Words by

Andie Sophia Fontaine

Photo by

Varvara Lozenko

If you find the short walk from the showers into a heated pool chilly, you may want to bundle up before scrolling further.

Nauthólsvík, Reykjavík’s only swimming beach, is a popular spot in the summertime, but that doesn’t mean people don’t take a dip there in other seasons, too. Icelanders will visit this beach even in the dead of winter. While some like to swim in frigid waters, we found swimmers enjoying the geothermally heated inlet last weekend. The water may be warm, but as anyone who was outside then can attest, the outdoors was biting cold. Not a lot of people can see themselves walking dripping wet in a swimsuit in those conditions. Our collective hat goes off to these brave souls.