Arnarstapi Harbour

Arnarstapi is a fishing hamlet on the south coast of the Snæfellsnes peninsula, one of the few places where the basalt gives boats real shelter. The cliffs around the little harbour are drilled with arches, blowholes and inlets where the Atlantic booms up through the rock. Above the port stands a blocky stone statue of Bárður Snæfellsás, the half-troll settler of legend said to have vanished into the Snæfellsjökull glacier. The real draw is the coastal path to Hellnar, hugging the cliff edge past the Gatklettur arch through a seabird reserve.