Written on by kristin
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As I sat on the side of the RIB (rigid inflatable boat), looking up at the snow-coated mountains rising out of the sea all around me, I wondered what in the world I had been thinking. Surely I had experienced a moment of temporary madness when I had signed up to snorkel in the Lofoten Islands — islands located well inside the Arctic Circle at 69deg north — in March. March meaning winter. Winter meaning temperatures that hovered around -4C (and water temperatures around 4C) as I dangled my fins in the water, too afraid to even put my foot in.

The view from my GoPro as I sat on the side of the boat, trying to convince myself to get in.
The boat rocked back and forth in the very light current as Therese, the owner of Aqua Lofoten, looked on expectantly. I turned to her — which was very difficult to do, entombed as I was in multiple layers of thermals and a drysuit — and asked if anybody had jumped in only to crawl straight back into the boat.
“Yes,” she said. “A group of Thai girls went snorkeling with a group of divers one summer, and they jumped in and then crawled up onto those rocks and asked if we could go home. Since people were diving, they had to wait on the rocks for about 30 minutes before we could leave.”
Great. That was in the summer.
Did I mention that Therese had also told me that I was the first snorkeler of the year? That no one else had been insane enough to sign up to snorkel while snow was still on the ground, and in fact all through the RIB boat?

Proof that I did actually get into the water!
Something about that comment spurred me to get into the water. Maybe it was the thought that since we didn’t have any divers with us, I did always have the option to crawl back out and head somewhere warmer.
When I hit the water, I didn’t feel cold. I felt surprised. The drysuit did its job and kept me warm; I was almost warmer than I felt snorkeling on Fitzroy Island in Australia’s winter last year! The one part of me that was not warm, however, was my face. Putting my head under the water was like getting an instant brain freeze. Luckily it wore off just like a brain freeze did too, but I occasionally had to come up just to let my face defrost a bit.

A sea of kelp and a bit of orange coral for good measure).
It was worth putting my head under the water though. At our first stop, I was immersed in a garden of waving kelp. I poked around the rocks, moving more to keep my body from getting cold than anything, but I didn’t get much chance to explore before Therese beckoned me back to the boat. I gracefully got back into the boat, feeling like a beached whale, only to find out that we had to move because the people digging a tunnel for the road above were about to blow something up. Probably for the best that we moved then.
Our next stop was next to a rocky outcrop with an amazing view back into Reinefjord. By this point, I was feeling more confident about not freezing to death, so I jumped right in. Soon I was back in the sea of kelp, except this one had hidden outcrops of bright orange coral hiding behind it. It was beautifully colourful — much more so than I ever would have expected for sea life living in such a cold sea.

The view from our second snorkeling stop outside the fjord.
I must have snorkeled there for at least thirty minutes, with a short break to warm up my face and hands, especially the one that had a leaking seal that had soaked my thermals up to the elbow. I was almost as happy floating on my back, gazing at the snow-powdered mountains of the fjord, as I was underwater.
The best stop on our whole tour was one I considered not doing, having really felt the cold as the RIB powered back into the fjord (although it was still much warmer than the trip out, when I couldn’t reach my gloves and I felt like my hands were going to fall off from the cold wind. That was the coldest I was the entire trip). Therese told me it was very different from what I saw at sea, and I knew I would kick myself if I didn’t at least check it out.

Purple corals and other sea life in Reinefjord.
It was insane what a difference there was. There was no kelp in sight; instead, the entire seabed was covered in a fine, white sand — sand that people would be very excited about burying their feet in had it been above the water. On top of this sat hundreds upon hundreds of spiky black sea urchins. When I got closer to a rocky outcrop, I found all sorts of starfish, very few with the standard five legs. They were iridescent, shining a beautiful purple in what was an already near-purple sea. The coral was lighter, but still purple, and was much more plentiful than the coral on the rocks outside the fjord. It was different to any sea life I’d seen before — not surprising, since most of my underwater experience has been in the tropics — but just as engaging. Only the creeping cold finally forced me out of the water.

One of the many jaw-droppingly gorgeous views we had on our way in and out of Reinefjord.
As we sped back through the fjord, which under the glorious blue sky was one of the most jaw-droppingly gorgeous views I’ve ever seen, I leaned back and smiled. Many people had thought me crazy for wanting to snorkel in the Arctic. Perhaps I was, just a bit, as evidenced by the fact that no one else had chosen to snorkel yet that winter. But you know what? This little bit of crazy was an experience that I will never forget.
What do you reckon? Would you try snorkeling in the Arctic in winter?
Aqua Lofoten runs snorkeling and diving tours (as well as other boating tours, like one to caves with 3000 year old drawings in them) from Reine in the Lofoten Islands year round. A half-day snorkeling tour like I did costs 750kr per person; if you are on your own you can pay the cost for 2 people and the tour will still run.
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[…] found the most difficult thing to do was to hold on to the reins with my thick mitts on. After nearly freezing my hands off on a RIB boat in Lofoten, I was loath to ever leave thick gloves behind, but the fact that they […]
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[…] around two hours floating in near-freezing water and were much looser than the drysuit I wore to go snorkeling in Arctic Norway. The only opening was where the thick rubber sealed around my […]
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[…] are where I started my month-long Arctic sojourn, and I couldn’t have found a better place. From snorkeling in the fjords to walking in amongst the wooden racks filled with drying fish, I made the most of my time there […]
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[…] the craft chugs to keep itself happily hovering above the ice, I understood that; I also knew from my experience snorkeling in Lofoten that I could offer to pay for the minimum number of people and it would usually be accepted. That […]
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[…] never been one to let “being sensible” get in the way of an adventure. After all, I went snorkeling in the Arctic Circle in winter and got myself declared missing after going hiking in bad weather on New Zealand’s West Coast. […]
That sounds like an amazing experience! Not that I’ve snorkelled anywhere as such.
It really was…but I would maybe recommend that if you try snorkeling, you try it in slightly warmer climes first 🙂
I wouldn’t volunteer to be the first in the water that season 😉 BUT the pics you took are so beautiful that if I had an opportunity, I would do this in a heartbeat.
LOL Heather, I didn’t know I was the first volunteer for the season until I was already there and getting suited up! And thanks — it was really hard to take a bad photo of Reine. Such a gorgeous place.
Wow…….. You kind of made me speechless! Sounds like an amazing experience though and I’d love to try it, I’m actually off to Lofoten next week but it’s for work (once again), hence no time. Well, next time. But it looks like you’ve had some amazing times up north all in all!
Hi Satu! So glad you enjoyed reading about the experience and I hope you have a great time in Lofoten even if it is for work. It’s gorgeous just to walk around there even if you don’t have time to do any activities. Where in the islands are you going?
And yes, I had some fantastic times up north. It’s hard to believe just how good it was!
I’ve been meaning to reply to you for a loooong time! I flew to Leknes, and spent the first night in a rorbu in Sakrisøy and the 2nd in Svolvær. But we did lot of touring around the islands. I so want to go back, loved it!
Hi Satu, that’s ok, I totally understand being busy! With my short break to London this week and a pile of blogging from Lapland left to do, I’ve been a bit slow to reply to things recently as well. Anyway, it sounds like your trip was great even if short (although it was only 1 day less than I spent in Lofoten). I would have loved to have toured more around the islands on a good day. I could tell from my bus ride between Reine and Svolvær that the scenery was spectacular…if only anything more than 20 feet off the ground was visible! I’m with you on wanting to go back. Such a great place!
OMG! you’re so brave! I salute you! A cool experience indeed! I’m not sure if I can actually dip in that water.
Thanks! I definitely didn’t feel brave as I sat on the side of the RIB attempting to get in. The temperature is a really difficult thing to get past but it’s more of a mental block than anything since the thermals & drysuit were enough to stay warm. No way did I think I’d stay in the water for a whole hour though!