Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach
Iceland is full of amazing natural wonders but one of my favorites we saw had to be Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach.
When you first walk down to the beach, you’ll see a large formation of basalt columns. As you can see from the photos below, these are huge! According to Icelandic folklore, the columns were once trolls who were trying to pull ships from the ocean to shore. However, they were out too late at night and got caught in the light of dawn, turning them into solid stone.
This shouldn’t have to be said but be careful when climbing these columns. We want them to last for many visitors to come so try not to do anything that would damage them!
Around the corner, the basalt columns turn into a huge cave!
One of the iconic features of the beach are these two black rocks that rise out of the sea. These are also thought to once be trolls! One of my favorite things about Iceland is the myths that exist and are part of the culture there.
One thing I didn’t realize about black sand beaches is that they are covered in rocks! The closer to the water you get, the smaller the rocks become and more closely resemble “sand”.
Keep walking town the beach toward the left and you’ll see these crazy cool caves. So many parts of Iceland look otherworldly and these caves definitely made me think of something in outer space!
We got back in our car and headed further up the road and happened to stumble upon this part of the beach, Kirkjufjara. What is so cool here is there is a bay on one side and then the open ocean on the other, creating a cool visual effect. I’ve seen photos where the two different waters are even closer together so we must have been there when the tide was lower. This area is more of a parking lot with an overlook and doesn’t have a (easy) way to get down to the water.
Tell me more, tell me more!
How do you get here? Both beaches are accessible from the Ring Road. Make note of the name of the beach. There will be white signs with red lettering directing you to the road you need to turn on. Reynisfjara Beach is off of road 215 and Kirkjufjara beach is off of 218.
**Safety Warning: The waves here are very large and powerful. Never turn your back to the water. This beach has a bad riptide and also things called sneaker waves. These are waves that come in farther than you think they will. Be careful!
Let me know if you have any other questions!
