In the olden days, Arnarstapi was thus from very early on, a busy fishing port and commercial centre servicing the West coast area under the Danish crown and a merchant monopoly of Denmark was in effect from 1565.

From then on and through the 17th and 18th century, agents of the Danish crown had custodial power over Arnarstapi and commercial rights by royal appointment over nearby lands, formerly owned by Helgafell monastery and monopoly of all trade in the area.

Being a popular destination of tourists in summer, Arnarstapi is today a thriving centre for local tourism activities where there is a variety of natural and culinary attractions as well and a cluster of second homes are located in and around the village.

There the waves of the ocean play along with the sun and the daylight to produce a natural show of which the most spectacular[editorializing] can be experienced at the cliff Gatklettur [ˈkatˌkʰlɛhtʏr̥], and the rifts Hundagjá [ˈhʏntaˌcauː], Miðgjá [ˈmɪðˌcauː] and Músagjá [ˈmuːsaˌcauː].

In Jules Verne's A Journey to the Center of the Earth, Stapi is the last stop on the route the protagonists take before they climb Snæfellsjökull and enter the interior of the planet through a tunnel in the crater.