Strytan
Depth is the range from the top of the site to its usual maximum; "recommended cert" is the mainstream-agency level operators usually ask for, not a legal rule. Currents and visibility change daily — treat everything here as planning ranges.
Strytan is a tower built by the sea itself: mineral-laden fresh water at around 70–80 °C has vented from the fjord floor for thousands of years, precipitating a chimney that now climbs some fifty meters off the bottom. Divers circle a structure found nowhere else at recreational depths, watching hot water shimmer out of vents like heat off summer asphalt while cod and pollack shelter in the halo of warmth. Atlantic wolffish den around the cone's base and nearby boulders, anemones crust every surface, and the whole scene plays out in a green-lit Arctic fjord. Protected since the early 2000s, it is northern Iceland's essential dive.
The moment you come for: A living hydrothermal chimney, shimmering vent water, wolffish and anemone-covered slopes
Topography: A geothermal chimney of mineral deposits rising from about 65 m to within roughly 15 m of the surface
Entry: Boat dive in Eyjafjordur, run from Hjalteyri near Akureyri on Iceland's north coast; tides dictate the schedule.
Know before you splash
Hazards: Depth, cold and tidal current in the fjord; the chimney top at about 15 m is the shallowest reference.
Conservation: A protected natural monument — the chimney's structure is fragile, so nothing is touched and buoyancy must be dialed in.
Nitrox: Worth it here — profiles sit in the range where enriched air meaningfully extends no-stop time (with the training to use it).
For photographers
Wide angle: ★★★★★ · Macro: ★★★☆☆ — editors' 1–5 rating of what this site gives each style of shooting