Jan Mayen

Beerenberg and the Drama of Raw Geology

The island is dominated by Beerenberg, a 2,277-metre active stratovolcano and the northernmost active volcano on Earth. It last erupted in 1985 and its flanks are permanently glaciated, giving Jan Mayen a brooding, otherworldly profile visible from vast distances at sea. For geologists and volcanologists, it is a site of serious scientific interest. For everyone else, it is the kind of place that exists more comfortably in the imagination than in person.

Wildlife, Ice, and Extreme Light

Despite its bleakness, Jan Mayen supports a surprising range of Arctic wildlife. Polar bears occasionally visit across the sea ice, Arctic foxes are resident, and the surrounding waters are rich with walrus, seals, and seabirds including large colonies of little auk and fulmars. In winter the island experiences polar night, and in summer the midnight sun keeps the sky illuminated around the clock. The aurora borealis, when it appears over the frozen landscape, is described by the small staff as one of the genuine privileges of their posting.

Getting There Is the Point, Not the Destination

Access to Jan Mayen is restricted and requires Norwegian military approval. Occasional expedition vessels and research ships pass through or make brief visits, and a small number of adventurous sailors have anchored there with the right permissions. If you find yourself among that rare company, you will arrive on an island with no shops, no services, and no infrastructure for visitors whatsoever. What it does offer is an encounter with some of the most spectacular, savage, and genuinely untouched Arctic scenery on the planet.