Visit in July 2019.

Surtsey is a place that I have been fascinated with for essentially my entire life. In fact, the island and I are almost exactly the same age. Technically, Surtsey was “born” about eight weeks before I was, but I also existed at the time Surtsey rose from the sea, I just hadn't “erupted” quite yet. I also remember watching movies about the creation of the island, and also of the eruption ten years later on the nearby island of Heimaey, in the Vestmannaeyjar, when I was in the fifth grade in primary school. Consequently, I was very motivated to make an actual visit to this difficult-to-reach WHS.

Nothing has really changed in recent years regarding the status of Surtsey. It is still prohibited to land on the island, and it is unlikely that this will ever change. That leaves a trip to its offshore areas by sea, or a flyover in a small aircraft, as the only realistic options for a visit. In my opinion, this is not really a bad thing, since I don't believe that actually walking on the island would provide any real value compared to what you could see by the other methods. Additionally, there is not a safe landing site for small boats anywhere on the island at this time.

As I neared the area, there was still one tour operator in the Vestemannaeyjar that advertises a Private Tour to Surtsey on their Web site. However, when I went to their office and asked about it, I was told that they would use a rib boat that seats 12 passengers. If there was a group of that size willing to go, they would run the tour, and the cost would be reasonable at about $250 per person. But for only 1 person, as I was, the total cost for that tour would have been quite unrealistic. They also told me that nobody had asked about a tour to Surtsey in a long time, so it seems that there is not much demand from the general public, or even from WH travelers. I also asked around the town about a sightseeing flight, since there is a small airport on the mainland of Iceland that shuttles people over to the Vestmannaeyjar in small aircraft. No one that I spoke with had any idea whether that would be possible, or not, and when I stopped by the small airport on the way to the islands, no one was in the office.

However, Heimaey has an active port, and wherever there is a port, there is usually someone with a boat willing to take you somewhere, for the right price. I continued to ask, and found someone, who knew someone, who knew someone with a boat that could possibly do what I wanted.  This led me to a small tour company (www.saca.is), which doesn't list Surtsey on its Web site, but when I made contact, the owner, a native of Heimaey named Halli, told me that he would be willing to give it a try the next day, as long as the weather looked reasonable. His boat is smaller, taking a maximum of 4-6 people, so while I had to pay for an entire tour myself, the total was just over one third of the price I was given by the other boat tour operator. It was still a little more than I probably should have spent, but I had come a long way, and was distinctly determined to get to Surtsey, so I reserved the trip for the next day. For a group of 4 people, which would be much easier to organize, a Tour from Halli would be a very good value.

The following day we were very lucky, and the wind and waves were a little less than they had been for a few days, or would become in the following days, so we set out early in the morning. It took about an hour to get to Surtsey and along the way I enjoyed observing the many pelagic bird species that were present in great numbers as we moved south from Heimaey. As we approached the island, I was impressed that it was somewhat larger than I was expecting, and with the variety of geological forms that it presented. On the north and east sides of the island there is a low-lying area of large, but loosely-arranged lava rocks which gradually rise up towards the two main peaks on the island. On this side one can see the two tiny huts that researchers use when they visit Surtsey, as well as the slowly expanding zone where plants have begun to colonize the island (shown in the image). Moving around, in a clockwise direction, the remaining cinder cone comes into view. On the south and west side of the island, the formerly loose lava rocks have consolidated into palagonite, and the shoreline consists of sheer cliffs that, in places, are 100 meters high. On this side, it is clear that Surtsey will still be around for a long, long time to come.

I really enjoyed my visit to this site, and Halli was an excellent guide, who had a lot of personal knowledge about Surtsey and the Vestmannaeyjar to pass along. On the way back to the port, we also visited the cliffs and caves of Heimaey, which was a nice bonus. For someone who has an interest in geology, doesn't mind being out on the open ocean in a small boat, or simply likes to see places that few other people have seen, a visit to Surtsey is a good choice, assuming the weather is as good as it was for me. I fit all three of those criteria, so for me it was a great visit.

There is a relatively new Surtsey exhibit at the Volcano Museum on Heimaey, which provides a good deal of information on the island and its creation.  Some may wonder if a visit to the museum could count as a visit to Surtsey, but I would be a little uneasy about claiming that. However, I was told that, on a clear day, it is possible to get a distant view of Surtsey during the standard boat tours around Heimaey, and that, in combination with the museum, might be more reasonable to count as a visit to Surtsey. Personally, I wouldn't have been very satisfied with that myself, so I am glad the weather cooperated and I was able to make it out to the island proper.