Improvements in wetsuit technology mean surfers can enjoy the waters in Iceland all year round. Photograph: Sigga Ella/The Guardian

Icelandic surfers fear port development will ruin ‘perfect point break’

Volcanoes, northern lights and midnight sun are all on offer at this haven, which locals want to preserve

Look at this wave,” says Mathis Blache, pointing to the sea from the shore’s black rocks as a swell rolls in. “It’s just perfect.” Despite air and water temperatures in the single digits, the 27-year-old student and surfer points out two other surfers – and a couple of seals – delighting in the conditions at Þorlákshöfn in south-west Iceland.

This spot, where surfers can enjoy either the midnight sun or the northern lights depending on the time of year, has in recent years become the heart of Iceland’s rapidly growing surfing community.

As well as being one of Iceland’s only accessible point breaks (when wave swell strikes a point of land), it boasts unique scenery – the backdrop features several volcanoes – and consistently good waves. With its close proximity to Reykjavík, it has become a destination for locals, professionals and tourists alike.

Chris Burkard, the photographer and director of the documentary Under an Arctic Sky, describes it as the “perfect point break” and says in many parts of the world it would be considered “near sacred”.

But just a few metres away from the wave, the sight of diggers and piled-up rocks are a reminder that this surfing haven is at imminent risk of being taken away.

Under plans yet to be approved by the municipal council – a final decision is to be made at a meeting on Thursday – the neighbouring harbour is to be expanded so that it can accommodate ships of up to 200 metres long, which could be used for cargo ships, passenger and cruise ships.

Devastated surfers have vowed to fight the plans, which they say would permanently destroy the surfing potential of the beach. A petition to save Iceland’s “best surf spot” has attracted thousands of signatures.

Brimbrettafélag Íslands, the surfing association of Iceland, claims that landfill work has already started without approval, which they say has already had a negative impact on surfing conditions. Elliði Vignisson, the mayor of Ölfus, the district in which Þorlákshöfn town sits, says this was down to a “misunderstanding between the contractor and the project manager of the port, which was corrected immediately”.

The association is calling for a solution that would enable both the harbour to be expanded and the wave to be preserved…