Stunning video: Growing interest in Kayaking down Icelandic waterfalls

By Staff |Jun 6 2016

The latest adventurer to descend Goðafoss waterfall by kayak took advantage of the great weather over the weekend to take the dive down one of Iceland’s most picturesque waterfalls. A large crowd of travellers watched as the unidentified kayaker sailed down the river. A local man, Steingrímur Sævarr Ólafsson, shot this video which shows the feat.

As readers of Iceland Magazine have noticed there has been a growing interest in kayaking down Icelandic waterfalls in recent years. Iceland is perfect for these kinds of adventures, with an abundance of powerful and breath-taking waterfalls.

Read more: An amazing video follows kayakers down 12 Icelandic waterfalls

And it’s not only during the summer months that adventurers are braving the bellowing glacial rivers.  Earlier this winter a German kayaker became the second person on record to kayak down Goðafoss waterfall in the winter.

Read more: German adventurer kayaks down a frozen Goðafoss waterfall in winter

Andri Þór Arinbjörnsson, the chairman of the Icelandic Kayka-Club told the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service that there has been an explosion of interest in kayaking down waterfalls in Iceland. The most popular waterfalls are the waterfall Faxi in Tungnárfljót river and Aldeyjarfoss waterfall in Skjálfandi, but Goðafoss has also become very popular. Aside from the beauty of Goðafoss, the main reason is that kayakers can choose several different starting spots of varying difficulty to enter the waterfall. The lowest drop is only 8 meters high.

Last fall two kayakers Ben Brown and Anton Immler visited what they described as the “Kayaking mecca” of Iceland to explore and descend some of the best known waterfalls of Iceland. The video of their journey shows why so many have been drawn to this high adrenaline sport!