Jökulsárlón boat tour: amphibian or zodiac?

Take the zodiac. It’s smaller, faster and goes up the lagoon towards the glacier, which is the part you can’t see from the shore. Take the amphibian instead if you’re travelling with young children, if you get cold or seasick easily, or if you just want half an hour among the icebergs without being sprayed. Neither runs in winter.

The two boats

Amphibian. A large wheeled boat that drives down the beach from the car park and into the water. It holds a lot of people, moves slowly and stays in the lower part of the lagoon, where the icebergs pile up near the outlet. The trip is roughly half an hour to 40 minutes. You stay dry, you can stand at the rail, and the guide often fishes out a piece of ancient ice for everyone to hold. It’s gentle. It’s also the one with the crowd.

Zodiac. A rigid inflatable with a dozen or so people in flotation suits. It’s about an hour on the water, and most of that is spent going where the amphibian can’t: up the lagoon, through the ice, towards the face of Breiðamerkurjökull. The boats keep a safe distance from the glacier, because it calves. You feel the cold more and there’s more spray. The minimum age is higher than on the amphibian; our zodiac listings set it at 8, and some boats at the lagoon set it at 10.

Seals are often in the lagoon, lying on the ice or fishing near the outlet. Often, not always.

When they run

Both are summer tools. As a rough guide, the amphibians start in spring and keep going into autumn, and the zodiacs have a shorter season in the middle of summer. In winter the lagoon partly freezes and the boats stop. Check the dates on the tour before you plan a day around it. Wind also stops the zodiacs more often than the amphibians, so a clear forecast for the drive doesn’t mean the boat is running.

What we sell

Most of our boat options come as part of a longer day. Forty minutes on a lagoon rarely justifies the drive on its own.

• Glacier Hike & Jökulsárlón Zodiac Boat, from €194, seven hours, minimum age 8. The boat comes first, about an hour on the lagoon, back at the car park by 11:00. You then drive yourself about 50 minutes to Skaftafell for a glacier hike at 14:20, with lunch in between. It’s sold for the summer season. A good day, but you need a car.
• Fjallsárlón Zodiac Boat Tour & Glacier Hike, from €169, five and a half hours, minimum age 8. Same idea at Fjallsárlón, ten minutes west of Jökulsárlón. It’s a smaller lagoon with fewer icebergs, but the glacier comes right down to the water and the boat gets you closer to it. Quieter, too.
• Glacier Lagoon (Jökulsárlón) & South Coast Tour with boat ride, from €253, fourteen hours from Reykjavík by coach. The boat ride is included. The listing doesn’t say which boat, so if it matters to you, ask before you book. Around 90 minutes at the lagoon and Diamond Beach, which is tight once the boat is in it.
• Diamond Beach, Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon & Boat Tour from Reykjavík, from €204. Read this one carefully. Despite the title, the amphibian boat is an optional add-on in summer, not included. You book and pay for it separately.

If you would rather paddle, we compare the lagoon kayaks in the kayaking guide. If you’re weighing the 14-hour coach day at all, read the Jökulsárlón day trip guide first.

Jökulsárlón or Fjallsárlón?

Jökulsárlón is bigger, with more ice, and it’s the one in the photographs. It’s also busy: coaches, the café, the car park, the lot. Fjallsárlón is smaller and calmer, and the glacier wall is closer and more visible from the boat. If you only care about the ice, Fjallsárlón’s zodiac is the better hour. If you want the famous lagoon and the Diamond Beach across the road, stay at Jökulsárlón. You can walk both shores for free either way.

Do you need a boat at all?

No. The shore walk at Jökulsárlón is free and good. Icebergs drift past close to the bank, and the Diamond Beach is a five-minute walk under the bridge. Plenty of people stand on the shore for an hour and leave happy. The boat adds the upper lagoon and the glacier face. Whether that’s worth paying for over the free view is your call. We think it is, once.

Our honest take

Book a zodiac, and pair it with something. If you’re sleeping near Skaftafell or Höfn, the Fjallsárlón zodiac and glacier hike at €169 is the one we would pick: less crowded, closer to the ice, and a proper day. If Jökulsárlón itself is the point, the €194 zodiac and hike does the same thing at the famous lagoon.

Pick the amphibian for small children, grandparents, or anyone who’ll be miserable in the cold spray. It’s slow and it stays near the outlet, but it’s still a boat among icebergs.

Don’t come in winter for a boat. Book an ice cave instead and walk the shore.