[7] Landnáma or The Book of Settlements mentions that around 934, two Viking settlers, Molda-Gnúpur Hrólfsson [ˈmɔltaˌknuːpʏr ˈr̥oulsˌsɔːn] and Þórir Haustmyrkur Vígbjóðsson [ˈθouːrɪr ˈhœystˌmɪr̥kʏr ˈviɣˌpjouðsˌsɔːn], arrived in the Reykjanes area.

However, when a safer access point to land was created at Hópið [ˈhouːpɪθ] in 1939, fishing conditions changed dramatically.

The town stands on a lava field that erupted up to about 2,350 years ago from the Sundhnúkur crater chain just north of Grindavík, as well as from the Svartsengisfell volcanoes and fissures on Stora Skogsfell, both nearby.

[14] Grindavík's harbour, called Hópið, was created by an eruption from Sundhnúkur approximately 2,800 years ago that created a peninsula south-east of where the town stands, 2 km (1.2 mi) long by 1 km (0.62 mi) wide, known as Hópsnes on the west side and Þórkötlustaðanes on the east side.

The town's fishing industry originally operated from huts on Þórkötlustaðanes before moving to Grindavík harbour in 1939 after local residents dug a channel through a reef to connect Hópið to the sea.

A state of emergency was issued on 10 November 2023 as continued earthquakes – by then numbering over 22,000 since 25 October – signalled a potentially impending volcanic eruption.

[18] Between midnight and 2 p.m. on 10 November 2023, almost 800 earthquakes were recorded, with the shallowest occurring at depths ranging from 3 to 3.5 kilometres (1.9 to 2.2 mi), as reported by the Icelandic Meteorological Office.

[16] The Icelandic Civil Protection Agency released statements expressing concerns that a magma dike under formation could extend towards Grindavík.

Press photographs from Grindavík on 11 November showed the extent of damage to roads, and the golf course, due to fault movements caused by the activity.

[24][25] A short distance to the north, there is the Blue Lagoon (Icelandic: Bláa Lónið), a geothermal spa using hot and mineralized waters from the nearby Svartsengi power station.

The Leif the Lucky Bridge spans the Álfagjá rift valley [ˈaulvaˌcauː] that marks the boundary of the Eurasian and North American continental tectonic plates.

It displays the story of salt fish production and its importance for the Icelandic economy throughout the centuries in a specially designed building of 650 square metres (7,000 sq ft).

The Spanish publisher and writer Jaime Salinas Bonmatí [es], engaged to Guðbergur Bergsson, lived, died and is buried here.

[27] Near Grindavík, the United States Navy has operated the 1049 acre Naval Radio Transmitter Facility Grindavik since the mid-1970s.