I know Iceland is an island…

But tonight I'm actually on an island off Iceland. But, that's starting at the end of the day, so let me get back in order. I started the day early, as I was snorkeling at Silfra at 9 AM. I made coffee, got myself organized, and headed to the site. It's quite an operation, run by multiple dive stores, with help from the Thingvellir National Park. There were 6 people in my group with a divemaster, and, in next to no time, they had us in our dry suits and heading for the platform to get in the water. Dry suits are great—you stay dry and (somewhat) warm in the suit, except for your head and hands, which are in neoprene gloves and a hood.

Of course, that means that your hands and your face (except for what is covered by your mask) are exposed to the cold water, in this case, the 34˚F water. Honestly, for the first few minutes, my face hurt so much I wasn't sure I could do it. Then, fortunately, my face got numb and all was well.

The divemaster took photos during the trip.

It was an amazing place. The visibility was about 100 m and the rock formations and the way light played on the underwater structures were beautiful. I was surprised by how much algae was growing on the rocks. There were several kinds, including one type that looked like bright green spaghetti.

Algae on the rocks at Silfra. (This photo is from the dive company files.)

After the dive, I climbed to the top of the ridge on the side of the North American tectonic plate. At the top, I discovered that it was so busy up there because you could just drive up from the other side. But where's the fun in that?

The view from the top (on the North American tectonic plate). The ridge you can see to the left is the Eurasian tectonic plate. The two plates are separating at a rate of about 2 cm a year.

I moved on, and at the recommendation of one of the couples on the dive, decided to take the ferry out to the Westman Islands, and that's where I am now. My campsite is in a huge caldera. (It's too dark for pictures, so I'll take some tomorrow.) Oh, on the ferry, as we were arriving, I saw this cool building. Turns out, it's a church, supposedly built by Norwegians, and called, not surprisingly, the Black Church.

The Black Church

Also, I asked a nice woman if she'd take my picture as we approached the islands. I didn't remember until I saw the picture that I'd never combed my hair after the dive trip. Yep, I looked like this all day.

In the morning, I'm going to climb the caldera, as I've been told that there are puffins both on the inside and outside of the caldera. But, in the meantime, I went to town and had delicious local fish for dinner.