Humans are outnumbered by seabirds 10,000:1 on the island of Grimsey where puffin watching can be combined with a visit to the Arctic Circle.

Iceland. Summer, July. 8°.

Where the average summer temperature is 10° and one spends one’s life largely in down jackets and woolly hats. You have never seen paleness until you have seen Icelanders in a pool. And winter – endless hours of cold, dark and twilight.

I was reading about the climate crisis and how the gulf stream may collapse by 2025.

“Does that mean the Isle of Man is going to get colder?” I asked.

“It could turn into this!” Simon exclaimed in horror.

So why not remove ourselves to somewhere even colder, to the only place in Iceland actually within the Arctic circle?

To add to the potential unpleasantness, somewhere 3 hours away by ferry (or a short flight from Akureyri with Norlandair if you are feeling flush). For 41 km north of Iceland at 66° North, you will find the island of Grimsey, all 5.3 km ² and 80 tough people.

GRIMO

Grimsey. Summer, July. 8°, feels like 3°.

Due to the boat schedules we had 48 hours in Grimsey – or Grimo as Simon promptly called it. 24 would have been enough, although many do it in just 4 hours with the boat turn around, just enough time to get to the Arctic circle and circumnavigate the island if one walks quickly enough.

Personally I would not have liked to return on the boat the same day. The sick bags had been out before we left the fjord so I’d spent the trip on deck away from the passenger area. I had hoped for a whale sighting at least but no such luck.

Like Hrísey, another island we had visited nearer Dalvik, Grimsey is fairly low lying with the highest point being just 105 m. It lacks its charm however. The village, Sandvik, lies to the west and the houses are largely nondescript blocks straggling away from the little harbour.

It boasts at least one guest house, a small cafe, a restaurant and an Arctic hot dog stand. There is a swimming pool which appears to only be open about an hour per day (17.30-18.30\1,200 kr.) which makes the hot tub rather crowded.

The non-obvious campsite (1,700 kr. including showers) was behind the swimming pool, a grassy area with a draughty shelter and a wooden picnic table. We checked in, and used the showers and loo, at the swimming pool complex – sadly the pool area was locked or the hot tub might have been fair game.

The cliffs are generally high and quite rugged, with a lighthouse to the southern end which is reached by a bitumen road. There is also a road to the northern most end although this descends into gravel and then dirt.

Bicycles can be hired or a circuit of the island takes about 4 hours on foot. The eastern side is accessed by rougher tracks and paths – stray off them too far and it is very hard going with a grass that forms huge ankle-turning tussocks.

There appear to be only two reasons to visit Grimsey.

1. PUFFINS

Let’s talk about puffins: they are everywhere on Grimsey, on virtually every cliff, in their thousands. They are photogenic little beasties with colourful beaks (which only stay that colour for the breeding season) and orange feet.

They look as if they should not be able to fly, but they do, very adriotly, on wings that beat up to 400 times a minute. They are not wave skimmers like the gulls, they fly higher, reaching speeds of up to 80 km per hour.

Equally at home underwater, they can dive to 60 m and spend their lives at sea, other than coming in to land to breed. It would appear the adults pair for life and return to the same burrow year after year.

One egg is laid and both parents play a part in the 6 week incubation and feeding the young pufflings – the peculiar bill allows them to carry multiple fish home at once, saving them energy.

After about 6 weeks the young are ready to head for the ocean, which is where the unique sport of Icelandic puffin throwing comes in, whereby pufflings who have gone astray (often due to city lights) are caught and launched on their way.

Any circumnavigation of Grimsey in the breeding season will reward with puffins at every turn: posing photogenically on rocky outcrops, flying in with beaks full of silvered fish, whizzing past on the winds like small missiles. Approach carefully and one can get very close indeed: Simon found the commando crawl the best method.

Of course there are a myriad of other seabirds in residence on the cliffs and the Arctic tern has captured the inland high ground, but it is the puffin that everyone wants to see.

2. THE ARCTIC CIRCLE

A chance to visit the Arctic circle seems to be what draws most people to Grimsey, as it is the only place in Iceland within it. It moves at some 15 metres a year, so by 2050 it will no longer be on Grimsey.

This is apparent on cresting the hill above the Orbus et Globus Monument and seeing how little distance the northern most coastline actually is beyond it.

The 3 metre sphere is designed to follow the circle and was rolled into place in 2017. It is basically just a giant cement ball with a couple of holes in it to enable it to be moved. There is no embellishment whatsoever.

Whether it is worth 6 hours on a tug to look at a 9 ton cement ball in a field is debatable. It is about a 3 hour return walk from the village, and quite a hilly one, but can be combined with puffin watching and the cliffs in the area are quite spectacular with all the birdlife.

OTHER THINGS OF VAGUE INTEREST IF YOU ARE BORED WITH PUFFINS

Daniel Willard Fiske (1831-1904), of Cornell University, USA, learnt Icelandic while studying in Denmark in 1849. He collected literature of the region and was so impressed by the diligence of the Grimsey islanders that he donated a chess set to each house as well as an endowment for the little island, which still celebrates his birthday today.

There is a display about him above the harbour by the carved totem pole and a chess board (without the pieces).

The church, until recently the oldest building in Grimsey, unfortunately burnt down in September 2021. It’s replacement is now nearing completion and can be seen just south of the village.

The lighthouse sits to the southernmost point in a picturesque location. There are a couple of abandoned fishing huts and a fish drying shed in the area.

At the airport, there is a signpost pointing to all the usual suspects: London, Sydney, New York, etc. It is interesting in that none of the fingerposts point northwards.

The boat whisked us away after 48 hours and we had a thankfully smooth crossing back to Dalvik, with distant whale tails in the fjord.

Grimsey rapidly disappeared from view in the clouds. An interesting destination, a quirky one: I think in the end we quite enjoyed it!