Surfing in Iceland in March

Conditions in March

Water temp. : 6 °C
Wetsuit : 6/5 mm, hood, gloves and boots

March closes the October to March window. The winter lows are still arriving, and the difference from January is that you no longer have to compress a trip into a slot around midday.

That extra light buys you options rather than comfort. Because wind is what ruins a swell here, the useful move is to look at several breaks in a day: Sandvík in the morning, Grindavík when the wind swings, Þorlákshöfn in the afternoon. Three chances beat one good guess. The water has not moved yet and is still at 6°C, so the wetsuit is unchanged, but the snow is off the peninsula roads by the end of the month and the drives that January closes are open again.

Learning in March

For learning : Off season

The first month where a first trip holds together. Cold, but there is daylight to spend and Sandvík runs lessons through it.

For an experienced surfer

Surf : Very good

Winter swell without the winter darkness. If you are coming once, come in March or in October.

How March compares

All twelve months, side by side

Where these figures come from

Air, rain and sunshine: WMO / NOAA 1991-2020 normals for Agadir Al Massira, a station some twenty kilometres inland and so a little warmer than the coast in summer. Swell, period and share of workable wind: Swell Archive and surf-forecast. Water temperature: seatemperature.org and weather-and-climate. Crowds and prices are an editorial judgement, not a measurement.