Places near me Random place
All Iceland Diamond Beach

Diamond Beach

A black sand beach where glacial fragments wash ashore and look like sparkling diamonds.

Iceland

Added By
caitlingeneva
  caitlingeneva (Atlas Obscura User)
  caitlingeneva (Atlas Obscura User)
  caitlingeneva (Atlas Obscura User)
Sharing a parking area with the Jökulsárlón lagoon, Diamond Beach is reliably scattered with chunks of ice that have recently fallen from a glacier and drifted out to sea.   bthrockmorton (Atlas Obscura User)
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

This Place Is a Stub

Help improve this place with additional information or photos.

Make an Edit

About

They say that diamonds are forever, but the sparkling gems that give this volcanic black sand beach its name could melt away in the right conditions. The "diamonds" of Diamond Beach are chunks of ice from Breiðamerkurjökull, a nearby glacier. Diamond Beach is located across the road from Jökulsárlón, Iceland's largest lagoon.

When ice calves from the glacier, the chunks float in the lagoon, flow down a stream that passes under Iceland's Ring Road, and float out to sea. Some of them wash ashore in pieces as large as a car.

Related Tags

Glaciers Ice Beaches

Community Contributors

Added By

caitlingeneva

Edited By

bthrockmorton, tbobpage

Published

January 25, 2024

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources

Nearby Places

Explore the Destination Guide

Related Places

  • Full cave from mouth

    Delta Junction, Alaska

    Castner Glacier Ice Cave

    An icy behemoth that towers over you with a blue ice cave in the winter and a roaring creek in the summer.

  • Ilulissat Icefjord

    Ilulissat, Greenland

    Ilulissat Icefjord Center

    A remote Arctic museum focusing on the science of icebergs and the archaeology of an ancient Inuit settlement which lies just outside its doors.

  • Siachen Glacier.

    India / Pakistan

    Siachen Glacier

    This disputed mass of ice is home to the highest battleground on Earth.

  • An iceberg drifts down Iceberg Alley.

    Newfoundland and Labrador

    Iceberg Alley

    Hundreds of enormous icebergs drift through this waterway every year.

  • The limestone landscape.

    Borgholm N, Sweden

    Neptuni Åkrar

    An otherworldly, fossil-rich cobble beach holds Viking graves, cairns, and other remains.

  • Precariously perched.

    North Yorkshire, England

    Norber Erratics

    A group of glacial erratic boulders are improbably balanced on white limestone pedestals.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

See Fewer Ads

Become an Atlas Obscura member and experience far fewer ads

Become a Member