GREENLAND
Greenland is the largest island in the world and one of the last real adventure.
Particularly East Greenland is still very original and unexplored. This is not a
big surprise, because first in 1884 the Europeans arrived in the region.
The life in the Arctic is rough and marked by deprivation and the struggle with the nature. The small towns and settlements are just tiny spots of civilization on the huge white area that Greenland represents. Often there are no roads connecting places, so dog sleds and snowmobiles are the most important ways of transportation in winter, as boats are in summer.
The arctic summer is short and intense. Life makes use of the seemingly endless days of the midnight sun and warmth and where meter-high snow recently covered the ground, yellow, blue and purple flowers now attract insects. In many places, the few willow and birch trees do not grow any taller than these flowers, and even in the few mild weeks, they testify to the harsh harshness of winter.
The Inuit have always been skilled hunters and fishermen. No wonder, since this was the only way to survive in the icy wilderness. And many traditions are still essential elements of the communities. This also includes the craftsmanship of the carvers, who make figures from bones, ivory, reindeer antlers and other materials.
A “Tupilaq” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupilaq) is probably one of the most exciting souvenirs ever. The small figures of ghosts and mythical creatures originally took on various, sometimes less friendly, spiritual functions. Today, however, you can safely put them on your home shelf (we have tested it extensively!).
Greenland has just over 55,000 inhabitants spread over an area about nine times the size of the United Kingdom. But to be fair it must be mentioned that only the coastal regions can be settled while the inland is covered by an ice sheet up to 3,200 meters thick.
Less than 10% of the total population live on the east coast. Our expeditions take place in some of the least populated coasts.
Especially with our diving expeditions we are always breaking new ground, because we are still the only ones who regularly explore the underwater world here. And there is a lot to explore, because the ice in its various forms creates a world that is constantly changing.
One day a bay, or even an entire fjord, is full of icebergs or pack ice, while the next day you can only see open water. Temperatures, wind and currents create the Arctic anew every day.
If you want to experience first-class visibility, exciting dives under pack ice and on frozen icebergs, as well as explore a seemingly endless white wilderness by dog sled, snowmobile or on skis, one of our winter expeditions between February and April is the right place for you.
In summer it makes it easier to get around by boat to reach more distant coasts. There are also large numbers of whales to be seen and the midnight sun can be experienced.
Our dives now take place on icebergs and we start discovery tours from our camp at Sermilik Fjord. It is the second largest ice fjord in the world, and yet it is rarely visited by tourists. Even in summer often we have to find our way through the ice by boat and huge icebergs are omnipresent.
Greenland is one of the last great adventures and is still hardly explored by divers. High arctic animal life such as polar bears, narwhales and Greenland sharks fascinate us as much as the constantly redesigned ice world.
As the world’s only provider of land-based diving expeditions, we have started a huge adventure here, which we would like to share with you!
