Blue Lagoon Take Me Away

We initially didn't have plans to visit Iceland on our European vacation, but when we found out we had an 8 hour layover, we decided to extend our trip by a day so we could see a little of the country before returning home. We knew we were going to be tired and sore from 9 days of sightseeing Paris, London and Ireland, so what better way to end our travels than with a soak in Iceland's Blue Lagoon?

You remember those old commercials talking about "Calgon, Take Me Away?" The same can be said for a dip in the Blue Lagoon. The geothermal spa is something that I've seen featured on travel channels and websites for years and it was something that I really wanted to experience for myself. It's one of Iceland's most popular tourist attractions, often visited by celebrities too. You can reach it in under an hour from the Reykjavik airport, so if you have a long layover, it's a nice spot to unwind while you're waiting for your connecting flight.

My girls were a bit nervous as you do have to shower before entering the water (there are attendants in the dressing room making sure you are showered before heading to the spa) and they were not wanting to strip down in front of a bunch of strangers to do so. Thankfully, there were individual stalls that offered privacy for bathing so their fears were quickly squashed.

The water is very rich in salts, so it is recommended that you smother your hair in the conditioner provided in the shower before getting in the water. Even with the conditioner, I would not encourage dipping your head into the lagoon water because it will zap it of all of its moisture. My hair felt dry and brittle for a month after our visit and I regretted making that mistake every day until it got back to its normal healthy state.

With your admission, you do get 1 mud mask for your face and 1 drink from the concession stand. They'll give you a wristband that you'll have scanned as you get your mask and drink, and anything extra you purchase will be tracked through the band. You'll settle your bill upon checkout, so you do not have to take cash/credit cards with you into the spa.

Be very careful washing the mask off because of the high salt content in the water. I can tell you, it burns like crazy when it gets in your eyes! And most likely you will have the saltwater on your hands, so rubbing them will only make the burn worse.

Us girls opted for a Skyr smoothie as our drink choice. Honestly, we thought they were horrible. Very bland and not sweet at all. We ended up tossing them in the trash before we were halfway through drinking them. However, Jason was pretty damn excited over his beer! (don't mind the water spots on the pic. I was still learning how to use the GoPro)

They say the water is around 99 to 102° F, but it didn't feel very warm to me. Jason thought it was the perfect temp as he tends to run hot, but I was a little chilly until we got out and headed for the sauna. The girls didn't seem to mind the water temp either way.

Before we even entered the Blue Lagoon, I saw a little stream outside with the beautiful milky blue water. While lovely to look at, don't dip your toes in because it is ice cold!

Admission was a little over $60 each, and you do have to schedule your check in time in advance. We ended up staying for 2 hours, but for me, I was growing bored after only 1 hour. The lagoon isn't huge, and there's only so many laps you can walk around it before you're dying to get out. My honest opinion is the Blue Lagoon does not live up to the hype. I felt a little let down with our experience with the chilly water, the icky smoothies, and dried out skin, hair and salty burning eyes. Don't let that deter you from planning a stop in though if you're going to be in Iceland. I still think it's an experience that everyone should have once in their life. Once being the key word. I won't go back on our next trip to Iceland, but I'm glad that I did have the opportunity to visit once to see for myself what the fuss is all about and I think you should too.

Have you ever wanted to visit the Blue Lagoon in Iceland?