Illugastaðir Seal Watching

The seals do not come to the shore here. They haul out on a small island about 100 metres offshore and on the rocks around it. That distance decides the visit. With binoculars or a long lens you watch them resting, scratching and slipping into the water; without either they are grey shapes on grey rock. A trail runs from the car park to a viewing hide on the shore, and the hide is also where you sit when it blows. The coast around it is busy with birds, and in summer the ground is covered in wildflowers.

• Bring binoculars or a long lens. The seals stay offshore, and without magnification there is not much to see.
• Check the tide table. Aim for low water — with the tide in, the seals are far harder to find.
• Dress for wind. The shore is open, and the hide at the end of the trail is the one place to sit out of it.
• Toilets. There is a WC at the car park, and the campsite bathrooms are basic but clean.
• Dogs are allowed.

The last stretch is on foot. Drive to the car park, then take the trail that runs from it down to the shore. The viewing hide stands at the end. Counting the way back, the walk takes about twenty minutes. Watching is done from the hide or from the rocks beside it, so there is nothing further to climb.

Best: around low water, and summer for the birds and the flowers.

Avoid: high tide.

The seals lie on rock, so the more rock is clear of the water, the more of them are in view. One visitor who arrived after the tide had come in found a single seal, and it was swimming rather than resting. In summer the whole area fills with wildflowers and the coast is loud with birds. In January it can be empty of people.