Our trip to Finland was full of firsts for us! I love trying new things and one activity that was unreal and so fun was ice floating in Rovaniemi! What is ice floating? Read on to find out more about this unique adventure you can experience in Rovaniemi, Finland!
Our Ice Floating Company
For our ice floating adventure, we used the company Safartica! Safartica operates in Rovaniemi and Ylläs. They’re dedicated to providing their customers with the best Lapland experience! In addition to ice floating in Rovaniemi, there are many other activities you can enjoy with them!
Click for a list of all their activities here!
Ice Floating in Rovaniemi – What To Except:
Safartica van picked us up from our hotel Santa’s Igloos Arctic Circle. We appreciated this as it was convenient and stress-free! It was about a 30-minute drive to where our ice floating would take place.
We pulled over and walked down to a cute cabin to get ready for this fun adventure! Safartica supplied these goofy red, very flattering (lol) suits for everyone to wear. These suits were worn over our clothes and were what helped us stay afloat in the water. They also provided wool socks and balaclava. These wet suits covered your feet and hands.
Once we were in our wet suits, we strutted our stuff down to where we would be ice floating. Usually, I don’t go swimming in frozen lakes, but not today! Today, I was challenging myself to do something completely outside my comfort zone.
As we walked down the snowy path from the cabin, we began to see the small lake that we would be floating in. Thank goodness there was a man-made ladder to help us ease into the water. At this point, you find yourself thinking to yourself, “I can’t believe I am going to do this!”
We each took turns climbing down the ladder into the water. As you’re getting in you feel a lot of pressure around your legs which is weird at first but goes away as soon as you lay back and start floating! The suits proved to be amazing as once you were in you felt buoyant and cozy as you are able to float effortlessly in this freezing water.
I couldn’t believe how easy it was to float! I honestly didn’t think it was going to be that simple. It was so peaceful to just lay there and enjoy the sounds of nature while feeling the snowfall on our face.
5StarTip🌟: One small warning, do not move your head too much one way or the other because it’ll cause your face to get covered in ice-cold water…and yes I am talking from experience lol it woke me up for sure! See the video below…
By the way…I was the only one this happened to.
Once we were done relaxing and enjoying this super cool (no pun intended) experience, we got out of the water, returned the suits and went out to enjoy a fire, s’ mores, coffee and hot berry juice (super good) in a teepee. A great way to end this adventure.
Safartica provides transportation to and from your hotel. Also, the guide is wonderful and friendly and helps make this entire experience incredible!
Final Thoughts
Traveling gives us opportunities to see places we have dreamed of seeing and experience things we never thought of doing and ice floating in Rovaniemi is just that! It was something that I never could do in Southern California and I honestly was a little nervous about trying this. However, I am so happy my Mom and I did this! Be sure to include this activity to your Rovaniemi itinerary – you will never forget it!
Please note: This was a sponsored opportunity. However, the opinions expressed are my own. I was not compensated for writing this article.
Other articles written by Brittany:
A bit about the author: Brittany James
Brittany James is married and has two beautiful children. She is also the Social Media Manager for Always5Star. Her passion for travel came from her mother, Always5Star (at least that is what I am going to take credit for 😉). She is beginning her journey to Always5Star travel and enjoys sharing her family, friends and couples travel tips as a mother of small children. She has more dimes than dollars, but enjoys researching ways to enjoy Always5Star travel on a budget.
About Pamela Rossi
I am passionate about travel and taking each moment and making it a five star experience. My goal is to create those experiences for YOU!
Hi Lannie! Actually it is really relaxing…which surprised us! The purpose of us doing the activity was that it looks super adventurous and also to say we did it. Lol! It just seemed fun and outside the box of most activities. I can’t really answer how many locals do it. However, I know that in our group there was one local. However, to be honest, I think it is something to excite the tourists. I hope that answer helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.
This does seem immense fun. I would love to know who came up with this idea in the first plaid though. I’m sure your trip to Finland was amazing, and experiences like this only made it better.
Thanks John! I really appreciate your comment. It would be fun to know who came up with this concept. They probably sat around the table with lots of wine and someone said: “let put tourists in wetsuits and throw them into the frozen lake and we can charge money for it!”…lol! 😉
This was such an unexpected fun day! I never would have thought to do something like this but it made for some great memories!
I have never heard of this but it looks so cool! That scenery is incredible. It reminds me of Strawberry Park Hot Springs in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Except for the water temperature!