Visiting ice caves under glaciers is a popular activity in Iceland and there are several companies offering such tours. I’ve only done one such tour and so am not in a position to recommend one provider over another. My tour happened to be with Glacier Guides, which I chose solely due to availability based on my schedule. Note that these tours are often filled well in advance so be sure to make arrangements when booking other aspects of your itinerary before you travel.

I’ve learned that there are two kinds of caves you might visit — light and dark. A light cave is one with ice on top that glows with that unbelievably blue color you’ve undoubtedly seen many times — that’s why you are taking the tour, right? Dark caves, by contrast, have ash and other glacial sediments piled on top and the insides of these caves are — dark.

Which kind(s) of caves you will visit depends on what caves the guides have managed to locate and which of those can be reached by your average tourist. (Note that I am not talking here about private tours, which may make a wider array of options available.) You may be lucky and visit when some awesome cave is available and safe, but don’t count on it.

I learned the hard way that when you check in for your tour and are issued crampons, helmet, ice-axe, etc., you should ask the guides to describe in the detail the caves you will be visiting that day. Why? So you don’t lug unnecessary gear that won’t be usable on the glacier. For example, last week our tour visited a tiny ice tunnel (bluish), a small (on your hands and knees) light cave, and a less small (but still hunched over) dark cave. My Pentax 645Z medium format camera and tripod were completely useless on this trip and I wish I had left them in the Land Rover rather than humping them up the glacier. By contrast, my Olympus Micro Four Thirds camera was perfect.

Also, something to keep in mind about Glacier Guides ice cave tours at Skaftafell — they guide on the glacial tongue Fjallsjökull and due to the glacier receding over time, one needs to walk over a mile from the bus to reach the base of the glacier, which is why it pays to leave unnecessary weight behind.