Raudasandur Beach

Most Icelandic beaches are black. Raudasandur is not: the sand here runs from pale gold through pink to deep red depending on the light and how wet it is, the colour coming from crushed shell rather than lava. The beach is several kilometres long, with a shallow lagoon behind it that fills and empties with the tide and leaves flats where seals lie up and waders feed. Getting there means the gravel road over the pass from Patreksfjordur, which drops in tight bends with the whole bay laid out below on the way down. At the eastern end stand a farm and the small church at Saurbaer.

The landscape

• The sand - shell sand that reads gold, pink or deep red depending on light and wet.
• The lagoon - tidal flats behind the beach with seals hauled out and waders feeding.
• The descent - the hairpin gravel road down from the pass, with the bay below.
• Saurbaer church - the small church and farm at the eastern end of the sand.

When to go

June to August, when the road over the pass is open and dry enough to be comfortable in an ordinary car. The colour shifts through the day and low evening light is when the sand is reddest. Tides decide how much beach there is, so check them: at low water there is far more to walk on and the flats are exposed.

What to expect

The road in is steep gravel with drops and no barrier, and it puts off plenty of drivers; in rain it is worse. There is very little at the beach itself and the wind comes straight in off the Atlantic. The water is cold with a strong pull and is not for swimming. Do not walk into the seal haul-out, which drives the animals off the sand.

Nearby

Patreksfjordur is over the pass, and the Latrabjarg cliffs lie west along the same peninsula.

Key facts