Silfra Fissure in Iceland is the only place on this planet where you can dive between two continents.
Touching North America and Europe at the same time. Source
Located in Iceland’s Thingvellir (Þingvellir) National Park, Silfra fissure is a gap formed between the North American and Eurasian plates on the divergent tectonic boundary. Simply saying, it is the only location in the world where you can swim directly between the North American and European continents.
Silfra fissure opened in 1789, due to the movements of the North American and Eurasian plates, which run all the way through Iceland. The two plates separate at about 2 centimeters (0.79 inch) per year, building up tension between them and the earth mass above. This tension is relieved through periodic major earthquakes at approximately ten year intervals, causing cracks and fissures to form in Þingvellir valley, with Silfra being one of the largest and deepest of them.
The Silfra frissure above the water. Photo: Alf Igel
This enormous crack is filled with some of the clearest water in the world – so clean and pure actually that it is drinkable and you can look over 100 meters underwater. The reason for this exceptional purity is a century-long filtration process – this is how long it takes for the water to reach Silfra from the ravines emerging from Langjökull glacier about 60 kilometers north, by passing underground through the translucent lava fields in the region.
There’s one catch though, as the water is freezing cold — about 35 to 39 degrees Fahrenheit year-round, to be precise.
The location is made even more special by multiple shades of gem-like blue and green. Photo: Hoiseung Jung/Shutterstock
But it’s definitely worth is, as the location is made even more special by multiple shades of gem-like blue and green (blue is the last color that water absorbs). And, with such clarity, you can even see rainbows when the sun rays refract through the water when the weather is fine.
