Diamond Beach is the common name for a black beach located at the Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon in Iceland. The beach owes its nickname to the ice blocks found there, which first flowed into the Atlantic along the Jökulsá á Brei?amerkursandi River and were then pushed onto the beach.
A journey, long and full of adventures
We lived near Hvolsvöllur, we had 272 km to go to Diamond Beach. We left early in the morning, but unfortunately, about 80 km before our destination, our rented Outlander car broke down. The professional behavior of IcePol, which provided us with a new car (which took over 5 hours – the charm of the vastness of Iceland), allowed us to reach the beach just before sunset. And he was delighted!
But on the way, as we approached our destination, we marveled at the glaciers, tongues of ice flowing almost to the road. It is from them that the rivers begin their flow, through which the detached pieces of ice flow down and reach the Atlantic, and are pushed by the waves onto the beaches.
How to get to Diamond Beach
Diamond Beach is located directly next to road number 1. It’s impossible to miss it, there are two large parking lots next to the bridge… and lots of tourists. From the parking lot on the eastern side, we will reach the Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon (passing under the bridge). An alternative is to park in the lagoon parking lot and walk to the beach. The parking lot is paid, there are cameras at the entrance, but the system (August 31, 2023) did not work, it did not collect the license plate numbers, and the machine did not accept the entered data. At this time you couldn’t eat anything in the area (this is a common problem, and the kitchen closes around 6 p.m.), sweets, nuggets and salty snacks could be bought at the tourist information.
Diamond Beach summer scenery
The beach looks different in summer scenery than in winter. In August, there were only tiny, inconspicuous pieces of ice on the beach, but another world of ice still existed in the lagoon, on the other side of the bridge.
Wideo from the Jökulsárlón lagoon
Diamond Beach and Jökulsárlón lagoons gallery from August 2023
Gallery from May 2023
Photos courtesy of a friend.
