Nutaarmiut sits on a small island in the Upernavik Archipelago, on the northeastern edge of Baffin Bay in northwest Greenland. It is the smallest permanent settlement in the archipelago, with a population that has fallen from 76 residents in 1980 to just 36 today. There is no supermarket, no paved road, and no piped drinking water. Life here runs on hunting, fishing, and a transport calendar dictated entirely by ice.
How to Get to Nutaarmiut
There is no scheduled passenger service straight to Nutaarmiut. Every route starts in Upernavik, the archipelago's only town with a fixed-wing airport, reached by Air Greenland flights connecting through Ilulissat. From Upernavik, getting to Nutaarmiut itself depends entirely on the season.
Summer Access: Boat from Upernavik
From roughly June through September, when Baffin Bay's coastal waters are open, small chartered boats make the crossing from Upernavik to Nutaarmiut. There is no public ferry timetable covering the settlement, so visitors need to arrange a private boat transfer in advance, either through a local operator in Upernavik or a contact in the village itself. Sea conditions and drifting icebergs from nearby glaciers can delay departures with little notice, so trips are rarely locked to a fixed schedule.
Winter Access: Dog Sleds and Snowmobiles on the Sea Ice
Once the sea freezes solid, usually from December into May, boats are useless and the ice itself becomes the road. Locals travel between Upernavik and outlying settlements like Nutaarmiut by dog sled or snowmobile, following routes marked by generations of hunters who know where the ice holds and where it does not. Air Greenland also flies contract helicopter runs to many Upernavik Archipelago settlements on a cargo-priority, pre-book basis, and these flights can sometimes carry passengers when weather and ice conditions rule out surface travel, though they are not part of any public timetable and cannot be relied on for a fixed arrival date.
Daily Life Without a Supermarket
Nutaarmiut has no grocery store. What residents cannot hunt, fish, or grow, they wait for, brought in occasionally by seasonal cargo boats from Upernavik. Trip planning here means stocking up before travel, not popping out for supplies.
Melting Snow and Ice for Drinking Water
There is no piped running water system in Nutaarmiut. Through the colder months, households collect and melt clean snow or glacial ice for drinking water. In summer, small freshwater runoff streams around the island provide an alternative source. Visitors should not expect tap water or bottled water for sale and need to plan their own supply accordingly.
Subsistence Hunting and Fishing
The settlement's economy runs almost entirely on seal hunting and small-scale Greenland halibut longline fishing. Catches feed local households first, with any surplus occasionally sold to processing points in Upernavik. This is the same subsistence pattern found across the wider Upernavik Archipelago, where fishing, hunting, and fish processing remain the main sources of income, and it is worth knowing before a visit that hunting and fishing are livelihood, not tourism spectacle.
The Extreme Seasons: Polar Night and Midnight Sun
At a latitude just above 73°N, Nutaarmiut swings between two extremes that shape everything from work schedules to school hours.
Enduring the November to January Darkness
From November through January, the sun does not rise above the horizon. Daily life continues by artificial light, twilight glow, and whatever moonlight or aurora activity is available, and the return of visible daylight in late January is a genuine seasonal milestone for residents. The opposite extreme arrives around the summer months, when the sun stays above the horizon for weeks and outdoor and hunting activity often shifts to whatever hours suit the light and the ice rather than the clock.
Is Nutaarmiut Open to Tourists?
Nutaarmiut is not set up for casual or independent tourism. There are no hotels, no restaurants, and no scheduled passenger transport, so a visit means arranging a private boat or ice transfer from Upernavik and bringing all food, cold-weather gear, and expedition equipment yourself. Anyone considering a trip should treat it as remote expedition travel, not a day excursion, and should coordinate directly with a local contact or an experienced Greenland operator well before arrival. Given the tiny population, visitors should also expect a working village, not a tourist attraction, and should be mindful that hunting and fishing routines take priority over sightseeing.