Far up in the north of Iceland is the little village of Hjalteyri, home of the Strytan Divecenter. From there, you can access a spot which is unique in the world: Strýtan – a smoker which is accessible for normal scuba diving.

Smokers are vents at the ocean floor, where hot water escapes into the sea. Along these vents chimneys form, which can reach quite some height. Strýtan reaches about 50m above the sea floor, ending about 15m below the surface. Along these smokers lots of life is found. Even the areas where the boiling hot water exits the smoker extemophile bacteria and other organisms can be found.

A little further from Strytan is a field of more, smaller smokers, called Arnarnesstrýtur. While not raising so high as Strýtan, they are in shallower waters. Also there lots of life is found. Special highlight of the dive is Willy, the Wolvefish. He is used to divers and comes to get petted and fed by the divers. Although he has pretty impressive teeth, he is a friendly fish.

As my underwater camera broke down before the dive, all underwater pictures shown here were taken by Andy Otto.