Reykjavík Excursions promised to put up a big warning sign at Reynisfjara (on the news 14.09.08). Again some tourists had a close call on this beach in August 2009.Įven though there are now warning signs by the beach, on 20.06.13 a tourist tried swimming in the dangerous sea and was in trouble for half an hour. There was so much controversy about this and the landowners were even talking about closing Reynisfjara (on the news on 24.07.08). There were no warning signs by Reynisfjara back then as we Icelanders know about the dangers of this beach. On the other hand, our foreign visitors don't know about the dangers here. I have added more videos of the sneaker waves further on in my travel-blog! It was shot on the beach of Porsguen near Portsall and shows what the dangerous sneaker waves are really about - the waves seem calm enough, but watch until you see what happens at minute 2! WATCH THIS VIDEO TO THE END! It shows exactly what you might expect to happen at Kirkjufjara and Reynisfjara. Because of the distance between these wave ridges, the suction from the last "disturbance" is often fully drained before the next one arrives." Extremely thick and high-ridged waves with long intervals go very far up the shores. Then the sea conditions become very special. Such conditions are created when the wind is changing from a southerly direction to a northerly direction. Then there was what we old locals call northerly surf or "high-direction surf". On the day of one of the accidents on the beach, the conditions were very dangerous. In addition there can also be a rebound from the columnar basalt, which is very powerful and knocks everybody to the ground. The beach is steep which makes the backwash very strong. Þórir Kjartansson, whom I regularly refer to, as he knows this beach and the situation here very well, said after the fatal accident in November 2021: "The reason is primarily that the sea is extremely deep very close to the shore so that the wave is almost unbroken when it reaches the beach. The waves here are so sneaky, they come creeping up on you and suck you in if you are standing too close - nothing can be done to save people if this happens - so please be extremely careful if you visit these beaches, and never turn your back to the sea and the waves. I totally understand that people would want to have their photo taken or take a selfie with the waves in the background, but it is just too dangerous, so please heed my advice. killer waves, ten years ago, back in 2007, and couldn't be saved. One elderly American lady got sucked into the sea by the sneaker waves, a.k.a. Reynisfjara and the basalt columns are so pretty and that is why so many people want to visit it These accidents shake the whole nation and it sure shakes me to the core when I hear about fatal accidents on these infamous beaches, Kirkjufjara and Reynisfjara. Her husband and adolescent children had been knocked over by the waves as well but were able to save themselves in the nick of time from the undertow, which sucked this poor woman out to sea. On the 9th of January 2017, a German woman travelling with her family was snatched by a sneaker wave at Kirkjufjara beach by Dyrhólaey. Please, please be careful at Reynisfjara! I do not want to have to update my travel-blog with new fatalities like this one :( The last fatal accident before this one took place on the 10th of November 2021, when a young Chinese woman was swept away by the sneaker waves. His wife got caught in the same wave but got saved. Yet another fatal accident took place on the 10th of June 2022 on Reynisfjara beach in South Iceland, when a foreign traveller was swept out to sea by the sneaker waves on this notorious beach.
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