A Change in Perspective

Paddling through Iceland with Florida native and avid explorer Liam MacLean

What prompted the idea to travel to Iceland?

I was born and raised in Florida and still live here in North Central Florida amidst many beautiful springs that are perfect for paddling. My girlfriend and I have wanted to go to Iceland for the last couple of years and after looking at flights one night, just decided to go since we had some time. I really wanted to photograph some of the glacial rivers as well as lagoons and thought it would be a really cool place to paddle and be able to explore with the paddle boards.

Was this your first time traveling with your SUP?

I have travelled all over Florida with the paddle boards, but this was my first time traveling via plane with them. The boards were easy to travel and bringing them through the airport wasn't a problem at all. I definitely think some planning ahead is necessary; we had to have a large van to accommodate them along with all of our gear, but that’s to be expected on a van camping trip.

Tell us about your itinerary.

We arrived in Keflavik and immediately headed towards Reyjavik so we could stock up on food and supplies for the trip. We then started on the Ring Road towards the southern coast of Iceland.

We stopped as often as possible to just take in the beauty all around and stopped at a couple of the glacial rivers including the Olfus River to paddle the beautiful bluish green waters descending from the glaciers . There were a ton of waterfalls like Seljalandsfoss, and we ended up spending the night in front of Skógafoss . The next morning, I put a paddle board in the small creek that led up to the massive waterfall, paddling against the very strong current and got up to a close but safe distance to the falls.

From there we continued along the southern coast and hiked to the glacier at Sólheimajökull and went to see the church and explore the small town of Vik, which was surrounded by the blooming lupins . The next day we hiked a few trails to some scenic canyons and made it to Jökulsárlón late in the afternoon. We put our boards in there to explore the icebergs up close and encountered grey seals darting under the ice and popping their heads up to check us out.

Driving almost through the mountainous interior of Iceland felt like a different planet with snow everywhere and the sun low on the horizon. We didn't see a car for hours (it was the middle of the night). We came across some of the geothermal sites with boiling mud pits on our way North and had it to ourselves for a couple of hours.

From there we continued across the northern section of the Ring Road and ended up making our way to the Easternmost point in Iceland to see the cliffs where the Atlantic puffins had come to mate . We were able to get within feet of them and spent hours shooting and exploring the massive cliffs.

Out of all we saw and did, my favorite location to paddle was Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon . It was a wild experience to paddle amongst icebergs the size of buildings at almost 11 pm with the sun still above the horizon. We spent hours there shooting photos and just taking in the experience of paddling among the ice. I think it was the coolest place I have paddled and will be hard to beat.

How did paddling in Iceland differ from other places you’ve paddled?

Paddling around Iceland is a very different experience than in the US. There is far less public access to many of the waterways we saw along the road, and you cannot really just pull over on the side of the road or just turn down a street and park somewhere.

Also, the weather can be very unpredictable. One minute you can be experiencing 20 plus mph winds and the next, almost no wind at all and glassy calm waters. This happened while at the glacier lagoon and I wasn't sure if it was going to be safe to paddle, but after about an hour of waiting, the wind died down it was beautifully calm.

Overall, it was the most new/foreign place I had ever paddled, and I will never forget it.

Did you need any specific gear for paddling in Iceland?

The water temp ranges from 35 to 40 Fahrenheit and the air temperature was in the mid 40s, so it was important to wear a wetsuit as well as layers of wind protection in case we fell into the water.

What were some of the challenges of paddling in such a different locale?

It is important to keep your distance from the icebergs as they can break up or fall apart without warning. One of the icebergs, about the size of a small house, broke in half while I was about 100 feet from it, which was a very real reminder of how dangerous but beautiful they can be.

Even with some of the challenges we faced, it was one of the coolest, most mind-blowingly beautiful places I have been and every spot we put the paddle boards in was amazing. I would say it is a challenging, but extremely rewarding location for paddlers.

Do you have any upcoming trips with your board planned?

I don’t have any big trips planned, but we do plan on taking a paddle board down to South Florida to find and shoot photos of baby turtles and bioluminescence later next month.

Lastly, I would like to add just how versatile my iROCKER boards have been, they have been used for shuttling gear and as a float for freediving to paddling through icebergs and have always been extremely reliable, convenient and easy to use.

Follow along with Liam’s adventures on Instagram @liam_maclean