Djúpalónssandur

Djúpalónssandur is the black pebble cove at the south-west corner of Snæfellsnes, inside Snæfellsjökull National Park, and on a loop of the peninsula it is the longest of the short stops on route 574 between Arnarstapi and Hellissandur. From the car park a short path leads down to the beach; the boulders that fishermen once lifted to show their strength lie beside it, and a 1 km path leads on to the bay of Dritvík.

The practical line, from the Environment Agency's pages read today: the park is free for anyone to visit and has no opening hours; toilets at the Djúpalónssandur car park are open in summer, and the toilets at the Malarrif visitor centre, a short drive east, are open around the clock all year. Overnight stays and camping inside the park are not allowed. The agency calls the Djúpalónssandur–Dritvík path easy and popular, and says Dritvík held a fishing community of up to 600 people in season in the 18th century. No fuel inside the park: Arnarstapi and Ólafsvík are the points either side.

Safety: this is an open Atlantic beach. Safetravel's beach page, written for Reynisfjara, describes sneaker waves that run much further up the shore than the ordinary surf and can take an adult out to sea in seconds; the same rule applies here. Keep well back from the waterline, keep children by the hand, and do not turn your back on the sea. Check the weather before driving round the cape; the park advises the same.