Hæ!
There has been a bit of chinwagging in these parts recently about tourist numbers being way down compared to recent years (excluding Covid years, of course), based on sluggish hotel bookings.
No one knows why this is, but people surmise it’s because tourists are scared of the volcanic eruptions we have been having. Which makes sense. After all, there have been reports in the international media (and also some blogs and newsletters though I can’t imagine which ones, *cough*) about eruptions and evacuations and towns being swallowed and tourists potentially getting cooked in the Blue Lagoon and fun stuff like that.
Here’s the thing. When we Icelanders talk about these events we likely have a much different picture in our minds than the rest of the world does. We know—and they probably don’t—that our volcanic eruptions are limited to a tiny fraction of the island, and pose no threat to anyone who may be touring the rest of the country. You wouldn’t even know it was there and happening unless you happen to see it from your plane as you arrive or depart from Keflavík International Airport.
Yes, we’ve had a number of eruptions over the last three years (seven? eight? lost count), and they turned out to be hell for the 4,000 or so people who lived in the town of Grindavík, which happens to sit right atop that relatively small area where all the geological unrest is happening. Those folks have had to leave their homes and probably won’t be going back in the foreseeable future, which yes, is awful for them.
But life has gone on as normal for everyone else in the country. We are not impacted by this in any significant way.
However, I can imagine that people who are not familiar with Iceland or what is happening may get a completely different picture. After all, they hear all the sensational headlines and see the photos of eruptions that are usually taken a few hours after they start, when they are at their most formidable. The most recent ones have all started like that, but fizzled down to a almost nothing within 24 hours or so. However, those images don’t generally make the news.
I get that the rest of the world imagines a big, threatening volcano ready to explode and lay waste to the entire island. Either that or ground flights for many days like our Eyjafjallajökull volcano did back in 2010 (and who wants to be stuck inside Iceland, with the hellish prices around here? Not even the natives).
But the truth is that tourists are more likely to be trapped inside Iceland by a severe storm than by any of the recent volcanic eruptions. In fact, not a single flight has been cancelled because of those (not that I can recall, anyway), while flights have been cancelled on a few occasions due to weather.
The reason Eyjafjallajökull grounded all those flights back then was that it started beneath a glacier, and when magma touches water—any kind of water—it produces a lot of ash. Hence the ash cloud that airlines the world over feared would turn to glass when it hit their aircraft propellers, and destroy them.
What we have now on the Reykjanes peninsula is a series of effusive eruptions, which means that a fissure opens up in the ground and magma oozes out. If it oozes for a while it builds up into a crater, see image above. There is no explosive activity, and no real danger involved unless you happen to be right there when the fissure opens. Of course scientists can never tell exactly where or when it will happen, but they do have a pretty good idea, and if you stay out of that area, you’re golden. (And for the record, I personally would be inclined to stay away from the Blue Lagoon—Iceland’s most popular tourist spot—right around now … but that’s just me.)
So go ahead and book that trip, especially if you want to avoid the crowds. Now is the chance!
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The volcano eruption was a highlight of my recent trip and we had the experience of a lifetime in our helicopter ride around the erupting crater.
I’m sorry to hear that tourism has been negatively affected recently, as I imagine the island depends on it. For me, it is simply an insurmountable expense. A few years ago I could’ve managed it if other circumstances had been amenable, but now everything must go to basic survival: a clean, dry and warm place to live; enough to eat; clothing; hot water for showers; wifi so I can read about places like Iceland…yhere is nothing left over for travel.