Brimketill

Brimketill is a smooth-sided basin worn into the lava shelf on the south Reykjanes coast, filled and emptied by the Atlantic - the name means surf kettle. It formed the way most features on this shore did: waves working at a weakness in the rock, exploiting cracks and abrading the sides until a pool opened. The folk name is Oddnyjarlaug, after a troll woman said to have used it as her bath. A viewing platform was built above it after visitors kept climbing onto the shelf to sit in the pool for photographs, which is genuinely lethal - the swell here arrives without warning and there is no way back up from the water. The platform is the only safe vantage.

Highlights

• A wave-carved basin - smooth sides worn into the lava shelf.
• The Atlantic filling and draining it - the surf that named the place.
• A troll-woman story - Oddny's bath in the local name.
• A viewing platform - built because people were getting into the pool.

When to go

All year; winter storms give the biggest sea. An hour.

What to expect

Do not go onto the shelf or into the pool - rogue waves sweep this coast and there is no exit from the water. Stay on the platform. It is a short stop, not a destination. Wind and spray are constant.

Nearby

Grindavik is east; Gunnuhver and the Reykjanes tip are west.

Key facts