Diamond Beach: In Iceland, a Gem of a Setting

Hundreds of unique and glittering icebergs floating lazily atop the water, an ongoing show from the earth's premier production house—nature
Hundreds of unique and glittering icebergs floating lazily atop the water, an ongoing show from the earth's premier production house—nature

Jökulsárlón is one of the most photogenic natural wonders you will ever find.

Magellan and I agree with Einar Páll Svavarsson, landscape photographer, local tour guide and author of hundreds of articles on  Hit Iceland—Jökulsárlón alone warrants a visit to the land of fire and ice.

Easily reached, just steps off the Ring Road in southeaster Iceland, it’s one of the few places on the planet where you can get this close to an iceberg. As Einar writes,

What makes it truly remarkable is its unique location at sea level, where the ocean meets the lagoon directly at the shoreline. Picture the magic that happens during high tide, as the warm seawater mingles with the cold glacial water, transforming the lagoon into a mesmerizing sight. This dynamic interaction not only enhances the beauty of the lagoon but also plays a crucial role in breaking down the glacier tongue. And when the tide recedes, watch in awe as the lagoon’s currents carry the icebergs towards the river, guiding them to the stunning Diamond Beach, where they meet their fate in the warm seawater. The dance between the tides, river, and glacial water is a sight to behold, with the icebergs either venturing out to sea or being held back in a captivating display of nature’s forces.

Diamond Beach entrances you: the constantly changing spectacle of a retreating glacier, growing lagoon and floating bergs—large as Nissan Cubes, small as cubed ice—in colours of dazzling white, milky jade, electric blue, sea-green beryl and crystal-clear uncut diamonds.

It was like watching a slow-moving film, icebergs drifting, tumbling and floating in constant motion, cinematography directed by wind and waves, lighting controlled by sun and fog. Continuing that metaphor, we searched to discover the colourists of this natural drama.

Sunshine and the North Atlantic Ocean direct the milky blue colour of the lagoon, a result of the mixing of seawater and fresh water, and the melting ice releasing sediments, minerals and organics.

Time is in charge of the stryrofoam blue and snow white of the icebergs bobbing about, as this explanation from Reddit describes:

Icebergs are created when large chunks of ice break off from an ice sheet or an active glacier. Glaciers form kind of like sedimentary rocks do. Every year, snow falls onto the glacier and pushes down the snow from the previous years underneath it. As more snow is added, the glacier becomes heavier and the pressure increases on the lower layers. The pressure starts to squeeze all the air and other gases out of the ice. Glaciers also tend to move, and the shifting of the ice also increases the pressure, which squeezes even more air out. Ice that’s been under all that pressure becomes very dense. The white ice we see is usually younger and hasn’t even altered as much, so it still has lots of bubbles and stuff in it. Old, dense ice reflects light differently than the newer cloudy ice, particularly in the blue part of the spectrum, which is why it appears blue (because it’s reflecting blue light but absorbing all the other wavelengths). Young ice is white because light gets reflected off the air bubbles etc. equally across the spectrum.

The sun is time’s assistant in creating blue stripes. Melt water is nearly bubble free and when it seeps into cracks in the ice and refreezes, the iceberg takes on the blue tint of frozen freshwater.

Volcanic eruptions are in charge of adding streaks of smoky ash, stripes of pitch-black.

The team of sun and waves create the clear colour of sparkling diamonds. Fugitive icebergs break away from the glacier, fall into the lagoon, slowly melt and drift out to sea. North Atlantic waves shape and polish them, then wash the translucent sculptures ashore to Diamond Beach.

Incidentally, real films have been shot here, leading to Jökulsárlón’s nickname, “The Bond lagoon.” Films, like A View to a Kill, Die Another Day, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Batman Begins, Interstellar and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. as well as the reality TV series Amazing Race, were shot here.

Jökulsárlón (“glacial river lagoon”) is in Vatnajökull National Park, Iceland’s largest national park and the second largest one in Europe after Yugid Va in Russia. The park is named after Vatnajökull, the largest glacier in Europe.

The last glacial advance here was about 26,500 years ago. Between the fourteenth and nineteenth century, this area was farmland, although volcanic eruptions in 1362, and again in 1727, wiped out numerous farms. It wasn’t until 1934 that Breidamerkurjokull glacier, a tongue of the larger Vatnajökull glacier, began retreating, leaving Jökulsárlón in its path.

Vatnajökull Glacier (Image: Copernicus Sentinel data (2019), processed by ESA)
Retreat of the glacier in the Jökulsárlón Lagoon (Image: Mark A. Brandon ResearchGate)

With glacial retreat, the lagoon is expanding about 0.5 km2 per year and has recently become Iceland’s largest and deepest lake. Its maximum depth is now 284 meters, and its surface area has grown to 18 km2 compared with only 8 km2 in the 1970s.

You can sail among the lagoon’s hundreds of icebergs, take a guided tour, visit the glacier itself, venture into its ice caves—even check out movie locations. But the only thing we were tempted to do was return another day when the sun was the director in charge of the setting.

Navigation

Hall, Laura. “The Seven Travel Trends that will Shape 2025.” BBC: January 6, 2025.

Svavarsson, Einar Páll. “Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon.” Hit Iceland. December 12, 2024.

“Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon—Blue Ice and Black Sand.” The Next Crossing.

10 Responses

  1. Super pictures and video. That beach would be the perfect place for a genuine Polar Bear Swim (which is traditional here in Tsawwassen on January 1st). The closest we have been to seeing anything like your video was on an Alaskan cruise in Glacier Bay. We were surrounded by small icebergs and we got close enough to the glacier to watch and hear it calving. The deep blue of the ice is beautiful.

  2. The blue crystallized bergy bits is like a blue raspberry snow cone. And the shot made with the Lume cube is incredible …..more enticing than a Diamond. Nature does it all so simply.

  3. Great topic and one I can relate to only in a much smaller way as I keep close watch on my Local Torch River as it opens and then freezes daily. I am looking for otters that seek out the open areas of the river, they are often seen in the small rivulets that open. And close as the river decided what will be frozen and then open and vice/versa. Often a display of fishing prowess or maybe frolicking on the waters edge in play mode. My local bridge provides the perfect viewpoint to seek out these polar players, travelling over the bridge on my school bus route, four times a day allows various opportunities to keep an eye on mother natures winter playmates. I knew the otters were in the river but did not think to seek them out in winter, a co-worker told me about seeing them in winter and I am so glad she did.🧊🧊🧊🧊🦦

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