The aim of the present study was to compare the peak vertical ground reaction force (V-GRFpeak) and impulse of women performing water aerobic exercises at different intensities in aquatic and dry land environments. 15 young women performed 1 session in each environment consisting of 3 water aerobic exercises (stationary running, frontal kick and cross country skiing) performed at 3 cadences (first ventilatory threshold, second ventilatory threshold and maximum effort, as determined during exercise in water) in a randomized order. 2-way and 3-way repeated measures ANOVA were used to analyze the impulse and V-GRFpeak, respectively. Significantly lower values of V-GRFpeak and impulse (p<0.001) were observed for the aquatic environment. Significant differences were observed among all cadences for V-GRFpeak and impulse (p<0.001) in both environments except for the V-GRFpeak between the cadences corresponding to the second ventilatory threshold and maximum effort in the aquatic environment. In addition, significantly lower V-GRFpeak values in the aquatic environment were found for cross country skiing compared to the other exercises (p<0.001). Thus, water exercises are safe for people that need to minimize vertical ground reaction force; however, an important issue to be considered during water aerobics training is the exercise and intensity to be prescribed.