Oxarfjordur – point of view

Puffins are the reason to stop. They nest on the cliffs below the viewpoint, and you watch them from the roadside instead of from a boat. More than one vantage point runs along the edge, so it is worth moving along rather than shooting from the first spot you reach. The birds keep their distance. A 300 mm lens is the working minimum for a photograph worth keeping, and binoculars do more than a phone. Small waterfalls drop on either side of the viewpoint. Beyond them the fjord opens out, closed in by mountain ranges to the west and the east. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge crosses the western part of Oxarfjordur before it goes back under the sea.

• Season: puffins are ashore from mid-April to August. Outside that window the cliffs are empty and the stop is a fjord view only.
• Bring a zoom lens: the birds sit well out, and 300 mm is the working minimum. A phone will not reach them; binoculars help.
• Distance: the puffins here stay further off than at some other Icelandic colonies. This is a place to watch them, not to stand among them.
• No toilets at the viewpoint. Sort that out before you turn off the road.
• Weather decides: the whole attraction is a long view, so low cloud or rain leaves nothing to do here.

You get here by car, and the viewpoint is directly off the road: you park at it rather than near it. From the car park a path leads off to the left. That is the puffin side, and several vantage points follow along the edge above the water. No hike is involved and no boat — the whole visit happens within sight of the vehicle.

Better: mid-April to August, in the morning.

Avoid: late August to mid-April, when the puffins are at sea.

The colony is the whole reason to stop, and it is here only for the breeding season. Mornings have been the productive hours: the cliffs busy at nine, and busy again at eleven. Clear weather counts as much as the hour, because this is a long view over the fjord and low cloud closes it down.