Landey Island Travel Guide

Shipwreck on Landey, Stykkishólmur behind. Photo: Villy Fink Isaksen, CC BY-SA 4.0

Landey is a small, low island in Breiðafjörður, just off the harbour of Stykkishólmur on the north coast of the Snæfellsnes peninsula. The name simply means "land island", fitting for an islet that sits so close to shore.

It is one of the first landmarks kayakers reach when paddling out from the old harbour, and it is best known for two things: one of the most productive eider colonies in the bay.

The rusting hull of a steel fishing vessel that, according to the local kayak guides, broke its mooring in the 1980s and was driven onto Landey's shore, where it still lies.

Key Takeaways About Landey

• Small grassy island directly off Stykkishólmur harbour in Breiðafjörður, with one of the bay's busiest eider colonies.
• A steel fishing vessel wrecked on its shore in the 1980s still lies there; it is the landmark of the local sea-kayak tour.
• No landing: watch from a kayak or from Súgandisey, the basalt island joined to the harbour.
• Stykkishólmur is about 170 km (roughly 2.5 hours) from Reykjavík on paved roads.
• Eiders have been colour-ringed here since 2014 for a University of Iceland study.

Why visit Landey

Breiðafjörður is said to have countless islands, and Landey is among the most accessible of them. It is a grassy, rocky islet rather than a cliff island, which is exactly what nesting common eiders want.

The kayak operator describes it as one of the most productive eiderdown islands in the bay; eiderdown is the down that female eiders pluck from their own breasts to line their nests and that farmers collect after the ducklings have left. In summer the island is full of ducklings.

Landey is also a research site: since 2014 ornithologists have been colour-ringing eiders here and on neighbouring Hjallsey to study how faithful the birds are to their nesting islands, and more eiders have been ringed on Landey than on any other island in the study: 319 between 2014 and 2018, according to the University of Iceland's Snæfellsnes research centre.

Landey and its shipwreck off Stykkishólmur. Photo: Wolfgang Sauber, CC BY-SA 3.0

The shipwreck is the other draw. The guides identify the vessel as Þorgeir, one of the first generation of steel trawlers in the Icelandic fleet.

In the 1980s it broke free from its mooring and was wrecked on the shore of Landey, where the hull remains, slowly rusting against the green turf.

Seen from a kayak at water level, with Stykkishólmur's coloured houses behind it, it is the obvious photo stop on the paddle.

Around the island the waters are rich in life. Kayakers see puffins and eider ducks, and sometimes white-tailed eagles, about 70 percent of whose Icelandic population lives around Breiðafjörður; and harbour seals often surface to watch the boats.

The backdrop is the whole sweep of Snæfellsnes, with the volcanic peaks of the peninsula and, on a clear day, the glacier Snæfellsjökull.

How to get to Landey

Landey is an island with no bridge, ferry or landing stage, so the only way to get close is by boat. Sea-kayak tours meet at Austurgata 2 by the harbour in Stykkishólmur and reach the island within the first part of the paddle.

The island is also visible from the town itself: walk out onto Súgandisey, the basalt island joined to the harbour by a causeway, and you look straight across to Landey and the wreck.

Stykkishólmur is about 170 km from Reykjavík, roughly 2.5 hours by car: Route 1 north to Borgarnes, then Route 54 across Snæfellsnes and Route 56/58 over the Vatnaleið pass and down to the town. The Baldur ferry to Flatey and the Westfjords also sails from the harbour.

Best time to visit

Kayak tours run in the summer season, when the sea is calmest and the days are long; check available dates when booking. Late May and June are nesting time, when the island is busiest with eiders and when landing is off limits so the birds are not disturbed.

July and early August bring ducklings on the water and the best chance of puffins before they leave the bay. On calm evenings the long summer light over Breiðafjörður is at its best.

Safety and practical tips

• Do not land on Landey. Like the other eider islands of Breiðafjörður it is a working nesting colony in private ownership; disturbing nesting birds is prohibited, and eiderdown harvesting is the owners' livelihood.
• Breiðafjörður has strong tidal currents and a tidal range of up to 6 m at spring tides, among the largest in Iceland. Go with a licensed kayak guide unless you are an experienced sea kayaker with local knowledge.
• Dress warmly in waterproof layers even in summer: the kayak tour includes a splash top and all kayak equipment.
• Keep a respectful distance from the wreck; the steel is sharp and unstable.
• All facilities (toilets, cafés, shops, swimming pool, fuel) are in Stykkishólmur, a few minutes' walk from the harbour.
• There is no fee to see the island from Súgandisey; kayak tours are priced per person and should be booked ahead in summer.