Embracing the Cold: An Arctic Diving Adventure

When I close my eyes and think about diving, the first images that usually come to mind are the warm embrace of the Red Sea and the incredible macro life of Lembeh. Before I became a diver, these were the places I had dreamed of; I had never thought of cold water as a vacation dive location. My diving journey, however, led me to live in Iceland—a place where the air bites at your face as soon as you step outside, where the lakes are frozen in winter, and where the very idea of diving feels like a lot of effort. But on their day, the rewards can be great if you can get through the weather, the cold, the gear, and the changed plans.

For those of us living in Iceland, cold water diving becomes the "norm" and gets easier with time. This, in turn, opens up new destinations. My most recent trip was to the Arctic Circle with Blue Green Expeditions. To dive here is to strip diving back to its most primal form. You're no longer chasing reef fish or easy thrills; you're embracing the wilderness in its rawest state. This is diving as exploration, diving as discovery.

When I tell fellow divers I've just returned from the Arctic, it causes them to raise an eyebrow, to ask questions, and to engage much more than they would if I had said "warm destination." The popularity of polar trips is on the rise. It's new and unique, and people are very interested.

The Allure of the Arctic

I often fly from Iceland to America, and we cross over Greenland. Snow-capped mountains stretch endlessly, glaciers pour into the fjords like frozen rivers, and beyond them, the sea is scattered with ice. It feels like another planet—inaccessible and difficult with little infrastructure or human interference. This isolation and frozen state are the very appeal of the Arctic.

What draws divers here isn't comfort or convenience; it's the challenge. It's the chance to experience an underwater world shaped not by coral or volcanic rock, but by ice. To slip beneath an iceberg and see the creatures that call these difficult conditions home. To look up from the blue and see the frozen underbelly of an iceberg above you.

And then there's the simple exclusivity of it. Tens of thousands of divers may crowd tropical reefs each year, but only a handful will ever dive within the Arctic Circle. To know you've joined that small club and to carry those memories with you is something many people strive for in a world where they are happy to pay for experiences.

Defining the Arctic

Technically, the Arctic begins at 66°33′ North, the latitude of the Arctic Circle. North of this line, the sun never rises on the darkest days of winter and never sets during the height of summer. But as a diver, the Arctic isn’t defined by an imaginary line on a map. It's defined by the ice. Wherever you are surrounded by glaciers, icebergs, and seas that hover just above freezing, that is the Arctic.

For most divers, that means destinations like Svalbard and Greenland. These are the most accessible and the most dramatic, offering both infrastructure and the kind of jaw-dropping scenery that has inspired explorers for centuries. When you’re standing on the deck of a small expedition ship, watching the late-night sun turn the icebergs pink and gold, you know you are in the heart of the Arctic.

The Rise of Svalbard and Greenland

In the last decade, Greenland and Svalbard have grown steadily in popularity as destinations for exploration, which has brought with it a welcome increase in expedition ships operating in their waters. Where once only scientists and the most seasoned explorers made the journey north, modern expedition vessels have opened the door to a wider community of adventurers, photographers, and divers eager to experience the polar wilderness.

For the local communities, this growth has been positive. In towns like Longyearbyen and Ilulissat, tourism has become an important economic driver, creating jobs for guides, boat operators, hotel staff, and cultural interpreters. Expedition visitors tend to arrive with genuine curiosity and respect, providing opportunities for locals to share their knowledge, traditions, and stories on a global stage. The increased presence of ships also means more investment in infrastructure and services, improvements that benefit both residents and visitors alike. Importantly, many of the modern vessels are purpose-built with sustainability in mind, bringing guests who are often deeply committed to conservation. Rather than overwhelming these fragile regions, the aim of expeditions is to create a bridge between local communities and the wider world, raising awareness of Arctic culture and ecology while supporting livelihoods in some of the most remote settlements on Earth.

Svalbard has become something of a poster child for Arctic exploration. Situated between mainland Norway and the North Pole, it offers everything from glaciers to wildlife to history. For us, we arrived in Longyearbyen, the world's northernmost town, knowing it was the last outpost of "civilization" before boarding our expedition ship, the Ortelius. Once you're on a boat pushing into the fjords, the scale of the place hits you. Mountains rise straight out of the sea, and the glaciers seem endless.

Part of why these places are surging in popularity is urgency. Divers know the Arctic is changing. Glaciers retreat year after year, sea ice thins, and iconic species face an uncertain future. There's a powerful pull to witness this wilderness now, while it still exists in its raw form.

Social media has played its role, too. There has been a huge rise in polar content—everything from polar bears and walruses to the iceberg fjords of Eastern Greenland—which has caused a major spike in interest in the area. This year, online flight searches for Greenland alone have increased 120%; it’s really on the rise. In Svalbard, the growth began sooner as it was also part of the tourism rise Iceland has seen. Between 2013 and 2023, the biggest increase in tourism was in colder countries, and Norway has been a key part of that after having heavy marketing campaigns.

Prerequisites for Diving in the Arctic

Arctic diving is not for the unprepared. The water hovers just above freezing, and a mistake here doesn’t forgive as easily as it might in the tropics. Drysuit training is essential, but not just the course; it is important to be diving a drysuit regularly and to own your own drysuit so you become very comfortable in it. You can't fudge your way through it; you need logged dives, muscle memory for buoyancy control, and confidence with cold-water kit. Regulators must be environmentally sealed to avoid free-flows, and undergarments need to be carefully chosen. You will also need two first stages as the tanks will use two valves in case of freezing. I personally, as both a technical diver and a cold-water diver, find it very interesting that the boats use two valves.

While on the face of it this seems like a good idea—you can turn one off if it freezes—the reality is nobody is trained on how to use two valves. They wouldn't be able to reach one in that situation, and they wouldn’t know how to identify which valve had an issue. So, I would highly recommend that you learn this prior to the trip so you are very well prepared.

Fitness matters, too. Arctic diving often means hauling heavier cylinders, climbing in and out of zodiacs, and enduring long hours in the elements. The cold isn’t just physical; it's mental. You need the kind of resilience that allows you to sit in a small boat for hours with icy spray in your face, knowing your reward will be one unforgettable dive.

Most of all, you need the right mindset. Plans change constantly. Weather rolls in, ice blocks a fjord, and wildlife appears where you didn’t expect it. If you need control and predictability, you’ll struggle. But if you can embrace the fluidity, the Arctic becomes an adventure like no other.

How Is the Diving

Firstly, let’s be very clear here: you don’t go to the Arctic just for diving. This is something I have learned living in Iceland. You need to go with the attitude that the diving will be a small part of the overall experience and should make up probably around 25% of your overall experience. You won’t be doing many dives per day, usually just one, and some days you won’t be doing any as you’ll be making crossings, etc.

You will mainly make two types of dives: slopes/walls in the ocean, usually around the edges of fjords, and iceberg dives. For the ocean diving, don’t expect to see the hundreds of fish and densities you will see in warmer seas, but the encounters you will get will be with new and interesting species. My favorite encounters in the ocean this year were of sea angels; we got very lucky with this elusive cold-water species. It was the first time I have ever seen any in 10 years of cold-water diving, and I probably saw around 10 of them during the trip. You can expect to see species such as sculpins, anemones, wolffish, and lots of different crustaceans.

If there’s one dive that encapsulates the Arctic experience, it’s the iceberg dive—everyone’s favorite. Oceanwide and Blue Green Expeditions are very experienced in this, and they will find you a safe iceberg that you can dive. It’s a magical experience for everyone. People lose their minds over the ice; they want to touch it, hug it, and even lick it. It is a wonderful experience to dive around these floating ice cubes knowing that you’re the only person who will ever see or experience this moment, as tomorrow the iceberg will have moved on and will look completely different as it melts and mutates.

The sounds are extraordinary. Icebergs creak, groan, and sometimes crack loudly enough to make your heart beat a little faster. You quickly realize they are alive, shifting and melting, and that brings both beauty and danger. An iceberg can roll without warning, releasing massive chunks of ice into the sea. That’s why guides enforce strict safety protocols: never too close, never under overhangs.

Wildlife on Land

The beauty of Arctic diving is that the adventure doesn’t stop once you surface. Some of my most vivid memories are of the land and ice above the water. I’ll never forget standing on the deck of a boat, watching a polar bear roam the shoreline, its white coat blending almost seamlessly with the snow. Seeing one in the wild is humbling, a reminder that here, we are not at the top of the food chain.

Arctic foxes prowl around bird colonies, their coats shifting from white to brown with the seasons. Reindeer graze on sparse tundra plants, unbothered by human presence. And overhead, the cliffs teem with life: puffins, guillemots, and other sea birds filling the sky with movement and sound. On Greenland’s coast, musk oxen graze the tundra, looking like prehistoric relics. All of this wildlife combines with the diving to make the Arctic not just a dive trip, but an overall experience like no other destination.

Logistics: Making It Happen

Diving in the Arctic is not something you do on a whim. The logistics are complex, and this is where experienced operators come in. Trips are usually run from expedition ships, with dives conducted from zodiacs. Every day is dictated by weather, ice, and wildlife, and flexibility is non-negotiable.

I’ve been lucky enough to work with Blue Green Expeditions, one of the most experienced providers in this space. Their expertise takes the stress out of what would otherwise be overwhelming. They manage permits, safety, and the sheer mountain of logistics that come with polar expeditions. Faith Ortins and co-owner Paul Holbrook are the most respected cold-water dive providers in the world, having run dozens of expeditions to both the Arctic and Antarctic regions.There is no better company to go with than Blue Green Expeditions if you are a diver.

Blue Green Expeditions enriches the trip with knowledge through their own expert team, which includes photographers, videographers, and citizen scientists that accompany every expedition. Lectures on Arctic ecology, cultural history, birds, geology, and much more will also be given by the Oceanwide boat crew throughout the journey.

Packing for these trips is a challenge in itself. You need drysuits with proper thermal layers, regulators designed for near-freezing water, and spares for everything. For photographers, the packing challenge becomes even worse as you need both underwater gear and long land lenses.

You can contact Blue Green Expeditions and view all their upcoming Arctic and Antarctic trips on their website.

Conclusion

Diving within the Arctic Circle is not about ticking another box on your dive log. It’s about stepping into a place where nature still rules, where the environment humbles you, and where every dive feels like a privilege. Yes, it’s cold, it’s demanding, and it requires preparation. But it also offers moments of pure magic, like slipping beneath an iceberg and knowing you’re the only person who will ever witness that view.

The Arctic reminds us why we dive in the first place—not just for the fish or the reefs, but for the chance to experience worlds that challenge and inspire us. And with experienced operators like Blue Green Expeditions opening the doors, this once unreachable frontier is now within grasp for those willing to embrace the cold.