Vatnshellir, Lava cave in Snæfellsbær, Iceland
Vatnshellir is a lava tube about 200 meters long inside the Purkhólahraun lava field, reached by a narrow metal staircase that winds down between dark rock walls. Its main chamber has a high ceiling, and deeper sections named Bárarstofa, Vættagangur and Iður sit roughly 30 meters below the surface.
This lava tube formed when molten rock drained from beneath a hardened crust during an eruption from the Purkhólar craters. People probably first entered the deepest part after 1960, and the cave was studied in 1968 before unsupervised access was stopped to protect its fragile formations.
The name Vatnshellir means water cave, because people from nearby Malarrif used to bring their cows here to drink. Today guides point out the white colonies of bacteria and fungi on the ceiling that shimmer when light hits them.
Visitors need warm clothes, gloves and sturdy shoes because the inside stays just above freezing all year, and the ground is uneven with stairs to climb. Tours run in all seasons, and everyone receives a helmet and flashlight before entering the cave.
The cave system has four separate cavities, and the three lowest ones are collectively called Undirheimar, or the Underworld. Only the topmost part is open to visitors, while the deeper chambers hold lava falls and thin lava straws hanging from the ceiling.
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