Visit the ruins of Selatangar, lava fields of Katlahraun
Selatangar was a big fishing village between Grindavik and Krysuvik, which was abolished after 1880. Ruins of the buildings are still very prominent in the landscape and have been granted protected status. During the latter part of the 19th century, ghosts were said to start haunting the settlement. The surroundings are grandiose, with low mountains and vast lava fields. A track for 4wd-vehicles leads to the ruins on the coast from the road to Isolfsskali.
Meanwhile, Katlahraun is a lava field with beautiful and unusual rock formations. The lava flowed from craters approximately 2000 years ago. As a result of the cold seasurf, a lava pond with round walls was formed by the shore keeping the scorching lava inside. The poisonous gases from within the lava found its way to the surface and cooled its surroundings and a lava-chimney was formed. The surface of the lava pond hardened but the hot lava beneath eventually broke through, forming tunnels and rough edges until the pond was empty. The hardened surface finally fell and broke down shaping the area with scores of broken lava rocks and the massive lava-chimney still standing.
View Reykjanes peninsula
