It’s cold and a bit intimidating but it is 100% worth it!!! Oh my - when you look down and start floating, it is like flying over an otherworldly canyon.
Unfortunately the caving part of the tour was cancelled due to earthquake activity, but this snorkelling part was extremely well done - good equipment and well explained - just do it!!
We did the dry suit snorkeling, booked with Adventure Vikings thru GetYourGuide.com. The website seemed like you could choose wet or dry, but once there we were told we were all doing dry and would have had to book wet in advance.
An amazing experience with well-trained guides. They were extremely helpful and friendly, while keeping safety the number one priority. It takes 2.5-3 hours, but the snorkeling itself is about 35 minutes. A lot of the time is spent getting the group outfitted in thermals, dry suits, head cover, gloves and more. That’s not a complaint, there is just a lot of stuff to put on and they have to help each person individually. But they are very efficient and organized.
Be prepared for a loose fitting neoprene suit with tight rubber against the neck and wrists to keep water out. The suit has boots built in to the pants so nothing special needed for feet. They suggest you wear something like long sleeve T-shirt and leggings or thermals, and warm socks. It wasn’t clear on the website what we should wear, so I had on bike shorts which worked ok. Must have socks for warmth and sanitary reasons. Over that they give you a thermal onesie, and then the dry suit. On your hands are neoprene mittens with a separate forefinger and thumb.
There is a second strap that goes around the neck even tighter to keep water from getting in the suit. Over top of that is a neoprene head piece that covers everything but your eyes, nose and mouth. People who are claustrophobic might have a hard time in the suit. Once you get the suit itself on, they keep adding straps and wraps and pieces, it’s tight on the neck, and you have to remind yourself you can still breathe. Especially once you get the snorkel mask and tube on, one has to stay calm and just breathe through the mouth.
The water is very cold, almost freezing point, but isn’t icy. The suit keeps you warm enough, except for the few things that get water on them like your lips and lower face. Since we were snorkeling I was able to lift my face out of the water if I got too cold. Water does sneak in to the mittens. They said not to try to pour it out, that would just make things worse. So we just dealt with it, but hands were very very cold especially towards the end of the snorkeling.
The view of the fissure was outstanding and very beautiful. If you wear glasses and need them to see, you either need to wear contacts for this trip or bring your own prescription mask. No way to wear your glasses and snorkel mask together. It’s challenging if you’ve never had this much gear on before, and don’t know how to maneuver really. I would think you should be at least 12-13 to do this well. It’s hard to keep up with your party and younger kids would get uncomfortable and scared.
The lava cave part of the tour was also very challenging. At least 3 places where you had to crawl through a short spot on hands and knees (or plank-style), lots of bending over and clambering over rocks in low light. An interesting cave, but not the best cave I’ve ever seen. Wet and drippy which wasn’t bad, but not much in the way of natural formations. Two of the stalactites had been stolen by someone a few years back, so there was not a lot to see other than the cave walls themselves and rock layers. I might have skipped this if I had known how much tight clambering we would have to do. Still, our guide was awesome and so helpful! Highly recommend Adventure Vikings. Just be clear on the difficulty of this trip before you sign up!