A few month ago, I have read about the 10 most impressive beaches one has to visit during lifetime. One of them was the black beach next to the Dyrhólaey peninsula, near Vik. This peninsula is 120m high and of volcanic origin. Behind the cap of the peninsula, the rock has a big hole, giving the name of the peninsula: the hill-island with the door-hole.
From up there you have a fantastic view. Following the sun you can see the black lava columns of the Reynisdrangar come out of the sea in the east, in the south you can see the endless ocean, in south-west you can see the westmen islands (Vestmannaeyjar), to the west your eye can follow the coastline along the black beach of lava stones and to the north you can see the big glacier Mýrdalsjökul.
I’m so glad we have had such an experienced driver for our small bus. The narrow street up to the plateau was really an adventure.
Take care!
MyBlog - solaner 
Fantastic photos. Indeed, this is the edge of the earth where the smooth round stones seem to have been pounded into submission.
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Thanks, Scott!
Thank you so much for sharing – the scenery is absolutely stunning!!!
Thanks, Connie!
these images are just amazing! What a stunning place .. and you have captured its beauty. I have to go there one day. Is that black sand in some of the pics or is it pebbles? Thanks for sharing 😀
You can find both, pebbles in one place, sand (volcanic ashes) in the other. It’s just like in other places, too. At Dyrhólaey we’ve had coarse sand on one side and pebbles on the other side. At Jökulsarlon the sand was finer than here.
Although, this kind of sand is different from the black sand i.e. on Tenerife, where you also can find black, volcanic sand. It’s not from powdered black rocks. It’s simply tiny parts of volcanic ashes. The kind of ashes has nothing in common with ashes from a coal or wood fire. You have to see it. It’s (at least in my opinion) unique. I’ve never seen such material before. Only the remains from a steel plant (also called ashes) look similar.
Fantastic! I remember visiting black beach and standing under the towering cave. You’ve covered a lot of ground in Iceland. And the rain didn’t get in the way. 🙂 It must have taken some effort to remember all the names. I can’t even get myself to pronounce them! Your Icelandic saga has been a thoroughly entertaining read. 🙂
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my little secret is my GPS 🙂
In combination with my photos I get a good base for my posts. Names of animals and plants are a bit harder to find out.
I also can’t pronounce the Icelandic names, either. It seems like someone has pulled some letter stones out of the scribble bag 😦
Aha! 🙂 Too bad our GPS was on rent. Thanks for the tip! Can’t stop laughing at the ‘letter stones out of the scribble bag’ analogy.
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