba dive

What if you are certified but have never dived in a drysuit?

Either snorkel, or do a drysuit course first: DIVE.IS runs a two-day Dry Suit Course and Silfra dive combo for Open Water divers aged 17 and over.

The combo includes two open water training dives and then one guided dive in Silfra. Plenty of divers simply snorkel instead: one scuba diver who skipped the drysuit course writes that they "would not have seen much more by doing scuba".

A scuba diver in a drysuit exhaling bubbles between tall lava walls — Diving Silfra needs drysuit skills: buoyancy in a drysuit is its own technique.

How deep can you go in Silfra?

Divers are limited to 18 m, and the park bans entering caves or overhead sections; snorkelers stay at the surface.

The fissure goes much deeper in places. Along the snorkel route, Arctic Adventures puts the bottom of the ravine at about 24 m, and the Cathedral is deeper still. You see much of that depth from the surface, because the water is so clear.

A diver with a torch among huge lava boulders in blue water — Divers get in among the boulders on the floor of the fissure.

What do divers see that snorkelers do not?

The boulders, walls and colours of the deeper sections up close, and the view up towards the bright surface.

Snorkelers see the same route from above: the Big Crack, Silfra Hall, the long blue Cathedral and the shallow Lagoon with its green algae. Guests who have done both are split: one calls diving "probably better", another found snorkeling gave them almost the whole experience.

A diver with a torch beside a large moss-covered boulder in Silfra Hall — Silfra Hall, where the fissure opens out over giant boulders.

Is diving Silfra colder than snorkeling?

The water is the same 2 to 4 °C for both, and both wear drysuits, but divers need more fitness and cold-water skills.

The DIVE.IS scuba listing asks for a strong fitness level, against moderate fitness for the snorkel tours, and the same doctor's signature from age 60. Divers carry more kit and manage their buoyancy in a drysuit, which is why the park insists on drysuit experience.

Not drysuit certified? DIVE.IS's snorkel floats the same fissure with a PADI instructor and a heated changing van.

Check dates for the DIVE.IS meet-on-location snorkel

How much does it cost to dive Silfra?

The DIVE.IS dive costs $279 per person, against $139 to $159 for a self-drive snorkel.

The dive includes all diving equipment, the drysuit and undersuit, the ISK 1,500 Silfra fee, a PADI instructor, the heated changing van and hot chocolate with cookies. Photos are sold separately, and Thingvellir parking is extra, as it is for snorkelers.

A diver in a drysuit half above and half below the water line between lava walls — The dive includes the Silfra fee; photos and parking are extra.

Should you snorkel or dive Silfra?

Dive if you already have drysuit experience; snorkel if you do not, or if you want the cheaper, easier way to see the fissure.

Drysuit certified diver: dive: it is a bucket-list freshwater dive.
Open Water diver, no drysuit: snorkel, or book the two-day drysuit course and dive.
Not certified: snorkel.
Travelling with a 12 to 17-year-old: snorkel together.

More on who can snorkel in Silfra snorkeling requirements.

Snorkeling it is? Check a morning slot with the longest-running Silfra operator.

Check dates for the DIVE.IS meet-on-location snorkel