The Kimberley: Darwin to Broome Cruise - Premium Adventure

On departure day, meet Coral Expeditions at Darwin Cruise Terminal for your check-in procedure, please arrive at 7am. The crew will then transfer you and your luggage to the ship at 8am where there is time to settle into your cabin before our 9am departure. Spend a luxuriant sea day at leisure as we cruise across Joseph Bonaparte Gulf and sail into Western Australian waters.

Take time to acquaint yourself with the facilities and join our Expedition Team in the lounge for an insightful introduction to The Kimberley. As dusk falls, meet your fellow travellers, the captain and crew at the Captain’s Welcome Drinks.

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Fed by the King George River draining across the Gardner Plateau, the 260ft (80m) tall King George Falls are the highest twin falls in Western Australia. Before reaching the misty spray rising from the base of the falls, we cruise through steep-sided gorges carved by a flooded river system that cut a swathe through the Kimberley landscape 400m years ago.

Early in the waterfall season, we may cruise around the base of the falls, while in later months we can view the honeycomb erosion patterns of sandstone cliffs up close.

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Tumbling down the Mitchell Plateau in a series of tiered waterfalls and emerald-green rock pools, the Mitchell Falls are the photogenic poster child for the Mitchell River National Park. Take a scenic helicopter flight (additional cost) to the multi-tiered falls to see emerald rock pools cascade down the escarpment and ancient rock art galleries concealed in caves behind curtains of water.

Mitchell River National Park is inhabited by significant numbers of mammals, amphibians, reptiles and birds, lured by a year-round water source. Sandstone terraces beside tiered rock pools make a terrific viewing platform from which to savour the serenity of this ancient landscape.

An alternative to Mitchell Falls is exploring the sandstone caves of Wollaston Bay or Wollaston Creek. This mass of weathered tunnels, arches and columns form a maze and was once an Aboriginal midden. Another option while anchored at Winyalkan Bay is a visit to a series of Wandjina and Gwion Gwion rock art galleries at Swift Bay.

In the evening, we enjoy watching the sun set over the Indian Ocean while indulging in a gourmet barbecue.

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Prince Frederick Harbour, at the southern end of York Sound, is one of the most spectacular locations in The Kimberly. The harbour is dotted with islands lined with mangroves and monsoon rainforests, set against a backdrop of the ochre escarpment.

White-bellied sea eagles and other birds of prey are often seen here; at low tide, expansive mudflats reveal large populations of mudskippers and mangrove crabs. We take our Xplorer tender vessels on a cruise up Porosus Creek to view striking rock formations.

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King Cascade is a classically beautiful, terraced waterfall – one of the most photographed waterfalls in The Kimberley. Falling from a considerable height and around 165ft (50m) across, water tumbles down a staggered terrace of Kimberley sandstone. Layer upon layer of ochre and blackened rock sprouts grasses, mosses and ferns in a sort of lushly vegetated hanging garden.

We reach King Cascade after cruising in our Xplorer tender vessels down the steep-sided Prince Regent River, which is a remarkable anomaly as the river runs dead straight along a fault line.

Explorer Phillip Parker King named nearby Careening Bay after he beached his leaking vessel HMC Mermaid to make repairs. While stranded on this remote coastline for 17 days, the ship’s carpenter carved ‘HMC Mermaid 1820’ into the bottle-shaped trunk of a boab tree near the beach. Two hundred years later, the Mermaid Boab Tree has since split into two trunks and sports a mammoth girth of 39ft (12m). Significantly, the bulbous tree is listed on the National Register of Big Trees and the carpenter’s inscription now stands almost as tall as a person.

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Montgomery Reef is a biologically diverse area covering more than 115sqmi (300sqkm) and was named by Phillip Parker King. Twice daily, as the sea recedes in 36ft (11m) tides, Montgomery Reef rises from the Indian Ocean in a cascade of rushing water revealing a flat-topped reef pockmarked with rock pools and rivulets.

As the reef emerges, we get up close in our Xplorer and Zodiac inflatable tenders to witness the spectacle as our Expedition Team share their knowledge on the formation of the reef and the myriad wildlife. Opportunistic birds take advantage of the emerging reef, feeding on marine life exposed in rock pools. Turtles, dolphins, dugongs and sawfish are also attracted to feeding opportunities as the ocean recedes.

The ocean is awash in a swirl of eddies and whirlpools as the gravitational force of the moon takes hold. A few hours later, the entire water-borne drama is reversed as the tide comes in and Montgomery Reef disappears below sea level.

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Raft Point guards the entrance to Doubtful Bay, a vast body of sheltered water harbouring significant sites, such as the ancient Wandjina rock art galleries, which are a short walk from the beach and considered some of the finest in the Kimberley. We visit the rock art galleries when Traditional Owners are available to guide us. Doubtful Bay is the traditional country of the Worrora people who follow the Wandjina, their god, lawmaker and creator. Images of Wandjina are found throughout The Kimberley, recording their stories, knowledge and culture in stone.

Red Cone Creek flows gently downstream until it meets the small but impressive Ruby Falls, which was named by local mariner Captain Chris Trucker after his daughter. Red Cone Creek is carved through rock formations stacked atop each other like building blocks. These rock walls are great for climbing and clambering over before reaching a series of freshwater swimming holes and waterfalls. The falls may be a gurgling torrent or a gentle trickle, depending on the time of the year.

Other sites we aim to visit in Doubtful Bay include the mighty Steep Island and Ruby Falls at Red Cone Creek.

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The Horizontal Falls are one of the biggest attractions in The Kimberly, a result of the mammoth tides for which The Kimberley is renowned. Naturalist Sir David Attenborough described the them as ‘one of the greatest natural wonders of the world’.

They are created as the ocean thunders through a narrow gorge in the McLarty Ranges. Water builds on one side and is forcibly pushed through the bottleneck, creating a rushing horizontal waterfall of swiftly flowing seawater. Riding the rapids on our Zodiac inflatable tenders is one of the highlights of our Kimberley expedition cruises.

Talbot Bay is at the heart of the Buccaneer Archipelago, where rocks on the 800 or so islands are estimated at more than 2bn years old. At Cyclone Creek, you will see evidence of massive geological forces in the impressive rock formations and cruise through the Iron Islands, past Koolan Island, before enjoying sunset drinks at Nares Point.

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The Lacepede Islands are a protected nature reserve and a significant nesting rookery for brown boobies and roseate terns. Other species often sighted at the Lacepedes include Australian pelicans, frigate birds, egrets and gulls. The four low-lying islands are also an important breeding and nesting habitat for green turtles.

If weather and tide conditions are suitable, we will explore the lagoons by Xplorer and Zodiac tender vessels.

On our last evening aboard, as our incredible Kimberley adventures draw to a close, we enjoy the captain’s farewell drinks among new-found friends.

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Our adventure along The Kimberley coast concludes in Broome at 8am. Bid farewell to your fellow travellers, the captain and crew. A post-cruise transfer to Broome CBD or airport is included (you must advise and book with Exodus at least one month before departure if you wish to have a departure transfer).

If you’re not transferring directly to the airport, why not spend the day visiting Cable Beach or stroll the historic streets of Chinatown in central Broome?