The Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach in Vik

Welcome to the last Iceland post!  I tried to be succinct, I really did, and it is bittersweet that this is the sixth and final Iceland recap post from my amazing long weekend in that beautiful country last month.  And it is quite fitting it is going live today as for the last three weeks – well more than that, 23 days if we are being specific – I have been on the ground.  For most people that is a short period of time but after six weeks straight of flying it has been a really nice change.  That said, I am off again tonight to sunny Florida but before I head to the white sand beaches I want to share some amazing photos from the Black Sand beaches of Vik, Iceland.   The beach is only a mile or two west of the quaint city of Vík – the southernmost village in Iceland and one of the many stops on the main ring road around the island.  I passed by on my way back from the ice caves and on my way to the waterfalls but its about 180 kilometers East of Reykjavík.  Hopefully these photos below prove why it was named one of the 10 most beautiful beaches in the world! 

The basalt rocks immediately reminded me of Northern Ireland where I visited the Giant’s Causeway last fall and also climbed those, though there were at least 10 times as many and much more spread out than they were on this beach in Iceland.  Trip Advisor calls Reynisfjara the #1 destination in VIk, then again, there is not much to do in VIk. Take a look at one side of the Reynisfjara black sand beach: 

True, these basalt rocks were really cool and with the incoming waves you certainly had to be careful but with the way I timed my visit when you turned around though and put the basalt columns at your back, the sunset was my favorite part. The waves on the beach were ferocious and more than once nearly swept my tripod into the Atlantic ocean.  Nearly every sunset I saw in Iceland but this one was truly spectacular – between the big bursts of pink and my toes in the black sand (figuratively, it was below freezing) it was awesome to be standing literally on top of the Katla volcano and just south of the Mýrdalsjökull glacier taking it all in. 

Would you like to visit this beach?