However, kayaking in Greenland also makes great demands of safety. The weather can change very quickly, and powerful winds can be critical in a small, unstable craft. There may be long, steep rocky coastlines where the shore becomes unapproachable in blustery winds. In fjord estuaries and straits, there may be powerful currents. Finding your bearings in dense fog in skerries and fjords can be particularly tricky, and even in the most unlikely places there may be hidden rocks.
Some fjords produce a lot of ice periodically.
In South Greenland, there may be field ice. Icebergs can tumble, glaciers can calve. Help and assistance will often be a long way off, should an accident occur. Kayaking at sea in Greenland therefore calls for great experience, a knowledge of local conditions and great respect for the whims of nature. In Greenland, kayaking for tourists is done mainly in modern, western-produced sea or turka jackets, modern kayaks being considered safer and more comfortable than the traditional Greenlandic qajaq.