- Where
- South Region, Iceland
along Route 1 to Vík - Coordinates
- 63.53° N
19.51° W (Skógafoss) - Seljalandsfoss
- 60 m; a path behind the falls
- Skógafoss
- 60 m high, 25 m wide
527 steps to the top - Reynisfjara
- Black-sand beach, basalt columns
warning lights for the waves - Getting there
- Car or tour from Reykjavík;
Vík about 180 km by road - Best visited
- Summer for long days;
autumn to spring for aurora, with storms - Advisory
- Iceland Level 1
exercise normal precautions
Waterfalls kept falling off the green cliffs beside the road, one after another, and at one I went behind it and looked out through the water at the fields, soaked and delighted. Further on the beach was black, the stones were black, the columns were black, and the waves came further up than anybody expected. I stood well back and admired them from there.
The short answer
Iceland’s South Coast, as most travellers mean it, is the run of Route 1 from Seljalandsfoss to the village of Vík í Mýrdal, below the glaciers Eyjafjallajökull and Mýrdalsjökull. Seljalandsfoss drops 60 metres beside the ring road, near the turning for Þórsmörk, from a river that begins under Eyjafjallajökull, and visitors can walk behind it into a small cave, Wikipedia records. Further east, Skógafoss on the river Skógá is also 60 metres high and 25 metres wide, with a staircase of 527 steps beside it. Reynisfjara, just west of Vík, is a black basalt-sand beach on privately owned land, with the basalt columns and cave of Hálsanefshellir at its eastern end, the Dyrhólaey promontory to the west and the sea stacks of Reynisdrangar offshore. Vík, about 180 kilometres by road from Reykjavík, calls itself the southernmost village in Iceland.
Why it's worth knowing
The waves. Reynisfjara is famous for its beauty and, increasingly, for its danger. Its “sneaker waves” can surge far up the beach without warning: from 2007 to 2024 there were at least twelve serious rescues and five deaths there, Wikipedia records, and a sixth person died in August 2025, swept out of the Hálsanefshellir cave; Canada’s travel advice names the same danger at Reynisfjara and at Kirkjufjara nearby. Since 2022 a light system at the top of the beach, tied to the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration’s wave forecast, has shown green, yellow or red, with zones that visitors may not enter under a yellow or red light, the Icelandic Tourist Board and regional reports say (indexed). The August 2025 death came under a yellow light; afterwards the landowners, police, SafeTravel and the local rescue team agreed to bring the red light on sooner and to close the basalt columns and the cave whenever it shows, the Reykjavík Grapevine reported (indexed). The beach itself is not closed.
The village under the volcano. Vík sits below Mýrdalsjökull, the ice cap over the volcano Katla, which has not erupted since 1918. An eruption could melt enough ice to send a flood large enough to wipe out the village, Wikipedia records; the church, Víkurkirkja, stands on a high hill and is believed to be the only building that would survive, and residents might have about fifteen minutes to reach it. The Icelandic Met Office monitors Katla, and earthquake swarms under the ice cap in 2026 were reported by Icelandic and German volcano sites (indexed); no alert or evacuation was found when this entry was checked.
The waterfalls. The spray at Skógafoss throws single or double rainbows on sunny days and soaks anyone who stands close (Wikipedia). A trail climbs from the top of the falls over the Fimmvörðuháls pass between the two glaciers and down to Þórsmörk, where it becomes the Laugavegur trail. Vík itself takes the weather that falls on the glaciers: about 2,250 millimetres of rain a year, Wikipedia says, three times Reykjavík’s and the most of any coastal town in Iceland.
The field notes
A chest behind the water
The first settler of the Skógar area, Þrasi Þórólfsson, is said to have hidden a chest of treasure in a cave behind Skógafoss. In the legend Wikipedia records, later locals glimpsed the chest and caught hold of the ring on its side, but the chest slipped away, leaving them only the ring, which was given to the local church; the old church door ring is now shown at the Skógar museum.
Trolls at dawn
The basalt stacks of Reynisdrangar, off the beach and the village, are the remains of a larger line of cliffs. Folklore, recorded in Wikipedia’s article on Vík, says they are trolls who were caught by the dawn and turned to stone. In February 2026, after weeks of heavy waves and easterly winds, part of Reynisfjara’s basalt columns collapsed and the beach was badly eroded; Wikipedia expected it to recover its familiar shape once westerly winds returned.
Reynisfjara and the Reynisdrangar sea stacks from Dyrhólaey, July 2014.
Photograph: Martin Falbisoner · CC BY-SA 4.0
Seljalandsfoss seen from the path behind the fall, July 2024.
Photograph: Jakub Hałun · CC BY 4.0
The Reynisdrangar stacks from the beach at Vík, 2026.
Photograph: ERIC MIYAGI via Unsplash · Unsplash licence
Þrasi's ring, the legendary church-door ring, at the Skógar museum, 2017.
Photograph: Tom.Reding · CC BY-SA 4.0 · cropped
The church above Vík in grey light, November 2014.
Photograph: Jeff Sheldon · CC0
- Stand at the top of the black beach a long while before going down, and listen. The sea makes a noise there I have heard nowhere else.
- Find the stone columns at the end of the beach and admire how tidily they were stacked, by nobody at all.
- Walk behind the waterfall in a coat you are happy to have rained on from the wrong direction.
- Put the list somewhere dry at the big waterfall. (Did not. The spray found it, and every line on it now runs gently downhill.)
- Remember that the beach is somebody’s land. Keep to the paths, park where you are asked to, and pay for it without grumbling.
The ring from the church door at Skógar. In the legend Wikipedia records, the first settler of the district, Þrasi Þórólfsson, hid a chest of treasure in a cave behind Skógafoss; when local men later tried to haul it out, they kept hold only of the ring on its side, and the chest was gone. The ring was given to the local church, and the old church door ring is now displayed at the Skógar museum beside the falls. Whether it ever belonged to a chest, nobody can say; it was certainly a door handle for a long time.
Tally, in the marginA ring off a chest that nobody has seen, which then spent a long, useful life on a church door being pulled by people who only wanted to get in. I have rarely met a treasure put to better use, and I went through the nearest door just for the pleasure of the handle.
Getting there
How to get there. By car or on a day tour from Reykjavík, east along Route 1 (the ring road), which passes Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss and runs on to Vík, about 180 kilometres from the capital (Wikipedia). International flights land at Keflavík, south-west of Reykjavík. Reynisfjara is just west of Vík, off the ring road.
When to go. Summer for long days and the trail over Fimmvörðuháls; autumn to spring for the chance of aurora, with short days and storms. Canada’s advice (updated 11 August 2026) says storms are most common from October to March and asks travellers to check forecasts and road conditions before setting out.
What to arrange ahead. Reynisfjara’s rule is on the spot: as of the last reports read on 20 October 2026, a green, yellow or red light at the top of the beach sets how far down visitors may walk, and since August 2025 the basalt columns and the Hálsanefshellir cave close whenever the light is red (Wikipedia; the Icelandic Tourist Board and the Reykjavík Grapevine, indexed). Parking at Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss is paid, about 1,000 ISK a day in 2026 by travel guides’ listings (indexed; not confirmed with the operators), usually by machine or app. Book a hire car or tour, and lodging in Vík or near Skógar, well ahead for summer.
Safety. The State Department has Iceland at Level 1, exercise normal precautions (advisory dated 5 May 2026 in its feed, read 20 October 2026), noting changeable weather, volcanoes and earthquakes; Canada’s advice agrees. At Reynisfjara, the light system at the top of the beach shows the zones visitors may not enter under a yellow or red light, the Icelandic Tourist Board and regional reports say (indexed); Canada’s travel advice names the sneaker waves there. The path behind Seljalandsfoss is wet underfoot. The Icelandic Met Office publishes the weather and its volcano monitoring, including Katla.
Mark this place
Common questions
Where is Iceland's South Coast?
Iceland’s South Coast, as most travellers use the name, is the stretch of Route 1 east of Reykjavík below the glaciers Eyjafjallajökull and Mýrdalsjökull, from Seljalandsfoss past Skógafoss to Reynisfjara beach and the village of Vík, about 180 kilometres by road from the capital.
Can you walk behind Seljalandsfoss?
Yes. A path runs behind Seljalandsfoss, a 60-metre waterfall beside Route 1 in south Iceland, into a small cave behind the falling water, Wikipedia records. Expect to get wet; parking at the falls is paid.
What are the sneaker waves at Reynisfjara?
Canada’s travel advice for Iceland names the “sneaker waves” at Reynisfjara, the black-sand beach near Vík in south Iceland: waves that surge far up the beach without warning. Wikipedia records at least five deaths there from 2007 to 2024 and a sixth in August 2025.
What do the warning lights at Reynisfjara mean?
A light at the top of Reynisfjara beach in Iceland shows green, yellow or red according to a wave forecast, and visitors may not enter the yellow or red zones when those lights are on. Since August 2025 the basalt columns and the Hálsanefshellir cave also close under a red light, regional reports say.
How tall is Skógafoss?
Skógafoss, on the river Skógá in south Iceland, is 60 metres high and 25 metres wide, Wikipedia records, and a staircase of 527 steps climbs beside it to a viewpoint and the trail over Fimmvörðuháls.
What level does the US State Department give Iceland?
The US State Department has Iceland at Level 1, exercise normal precautions, in an advisory dated 5 May 2026, and Canada advises normal security precautions. Both name natural hazards: changeable weather, volcanoes and, in Canada’s case, the sneaker waves at Reynisfjara.
What is the legend of Skógafoss?
Legend says Þrasi Þórólfsson, the first settler near Skógafoss in south Iceland, hid a treasure chest in a cave behind the falls; later locals caught only its ring, which went to the church and is now shown at the Skógar museum, Wikipedia records.
When did Katla last erupt?
Katla, the volcano under Mýrdalsjökull above Vík in south Iceland, last erupted in 1918, and the Icelandic Met Office monitors it. Wikipedia records that an eruption could send a flood large enough to destroy the village, and that the church on the hill is believed to be the only building that would survive.