The blue pool
Inside the cave.
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Grjótagjá is a small lava cave near Lake Mývatn in North Iceland, about 57 km in a straight line east of Akureyri. It lies along a fissure running through a lava field, where the Eurasian and North American plates are slowly pulling apart. Inside the cave is a pool of clear, blue geothermal water, lit by light slipping through openings in the rock roof. Locals bathed here until the 1970s, but the eruptions in the Krafla area from 1975 to 1984 raised the water temperature to more than 50 °C. Although it has slowly cooled, bathing in the cave is not allowed today. Visitors can climb down through a narrow opening in the rock to see the water and light inside, and walk along the fissure outside to look into the crack in the ground. Scenes from a well-known television series were filmed here, adding to its fame. The cave is free to visit. The rocks at the entrance are uneven, so take care climbing down, and a visit pairs well with nearby Mývatn sights such as Dimmuborgir and the Víti crater.
Inside the cave.
A crack between plates.
Sights nearby.
Lake Mývatn area, North Iceland
No, bathing is not allowed.
Yes.