For the exploring diver, few things are more exciting than underwater wrecks and cracks. Recently, few divers from a small town in northern Iceland went pioneering into one such crack, in an area not commonly known but perhaps too few divers. As far as we know, this crack hasn’t been explored before and is definitely not photographed with a professional camera.
The entire area is quite exotic and one of a kind. Positioned amid Kelduhverfi at the bottom of Öxarfjörður, with the national park in Jökulsárgljúfur and the famous Ásbyrgi nearby. The landscape is designed by volcanic action and glacial movement since the latter part of the last ice age, which was about 10-700 thousand years ago. Active volcanoes are not far away and the area still is seismic active, with minor earthquakes occurring now and then. The last major drift in Kelduhverfi occurred in 1975-76, changing and forming many of the cracks there, which belong to the same fracture zone as one of Iceland’s well-known volcanic areas Krafla.
The day before our trip, we contacted the landowner to explain our plans. Fortunately, he was almost as excited as we were, but emphasized that diving in his land was totally at our own risk. By 9 in the morning, we stood in front of the farm in such wonderful weather. His daughter guided us to the cracks which we had passed a few minutes earlier without noticing them, positioned on both sides along the road to the farm.
To begin with, our hopes went sour because of the amount of sediment afloat in the biggest crack. But with some exploration in the area, we found one bit with especially clear water, similar to the famous lake at Þingvellir with Silfra crack as a favorite spot for many divers. The formation of the area here is of the same geological sort as in Þingvellir, lying on the North-Atlantic Ridge where the North-American and Eurasian plates drift apart. The water is freezing, varying from 2 to 6°C, because of the glacial origin of groundwater. The brilliant clarity of the water suggests a current through the crack from underwater springs. We decided to have a go at it and save the rest of the area for later.
It's difficult to climb - or slide rather - down to the water with all the equipment and a careful approach is very important to make sure nothing goes wrong. With steep cliffs on both sides and our heads just above the water, we were ready to descend into a world that had been hidden until now. It was quite a unique experience to drift in between the edgy cliffs with those striking colors of blue, green and brown all around us and the water was so extraordinarily clear. We only went down to about 14.5 meters, but the total dept must be at least 10 meters more in some places. We noticed some tunnel and cave openings as we went, but those will wait for later exploring, which only well-trained cave and wreck divers are certified to do. The crack is about 0.8-1 kilometers long, but the clear part is only about 4-500 meters. Not one but three huge rocks lie stuck between the cliffs and swimming under them, thinking about earthquakes and volcanoes is not cut out for those who are weak-hearted.
The crack is divided by rock slips in several places. In the south end, we could swim under the hanging rocks into quite small and shallow bits, though it can be very dangerous. Surprisingly, we saw small trout swimming curiously around us, but not too close though. Later, the landowner told us that as a young boy he used to fish there with some result, but the catch was never big. 30-40 years have now passed since the last fish was caught there.
Before returning home, we thanked the 83-year-old farmer for sharing his knowledge of the area and great hospitality and showed him the photos we had taken.
We are determined to go back for better photos and stay for a longer period. We have now found one more hidden treasure and simply must explore it further.
Below: Iceland explorers Einar Hansen and author Gísli Gudmundsson prepare for a photo dive inside the “crack”.
The entire area is quite exotic and one of a kind. Positioned amid Kelduhverfi at the bottom of Öxarfjörður, with the national park in Jökulsárgljúfur and the famous Ásbyrgi nearby. The landscape is designed by volcanic action and glacial movement since the latter part of the last ice age, which was about 10-700 thousand years ago. Active volcanoes are not far away and the area still is seismic active, with minor earthquakes occurring now and then. The last major drift in Kelduhverfi occurred in 1975-76, changing and forming many of the cracks there, which belong to the same fracture zone as one of Iceland’s well-known volcanic areas Krafla. 
