Diamond Beach and Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon

We arrived early - before all the tour buses. It was great - only 2 other cars in the parking lot.

If you're traveling from the west, toward the east, you'll come to the one lane bridge. The right turn off before the bridge is for Diamond Beach, not labeled in English. Over the bridge is a turn off on the right for another section of Diamond Beach and one on the left for Glacier Lagoon and the Cafe. We parked there and explored the Lagoon first.

We spotted some seals, but none were close by and none were white, not that we only care about the white ones. Our friends were here in Nov 18 and got a really cool picture of a white seal.......well I'll just show you:

Thanks for the great photo Alanna! We hoped to get this lucky too, but so far, it's a NO:(

But they sure were cute!

These are either harbor or gray seals and they stay here year-round.

Most were swimming and a couple were lounging on the icebergs.

They were fun to watch - cruising along and sometimes diving down to feed, giving us a look at their spotted bodies.

My 'kids' wanted to be on an iceberg.

These were anchored to the beach, for now.

Good thing we saw this sign after the fact.

We really enjoyed watching the icebergs float by.

Found this on Abby's phone - like it better.

We thought this one looked like a growling bear.

Need a closer look?

A look to the north where the glacier is coming down from the mountain and breaking off into the river. Hope you like ICE if you come here!

Looking west. Not much activity here - just very scenic. Wish our pictures could better capture the beauty of this destination.

The glassy water made this entire area feel so serene. So glad we arrived before the crowds.

Need a seat? Check out the stacked snow and ice on top of the 'chair'.

The sun really helps to bring out the blue color and brighten the white snow. It actually glistens!

Looking back toward the Ring Road bridge and out to the Mighty Atlantic.

We visited this area 3 times during our trip to Iceland - twice on this day. We arrived first thing in the morning and then returned after our Ice Cave tour to see how it had changed.

So what has changed? The open flowing river to the Atlantic was now nearly clogged with icebergs, lots of people had arrived, the sun was behind the clouds, the seals were more active, the parking lot was packed with cars and buses, some of the snow had melted making walking the parking lot and trails a very wet experience.

We returned one more time while traveling back to the west from Höfn in the east. On that day, it was raining and a ton of snow had melted making things very messy. I don't think we even got the big cameras out of the car.

We were so thankful that we were able to visit in the morning and really see this amazing place at its most beautiful and without the crowds.

I was anxious to get to Diamond Beach, so I started walking toward the bridge.

Looking back toward the glacier. I can't wait to see the diamonds on the beach!

I did hesitate briefly to shoot this.

I didn't walk over, but they appear to be banners displaying some of the highlights of Iceland.

When I reached the beach, I thought it was just WOW!

We loved the waves swirling around the icebergs.

Fine black sand, round black stones, and bright white diamond ice crystals on the beach.

Some of the ice crystals were small and could be picked up....some even had cling-ons......

while others were fairly large.

I really have no explanation for this! A girl and her hunk......of ice.

Unfortunately it was time to leave this amazing place for now. Goodbye Birdie - Stay Warm!

Our Glacier Trek and Ice Cave Exploration Tour was AWESOME! Check it out with the link below.

After an interesting weather evening, night, and morning, and a beautiful stop at Stokksnes Peninsula, we finally made it back to this lovely location!

The sun was trying to peek through and we were cheering it on.

This one was very cool and pretty popular too.

We shot with both our zoom lens (70 - 200) and our wider angle (24 - 105). This is our go to/multi-purpose lens.

What we won't do for a fun shot - sometimes they work out, other times.....well......

Every ice crystal/diamond we find is totally unique from the next. This one had lots of holes in it.

Notice that the previous iceberg had a very jagged edge whereas this one has been smoothed to a very sleek finish by the rushing waves.

Here's a zoom in.

Us practicing social distancing.

Just look out for the sneaker waves!

I didn't know I could run that fast.

They were obviously unphased.

Nice Kiddo!

Love the coloration and how straight the stripes are.

Look at the variation of these icebergs.

Al and Abby spied out the sheep on the iceberg. They found the bear earlier too. I don't typically see things like that.

How to gracefully get on an iceberg.....I'm sure it's a thing. Look it up in Icebergs for Dummies or on YouTube.

I told her we needed to hurry because I saw this iceberg rocking in the big waves!

You never know when they will break away and be washed out to sea! Don't be on it!

LOOK OUT BABY GIRL!!!

Keep Smiling! I'm still shooting:)

No worries. She only got a little wet, did not get swept away, and was still smiling. A little while later, we saw this iceberg floating out to sea.

There are even more diamonds on the beach than there were yesterday.

They stretch as far as the eye can see.

We've been here for well over an hour, and we just don't want to leave. Well maybe the Gen-Z'er, who gets easily bored, unless it fits into a phone screen.

I was trying to get everything in focus and I thought my settings were good, but obviously not.

Just one more cool design.

Oops, another one.

Okay, that's the last one I'll post.

Anyone know what the longest Icelandic word is???

Anyone know what it means????

OK....one more. Feels like you're on top of the world!

LOVE IT HERE!!!