Snæfellsnes is well known for the colorful landscape and a wide variety in type of beaches and the color of the beach sand. In contrast to the usual black sand beach in Iceland you will find a golden sand beach , red sand beach rocky beach and pebble stone beach.
Ytri Tunga beach is located on the Snæfellsnes Peninsula in western Iceland just about two hours drive from Reykjavik. On this golden sand beach one can find vivid birdlife in the summer as well as common and grey seals resting on the rocky shore using seaweed and alge for pillows, especially when the tide is low
The beach is surrounded by beautiful scenery and offers stunning views of the open surrounding landscape and specially towards the volcano and glacier Snæfellsjökull, the one and only that is mentioned in the story Journey to the center of the earth by Jules Verne. The story was made into film in 2008 starring Brendan Fraser and Icelandic actress Anita Briem.
It is important to maintain a minimum distance of 164 feet (50 meters) from the seals on Ytri Tunga
Once in a blue moon a whale strands in the area and the remains of them can be found at the beach.
