Dyrhólaey
Iceland's black cliff and its great sea arch.
Dyrhólaey — the 'door-hill island' — is a dark basalt headland that juts off Iceland's south coast, rising about 120 metres above a wild stretch of the North Atlantic. Its signature is an enormous natural sea arch at its foot, so large that small boats and even light aircraft have passed through it, with a small lighthouse standing guard on the clifftop above.
From the top the view is immense: the long black-sand beaches of Reynisfjara and the jagged sea stacks of Reynisdrangar to the east, the Mýrdalsjökull glacier inland, and open ocean all the way to Antarctica. In early summer the grassy ledges fill with nesting puffins.
The reserve closes parts of the headland during the nesting season and in high wind, and the upper road can be rough, so check conditions before you go. The Atlantic here is fierce — keep well back from the edges and never turn your back on the sea on the beaches below.
Getting there
Dyrhólaey lies off Iceland's Ring Road (Route 1) on the south coast, about 2.5 hours by car from Reykjavík and 15 minutes west of the village of Vík. A side road leads to the lower viewpoint and lighthouse; the steeper upper road may be closed seasonally or in bad weather. There is no public transport to the headland itself.