Key takeaways
- The minimum height is 140 centimetres, measured on the day rather than estimated from a child's age. Heights vary too much between children of the same age for an age rule to work.
- The maximum weight for any passenger is 120 kilograms, and the limit applies the same way to every seat in the boat, adult or child.
- Not suitable for pregnant women or anyone with back problems, a mobility impairment, claustrophobia, a heart condition, respiratory issues or epilepsy.
- Ask the operator before you book rather than at the meeting point. Free cancellation means checking first carries no downside if the answer is no.
The Restrictions, Stated in Full
Green Gold of Norway sets a fixed set of rules for this trip and none of them are decided on the day. Minimum height is 140 centimetres. Maximum weight is 120 kilograms. The trip is not suitable for pregnant women, or for anyone with back problems, a mobility impairment, claustrophobia, a heart condition, a respiratory condition, epilepsy, or any other pre-existing medical condition. That is the complete list, and every item on it applies to every passenger, adult or child.
None of this is paperwork collected at check-in. The bus leaves Tromso at 05:30 for a road trip of 265 kilometres each way, and once the boat is at sea there is no quick way to bring anyone back to shore. Working out whether you or someone in your group meets these conditions belongs at the booking stage, not at the meeting point behind the Magic Ice bar at 05:20 with a full bus waiting.
The 140cm Rule: Measure, Do Not Guess
The minimum height is 140 centimetres, and it is a height rule, not an age rule. A child who reaches 140cm is commonly around ten or eleven years old, but children grow at wildly different rates, and plenty of ten-year-olds are taller than plenty of thirteen-year-olds. Guessing from a birthday tells you nothing useful. Standing your child against a wall with a tape measure a few days before you travel tells you everything you need to know.
There is no separate children's rate or children's version of this trip. A child who clears 140cm joins the same boat, wears the same flotation suit as everyone else, and is held to the same 120-kilogram weight limit as an adult. If your child is close to the line, measure again on the morning you travel rather than relying on a measurement taken months earlier.
Every passenger wears the same flotation suit, whatever their size within the 120kg limit.
Why a Small Open Boat Has Rules a Large Boat Does Not
These restrictions exist because of what the boat is, not because of who is running it. A RIB is a rigid-inflatable hull built to cover water fast, and getting up to speed and holding it means the ride is physically jarring in a way a large, heavy vessel is not. There is no cabin to step into if the cold or the motion becomes too much, and no toilet for the two and a half to three hours the boat is out on the water.
A small, fast boat also cannot turn around and put you back on a quay the way a bus can pull over. Once it has left Skjervoy, the nearest shore might be a rocky stretch of coast with nowhere to land, and any change of plan has to wait until the boat is ready to come in on its own terms. A boat this quick and this far from help asks more of a passenger's body than a slow, sheltered cruise does, which is the whole reason the height, weight and health rules exist.
A Medium-Difficulty Trip, on a Long Day
The operator rates this trip medium difficulty, and the shape of the day backs that up. It runs to roughly twelve hours door to door: a 05:30 departure from Tromso, a 265-kilometre drive north to Skjervoy, two and a half to three hours on the water, and the same drive back. Most of that time is spent on your feet, in a moving vehicle, or braced in a boat seat.
None of that requires athletic fitness, but it does ask for a body that can sit upright for hours, brace against a moving boat, and cope with several hours of Arctic cold with nothing indoors to retreat to until the heated clubhouse at the end. Weigh this trip against a long, physically active day outdoors, not against a gentle harbour cruise.
140 cm
One measurement decides who can board: 140 centimetres, checked at the meeting point, not guessed from a birthday.
Pregnancy and Health Conditions
The exclusion list covers pregnancy and a specific set of health conditions: back problems, mobility impairments, claustrophobia, heart problems, respiratory issues, and epilepsy, alongside a general line covering any other pre-existing medical condition. Whether a condition of your own falls inside or outside that list is a judgement for you and a doctor, made before you book rather than at the bus door.
What can be said plainly is that these are the operator's rules, set for a boat that is fast, open, and a long way from a hospital, and they are applied at the meeting point rather than negotiated there. If you are unsure whether a condition you or someone travelling with you has would rule the trip out, the honest move is to ask the operator directly before you book, not to arrive at 05:20 and hope.
Wheelchair Access and What To Do If Unsure
Mobility impairments are on the exclusion list, and a boat boarded by climbing down into an open RIB, with no ramp and no fixed indoor seating, is not built to be adapted for a wheelchair user. Anyone travelling with a wheelchair or a mobility aid should treat this specific trip as unsuitable and plan the day around that rather than assuming a workaround exists on arrival.
This trip carries free cancellation, which is the practical answer to all of this. If you are close to the height line, unsure about a health condition, or simply want to check with the operator before committing, you can book now and still cancel free of charge if the answer turns out to be no. That beats deciding it at the meeting point behind the Magic Ice bar with a bus already loaded.
