ActivitySouth Iceland, IcelandDec 15, 2025

Boating Among the Icebergs at Jökulsárlón

The glacier lagoon by amphibian boat and Zodiac

Blue icebergs floating on the dark water of Jökulsárlón under storm clouds — Icebergs drifting across Jökulsárlón. Photo: Emma Francis

Jökulsárlón is the one stop on the Ring Road that every traveller agrees on. Here is how to see it from the water, and when the light is best.

A lake that calves

Jökulsárlón sits at the foot of Breiðamerkurjökull, an outlet glacier of Vatnajökull, and it is growing every year as the ice retreats. Blocks the size of houses break from the glacier face, drift across the lagoon for months and finally squeeze out through a short channel to the sea.

You can see a great deal from the shore, but the boats take you close to the icebergs, some streaked black with volcanic ash, others the impossible blue of compressed ice that has had all its air squeezed out. Seals haul out on the floes and follow the boats with frank curiosity.

There are two options. The amphibian boats drive straight off the beach and cruise the near part of the lagoon for about 40 minutes; they suit families and anyone who would rather stay dry. The Zodiac tours take twelve people in survival suits further up the lagoon towards the glacier face, which is the more memorable trip if the weather allows.