In 1991, the American journal Islands Magazine counted this beach as one of the ten most beautiful beaches on Earth. Its stretch of black basalt sand is one of the wettest places in Iceland. The cliffs west of the beach are home to many seabirds, most notably puffins which burrow into the shallow soils during the nesting season. Offshore lie fingers of basalt rock (stacks) remnants of a once more extensive cliff line Reynisfjall now battered by the sea. There is no landmass between here and Antarctica and the Atlantic rollers can attack with full force. Folklore tells us that they are former trolls who tried to drag their boats out to sea only to be caught by the rising dawn. The sea around them is rather wild and stormy, so travelers will not be surprised to discover a monument to the memory of drowned seamen on the beach.
Near Vík in 1964 and in 1965 two French sounding rockets of the "Dragon" type were launched from a transportable launch pad.
Vík is the site of the fictional Hanso Foundation's Vik Institute, a mental health facility, in the TV series Lost.
The village was affected by volcanic ash during the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull
