A magical Winter Visit to the Secret Lagoon at Flúðir in South Iceland

Iceland can be magical in the wintertime when the low angle of the winter sun lights up the surroundings. On a very cold winter day in the darkest month of the year, I visited Gamla laugin - the Secret Lagoon in South Iceland.

The temperatures were low -14 degrees C and it became even colder later in the day at -18 degrees C, but it was still, clear skies and beautiful white snow covered the whole of Iceland.

Top photo: at the Secret lagoon

People soaking in the Secret Lagoon on the shortest and coldest days of the winter

This lovely pool is upcountry in South Iceland, close to Flúðir village. We Icelanders call it Gamla laugin - the Old pool.

It was renovated and reopened in 2014 and is now known amongst our foreign visitors as the Secret Lagoon. 

Gamla laugin is one of the oldest swimming pools in Iceland, dating back to 1891, so it is quite special. From 1909-1947 swimming lessons were held at the pool and hundreds of youngsters learned how to swim in the turf and rock pool.

The old changing facilities at the Secret Lagoon

By that time more modern concrete swimming pools were being erected in Iceland and in 1945 a new swimming pool was erected by the school at Flúðir - and Gamla laugin fell into oblivion, as it were.

The pool was reopened back in 2014 with modern facilities, as opposed to the old hut you see in my photo above.

I am so glad that actions were taken to reopen Gamla laugin, as it is wonderful visiting it and both the locals and our foreign visitors love soaking in the pool.

The new facilities at the Secret Lagoon

What makes the Secret lagoon special is that it is built by a river, Litla-Laxá - Little Salmon river, in a geothermal area and while soaking in the hot pool you will be able to see a spouting geyser.

Or if you are lucky you might see the Northern lights in the wintertime.

This geothermal area is called Hverahólmi - the Hot spring holm and the hot springs provide the water in the lagoon. You can walk around the geothermal area on wooden paths and have a look at the hot springs.

The bridge was frozen solid and the low winter sun cast a pink hue on the area

Here you will find Vaðmálahver - the Homespun cloth hot spring, where people used to wash wool and laundry in the olden days, and cook food and hot spring rye bread called hverabrauð. 

On a previous visit to the Secret lagoon, I cooked an egg with a fishing rod. The Icelandic word, vaðmál, means woolen cloth.

Other names for the hot springs are f.ex. Básahver - the Stall hot spring (2 of them) and Litli-Geysir - Little Geyser, which spouts frequently up to 2 meters in the air.

It is named after the original Geysir close by, which spouted up to 60-80 meters in the air when it was active.

Cooking eggs in Vaðmálahver hot spring late at night in June

When I first visited the Secret lagoon back in June 2015 on the longest day of the year, there was floating in the pool with underwater music and massage. 

Then the secret was out and more and more people visited the lagoon. But even without the floating and massage visiting the Secret lagoon is magical.

I have written about my first visit to the Secret Lagoon in another travel-blog: The Golden Circle and Floating in the Secret Lagoon at Flúðir in South Iceland

My first visit to the Secret Lagoon was in June when daylight is unlimited - photo taken late at night

This time around I visited the Secret Lagoon on a Golden Circle bus tour with Bustravel, where my husband guides from time to time. And sometimes I tag along just for the fun of it.

The second stop on that tour was at the Secret Lagoon and everybody went for a dip, apart from the Icelanders (my husband and I) as we thought it was way too cold ;)

It was -14 degrees C and for the past few weeks, we had experienced almost unheard-of freezing temperatures in Reykjavík.

The vapour from the hot springs had created icicles - a lit-up greenhouse in the background

It snowed a lot and then we had a long period of still weather and sunshine and freezing temperatures.

I must say that I quite liked it as everything looked so beautiful and you get used to the freezing temperatures if you dress in layers. 

I saw many people wearing caps in the Secret Lagoon, so that might be a good idea if you go for a dip in the lagoon in the wintertime.

A birdhouse in a frozen tree at the Secret Lagoon

Another reason for me not soaking in the lagoon was that I have been there many times and this time around I wanted to photograph the surroundings which looked quite magical in the frost and snow. I had never seen it looking like this.

The snow had created a winter wonderland at the lagoon, and when the low winter sun appeared and cast a golden hue on the lagoon it became even more magical.

The low angle of the winter sun created a magical golden world at the lagoon

When I was photographing the surroundings of the geothermal area, Litli-Geysir started bubbling and hizzing and spouted right in front of me!

It took me by surprise and seeing that this is boiling water then I stepped back, and then stepped back again, as you can see in the video. I thought that I was too close for comfort. 

Caution is needed in geothermal areas and here we don't want to take any risks. It is of the utmost importance to stay within the fenced-off areas.

Accidents have happened here and in 2016 a man fell into a hot spring when he stepped over the boundaries of the fenced-off area. That said, visiting geothermal areas is one of my favourite things to do, especially when the sun is shining.

In another travel-blog of mine, you can see how various and beautiful the geothermal areas in Iceland are: A Local's Favourite Geothermal Areas in Iceland

Litli-Geysir spouting before the winter sun reached high enough in the sky to light up the lagoon

The temperature of the lagoon is lovely, 38-40° Celcius (100° Fahrenheit) and it is rich in geothermal minerals.

The geothermal water in the Secret Lagoon has a constant flow and completely renews itself every 24 hours.

In the Westfjords of Iceland, you will find another old swimming pool that was built in 1889 by a geothermal area in Reykjanes (the pool is cold now), and prior to that, there was an even older turf and stone swimming pool offering swimming lessons, erected in 1837.

The old swimming pool in Reykjanes in the Westfjords

So you can see that Icelanders have made the most of the geothermal water in the geothermal areas. And we have very old stories in the Sagas telling us that the first generations in Iceland soaked in geothermal pools.

There is a myriad of swimming pools in Iceland, as we have plenty of geothermal water, and every town and village in the country has a swimming pool, and the capital city has many.

We Icelanders love visiting the swimming pools and in the mornings you can hear some very interesting conversations in the hot tubs, which act as a kind of Stammtisch.

On the frozen bridge by the Secret Lagoon

The volcanoes in Iceland are quite destructive, but living on a volcanic island also means that we have plenty of geothermal water for which we are very grateful. 

Apart from using the geothermal water for our swimming pools, we use it for heating up our houses and for agriculture and horticulture and you can see many greenhouses in the hot spots of Iceland, like in Hveragerði, Reykir, and many many more. 

Greenhouses by the Secret Lagoon

If you see names such as Reykir, Reykjavík, and Hveragerði or place names with "laug" in the name then you will know that they were built by a geothermal area.

And if you know what you are looking for then you will see several boreholes and pumping stations in the middle of Reykjavík city. There are quite a few close to my home.

Sunrise by the Secret Lagoon

We stayed at the Secret Lagoon for an hour and a half and then continued on our journey to the beautiful sights on the Golden Circle, which looked quite spectacular in the snow and heavy frost.

This is a 10-hour tour but we extended it to an 11-hour tour as we were having so much fun :) This is the tour I joined Bustravel - Golden Circle Tour with the Secret Lagoon. 

In my next travel-blog I show you the Golden Circle part of the tour: The Golden Circle in Iceland looks quite magical in the Wintertime

Here you can see the location of the Secret Lagoon on Google maps.

Have a lovely time in Iceland :)

Ref.:

Fornleifaskráning