Eqi Glacier

The Eqip Sermia glacier reaches the sea about eighty kilometres north of Ilulissat, presenting a calving front several kilometres wide and around fifty metres high above the water, and it calves frequently enough that watching it for an hour usually produces something. A camp on the shore opposite, established where Paul-Émile Victor ran his expeditions in the 1940s, allows overnight stays. Boats from Ilulissat take four to five hours each way.

Highlights

• The calving front - a wall several kilometres wide and around fifty metres high.
• The frequent calving - ice falling often enough to be seen within an hour.
• The shore camp - the accommodation on the opposite side of the bay.
• The Victor connection - the site of the French expeditions of the 1940s.

When to go

June to September is the boat season. Ice conditions can prevent approach. The glacier calves year round but access does not.

Good to know

The boat trip is four to five hours each way, which makes a day trip very long. Ice can prevent the boat approaching the front. The camp is basic and expensive.

Nearby

Oqaatsut is south, and Ilulissat is beyond it.

Key facts