Uunartoq is an uninhabited island in the fjord system between Qaqortoq and Nanortalik, South Greenland's mildest, greenest country.
A small cluster of natural pools sits on a low grassy slope at around 37-38°C, with open fjord on one side and mountain ridges behind. Icebergs drift past in the water below. There is no village, no infrastructure beyond the stone-lined edges.
Most visits run a full day. Tell us when you'd like to come and we'll arrange the boat and the timing.
Photo by Camilla Hylleberg - Visit Greenland - Meget gult dame alene
Photo by Aningaaq Rosing Carlsen - Visit Greenland
Photo by Magnus B. Trolle - Visit Greenland
Greenland has no active volcanism, so Uunartoq's heat doesn't come from magma. It comes from deep circulation along ancient fault systems linked to the tectonic break-up that separated the Jan Mayen micro-continent from East Greenland. The hottest measured outflow on the island is around 60°C, cooling to around 38°C in the bathing pools.
Photo by Mads Pihl - Visit Greenland
The Norse settlers reportedly bathed in these same pools more than a thousand years ago, making Uunartoq one of the longest continuously used hot springs in the North Atlantic world. Medieval sources record a small nunnery established nearby after the Christianisation of Greenland around 1000 AD. After the Norse collapse, Inuit hunters used the island seasonally.
Photo by Mads Pihl - Visit Greenland
The bath-warm water against cool Arctic air, with snow-streaked peaks visible from the pool and icebergs drifting past close enough to hear the occasional crack. It's a sensation that's difficult to compare to anywhere else. The grass and wildflowers around the pools bloom in July with Arctic thyme, dwarf willow, harebells.
Photo by Mads Pihl - Visit Greenland
Every Uunartoq trip is unique, shaped by the fjord conditions and the kind of stay you want.
We can build the trip as a focused day on the island, boat out, a long soak, a wander through the wildflowers around the pools, and the journey back, or as part of a longer South Greenland route that combines Uunartoq with Norse ruins, sheep farms, and the Qaqortoq coastline.
Tell us when you'd like to come and we'll arrange the boat, the timing, and any add-ons along the South Greenland coast.
Photo by Magnus B. Trolle - Visit Greenland - to damer mod huse
Share your travel plans and preferred dates — our team will review availability and get back to you with the best options.
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