Iceland Day 3: Basalt Column Waterfalls, Icebergs, Diamond Beaches, and a Quirky Lighthouse

Beautiful Basalt Columns at Svartifoss

We started the day with a fairly long, but highly trafficked hike to the base of Svartifoss- a beautiful waterfall over a basalt column cliff. We patiently waited to get an unobstructed view from the base of the waterfall because the area was bustling with tourists.

Svínafellsjökull View Point

After the waterfall, we hopped in the car and began driving east, but noticed a sign for a glacier vantage point. We turned onto a very bumpy dirt road and found ourselves at the Svínafellsjökull View Point which has a great view of the offshoot of Vatnajökull glacier. The glacier has beautiful veins of blue and black in dramatic crags that dive into the glacial lagoon. We followed a rocky path to get a closer look, but a couple mysteriously vanished from this location several years ago, so use caution when judging the safety of vantage points.

Jökulsárlón Ice Beach & Diamond Beach

We next headed to the very touristy Diamond Beach. I did not realize that the washed-up icebergs would have melted throughout the summer, so by the time we visited in September, the icebergs remaining on the beach were no larger than 2’! Their sizes were a bit disappointing, but they were still very beautiful, especially in comparison to the black sand beach.

Jökulsárlón Ice Beach was full of delightful blue icebergs, tour boats, and occasional seals. The clouds overhead cleared at one point to reveal the glacier beyond. It was stunning to see the life cycle of the glacier, but sadly reminiscent of the impact of global warming.

Iceland’s East Coast

After the major tourist spots of the day, we had nearly five hours of driving next, where we essentially covered the rest of Iceland’s east coast, stopping periodically to skip rocks at a gorgeous still lake, see The Red Chair installation, and tour Hvalnes Lighthouse- an iconic Icelandic orange lighthouse.