As hard as it may be to believe, there is actually a history of surfing in Iceland, albeit a fairly recent one. As Icelandic surfer Steinar explains in this, the 4th installment of the Iceland Is Weird But So Great video series, the first known attempts at surfing began with American servicemen at the now closed NATO base some 25 years ago.

Steinar explains that at the time, he and his friends were avid snowboarders, and had often considered surfing, but knew little about how to manage the waves. With time and perseverance, though, they were able to master the art, and have now for the past 15 years taken trips around Iceland’s coast, looking for waves to catch.

Take a trip with Steinar and get a feel for what Icelandic surfing is like in the video below:

This series is the work of film maker and director Árni Sveinsson, in collaboration with the Reykjavík Grapevine as media partners and sponsored by Go Car rentals. The series takes a look at some aspects of life around the country that might be familiar to locals, but are probably less known to visitors to the country.

The series runs in both directions, too: Árni encourages our readers to contact Grapevine if they have any suggestions for possible coverage. If you have any idea to throw Árni’s way, just drop us a line at grapevine@grapevine.is with the subject line “iceland is weird but so great”.