Strýtan is a completely unique diving wonder as it is the only geothermal cone found in the world that you can dive to - all the other being 2,000 metres or deeper. It is the first underwater protected area to be designated in Iceland.  On first impressions, some may consider this to be a somewhat boring site, but as one nears ever closer to the chimney and witnesses the freshwater and seawater mixing together, this opinion is sure to change.

Strýtan are giant submarine geothermal silica cones that rise from the 70 metre deep seafloor in Eyjafjörður.  An estimated 100 litres of 72°C hot water per second flows out of the cone and into the sea; the water of which experts believe to be around 1,100 years old. The warm water acts as a very reliable hand warming technique; many divers often remove their gloves to warm up their hands during a dive here.

Of marine life to be discovered on this dive, macro enthusiasts will be interested to spot flabellina nudibranchs, crustaceans, sponges, starfish and anemones. You can also expect to see cod, pollock, starry rays, lumpsuckers and wolfish.

Strýtan started forming towards the end of last ice age, about 10,000 years ago.  The cones are made from magnesium-silicate from the sea, similar only to those found between 2,000 and 6,000 metres or deeper.

It was 1997 when Erlendur Bogason and his friend Árni Halldósson, captain on the whale watching boat Níels Jónsson found the 55 meter high cone they named Strýtan.

Today Erlendur, who now works as a commercial diver specialising in Research Diving and underwater photography leads guided small group dives (1 person minimum) to Strýtan.