Náttúruleg heit uppspretta
Ostakarið
North Iceland
Ostakarid was a rustic hot pot fashioned from a repurposed cheese vat on Husavikurhofdi headland, fed by a geothermal seawater borehole with two sections at differing temperatures. It operated as an informal local bathing spot for around two decades, but its current operating status is uncertain following the 2018 opening of GeoSea Geothermal Sea Baths on the same headland, drawing on water from the same borehole. GeoSea is the confirmed, currently-operating option for geothermal bathing in this area.
Saga
Ostakarið's story starts with a search for something else entirely. In the early 1990s a borehole was drilled on Húsavíkurhöfði, the headland above Húsavík, hoping to find water to heat the town. What came up instead was hot, mineral-rich seawater — too salty for household heating, but locals soon noticed it felt remarkably good to soak in. In 1992 an old cheese vat from the local dairy farmers' cooperative was set beside the borehole, and Ostakarið — literally "the cheese tub" — became an improvised, much-loved local hot pot, prized in particular by people managing skin conditions. That original cheese-tub bathing spot has since been superseded. When GeoSea's geothermal sea baths opened on the same headland in 2018, drawing on water from the same and an adjacent borehole, Ostakarið's informal soaking tubs stopped operating. As a gesture to the people who built it, GeoSea is reported to have offered the original Ostakarið pioneers free lifetime access to the new baths.
Visstu að?
When GeoSea opened on the same headland in 2018 using water from the same borehole, it reportedly gave the original Ostakarið founders — the locals who first set up the cheese-tub hot pot in 1992 — free lifetime access to the new baths. (Source: Guide to Iceland.)
Aðgangseyrir
Status unconfirmed — multiple sources report Ostakarið is no longer operating; see GeoSea nearby
Gagnlegar upplýsingar
Besti tími
Not applicable — see GeoSea (same headland) for current geothermal bathing in this area.
Tímalengd
Not applicable (current access unconfirmed).
Leiðarvísir
On Húsavíkurhöfði headland just outside Húsavík, North Iceland, reached via a short unpaved road; current physical access to the original cheese-tub site is unconfirmed, and GeoSea now occupies the same headland.
Samgöngur
Short drive from Húsavík town centre via unpaved road to Húsavíkurhöfði, the same headland where GeoSea now operates.
Fjárhagsáætlun
Reported as free or very low-cost historically (one source cites a 300 ISK entry while it operated); current status and any fee are unconfirmed.
Myndavefur
