Dyrhólaey as a Photography Location

Dyrholaey is a promontory or small peninsula located 19km from Vik in southern Iceland. Just follow the ring road towards Reykjavik for 12,5km. Make a turn into the road 218, where there’s also a sign pointing towards Dyrholaey. Just follow that road until you’re on top of Dyrholaey. If you come from Reykjavik road 218 is located 21km from Skogafoss. On road 218 you’ll pass an area with low water, where there’re good opportunities for reflection shots.

From April to September you can also experience the iconic bird of Iceland, the Atlantic puffin in this location.

Dyrholaey contains of two plateaus. From the lower plateau, you get a beautiful view towards east over the black beach Reynisfjara and the iconic cliffs of Reynisdrangar. From the parking lot, you can also walk towards the water and the beach Kirkjufjara.

Here there’s plenty of beautiful black rocks and cliffs to explore and photograph. Remember to find the small arch too – I’ve missed it on both my visits to this place, without knowing it existed! If you’re photographing from the lower plateau towards Reynisdrangar you’ll be able to see the sun rise behind Reynisdrangar in the start of October and march.

To find the upper plateau you have to drive a bit back from the parking lot on the lower plateau. Turn left at the first road and follow it up the mountain. It’s rather steep and the gravel road can be a bit harsh on your car, so drive careful. On top of Dyrholaey you can look west and see the coastline all the way to the horizon, which is a quite popular view on Instagram.

The biggest attraction on the upper plateau though is definitely the enormous lava arch, which you can get some spectacular pictures of from behind the lighthouse! Remember to bring a good wide angle to get the entire scene inside the frame.

Just after the sun rises and during the morning you’ll be able to see how the sun lights up the water underneath the arch. This phenomenon is prevalent from middle autumn until start spring. Tours for this location are availible here: South Coast and Waterfalls Hotel and Busride ringroad

Check out my video for this location and follow me on Instagram for more of my work :)

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