Naujaat (Repulse Bay)

An Inuit Hamlet That Sits Right On The Arctic Circle, With Walrus, Whales And Polar Bears Around The Bay, Carving And Sewing, The Nearby Harbour Islands And A Short But Spectacular Summer. A Remote Community With Limited Visitor Services, Reached Only By Air · Naujaat, Nunavut

Naujaat, called Repulse Bay on older maps, is an Inuit hamlet of about 1,200 people on the north-west shore of Hudson Bay, and the Arctic Circle runs through the settlement itself. The Inuktitut name means seagull nesting place, and gulls still crowd the cliffs and islets of the bay each summer. The people are Aivilingmiut, who have hunted walrus, seal, whale, caribou and char here for many centuries, and the Hudson Bay Company opened a post in 1920. The explorer John Rae wintered on this coast in the 1840s and 1850s and gathered news of the lost Franklin ships from Inuit hunters. There is no tour desk and no fixed programme: visitors arrive by scheduled flight, usually from Rankin Inlet, stay at the inn or a guest house, and arrange boat or sled outings through the Hunters and Trappers Organization and local outfitters. Come for the people, the bowhead whales and the sea ice, and let the weather set the days.

Naujaat, a hamlet of about 1,200 people on Repulse Bay beside the Arctic Circle in Nunavut, reached by scheduled flight from Rankin Inlet or Iqaluit; coordinates approximate, Naujaat, Nunavut, Canada

Naujaat keeps no visiting hours because it is a living hamlet. The store, the hamlet office and the inn follow weekday patterns, roughly 9 to 5 with shorter weekends - confirm by phone, and buy food and fuel before Sundays and holidays. Sea-ice travel by sled runs roughly April to June, while open-water boat trips run roughly late July to September. Flights from Rankin Inlet operate several days a week, and fog or blowing snow cancels many of them, so book a flexible return. The shoreline, the hills behind town and the Arctic Circle marker (confirm its position locally) can be visited on foot at any hour.

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