Google Sightseeing takes you on tour of the world as seen from satellite, using the free Google Earth program, or Google Maps in your web browser. Each weekday your guides James and Alex present new weird and wonderful sights as suggested by readers.

The editors: James & Alex

The Blue lagoon

Friday, 16th September 2005 by James

The Blue lagoon is a geothermic spa located just outside Reykjavik in Iceland. Surrounded by volcanic rock the pool is actually the run-off from the nearby Svartsengi power plant, although it is completely safe (it’s a geothermic power plant).

The opaque water contains silicon which is apparently good for the skin and the water is very warm, even during winter. There’s a little wall here stopping you from going any further out as people have been burned, just going near the wall was quite sore! It’s a surprisingly romantic experience, so much so that I proposed to my fiancĂ©e while we were swimming around :D

9 Responses to 'The Blue lagoon'

  1. 1. Reed says:

    Congratulations on your engagement!

    That whole segment of the Reykanes peninsula has a fascinating landscape, too, you can see in the satellite image. The surface is just very rough volcanic rock, in small (2-4 foot) protrusions and dips.

    I just took a vacation to Iceland, most of my photos are geotagged for geobloggers.com: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alyaandreed/sets/930406/
    (hit the “geotagged” link below a photo).

    Check out the glacial icecaps. There is a place you can drive up to the edge of one, it’s interesting: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alyaandreed/42468714/in/set-930406/

  2. 2. MrWhipple says:

    Gee, that doesn’t look anything like the movie.

  3. 3. Greg says:

    The Blue Lagoon is an awesome place, I went there en route from Glasgow to Boston in December 2003, freezing outside, but the water was just so delightful…

    Course, it meant for the maddest of mad dashes from the pool to the locker rooms when it was time to go…

  4. 4. gIMpSTa says:

    MrWhipple are you joking?

    That’s not the same blue lagoon. That one is in the bahamas. And it’s a very nice place might I add!

  5. 5. Bill says:

    where is pretty baby?

  6. 6. Papapenguin says:

    Some spectacular imagery here:

    Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth

  7. 7. Adam says:

    There’s another Blue Lagoon at Comino, Malta.

    Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth (only low res)

    Some pictures here:
    http://www.maltavista.net/en/list/topic/135.html

  8. 8. Rob says:

    Papapenguin, that is the Skeidararjokull glacier. Just to the east is the Skaftafell National Park which is very beautiful - I was there in August, it was great sunny weather, very surreal hiking in a T-shirt and looking down on the vast glaciers. The pattterns left by the sediment on the ice are incredible: Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth

  9. 9. Vasko Ackovski says:

    The Blue Lagoon in Malta is one of the BEST beaches you can visit! But, going there in summer is too hot (I would reccomend spring or autmn) and the trip to the beach is disguisting because it’s too far from the civilisation if you dont have your own car or rent. You would have bad time getting there with a bus. But, still going there even with a bus is worth seeing that beuty!

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