Geothermal Wild Swim and Northern Lights Hunt — Away from the Blue Lagoon

The Blue Lagoon costs €60, is always crowded, and was created accidentally in 1976 when a geothermal power plant discharged mineral-rich water that people started bathing in. It is not what Icelanders do. What Icelanders do is find the natural hot pools scattered across the lava fields of the Reykjanes Peninsula — small, unmarked, 38–40 degrees, surrounded by the kind of silence that makes you understand why this country has produced so many writers. I take small groups to a natural geothermal pool that requires a 20-minute walk across a lava field to reach. We swim as the sky darkens. In autumn and winter (September to March) I then run a northern lights hunt from a position away from the light pollution of Reykjavik — this means driving 30–40 minutes on routes I know from 15 years of chasing the aurora. There is no guarantee with the northern lights — they require clear skies and solar activity — but I track the forecast and only run this experience on high-probability nights.