Blue Lagoon Experiences vs. Blue Lagoon Worries

When I first got to the Blue Lagoon, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was already very tired, as I’ve barely gotten any sleep both the night before my journey to Iceland and on my journey to Iceland itself. I never sleep well the night before a trip, nor do I sleep well on a plane. Besides the fact that I was worried that I was too tired to enjoy the lagoon, I was wary of the prospect of swimming in a lagoon outside in Iceland and the prospect of showering while naked, which I know is considered protocol in Iceland due to the research that I have done before the trip.

“Where was the entrance?” I wondered to myself as we sat on the bus ride to the Lagoon. I tried to tune in to our tour guide, Lena’s, explanation regarding what we were to expect, but my own thoughts were clouding my brain instead.

As our bus got closer and eventually stopped, I looked at the steam that was by the lagoon, and marveled at how amazing it looked. I was awed, but at the same time, I was still nervous at all the uncertainty around showering and being in an outside lagoon. The nervousness only continued to transpire as we were greeted by the harsh cold air. It was suggested to our travel group that we leave our coats on the bus, but I took mine anyway, and I was thankful for my decision.

The building itself was warm and toasty, which had me relieved. I was still feeling uncertain, however, I felt some excitement begin to seep through as well that I was finally here. Everyone around me was excited, despite the exhaustion, and I should be too, right? I’ve heard nothing but positive things about the Blue Lagoon, after all. We had how to enter the locker rooms explained to us, and got wristbands. The color of our wristband indicated whether we were of age or not, which in Iceland is 20.

When we got to the locker rooms, I was nervous. When I saw some other people begin taking off their clothes, I eventually felt comfortable doing so as well. It was cold, and I was definitely uncomfortable, but it was a shared experience and one I’d never forget. It took a while to master the shower, too, as it would turn both on and off unexpectedly.

After that, it was time to go to the actual lagoon. It took my roommate and I a bit to find it, but when we finally did, we noticed that it started from the warm inside, and there was a curtain that led to the outside part of the lagoon, so we did not even have to worry about exposing ourselves to the elements in only our bathing suits.

The lagoon almost felt like a surreal experience. It was pitch black outside, and jet lag had taken us all. However, that didn’t stop the lagoon from feeling very warm, refreshing, and relaxing. After looking around and getting oriented, we found some of our other friends in our travel group. We explored as much of the Blue Lagoon as we could, enjoying the moment.

We were trying to find the drink booth, but we found a different booth with some facial cream made with minerals from the lagoon itself. We were told that it helps our skin, and we kept it on for twenty or so minutes (keyword: The others did so. I accidentally put my head underwater, which cleared my face too early). We eventually did find the drink booth, and we ordered drinks, continued throughout the lagoon, talking, laughing, exploring, taking pictures, and overall having a great time.

Certain parts that we enjoyed were eventually seeing the sunlight brighten the waters of the lagoon, examining the various rocks surrounding the lagoon, and simply enjoying the company of one another. It was a great introduction to Iceland, and remained one of my favorite highlights of the trip.

The experience ended up being what mattered. Unfortunately, I always worry about certain logistics (e.g. ‘how would the showering work? Is it too cold?’ etc.), rather than the experience. This is something that tended to happen throughout my Iceland adventure (and not just Iceland, but traveling as a whole). I’ll always worry about certain logistics before the experience. The ‘what if?’ That’s just who I am. However, the resulting experiences and memories I get are worth all the worrying. I wouldn’t trade them for the world.