The Kimberley region is calling so why wait to explore Western Australia’s northern region? Known for its rugged ranges, dramatic gorges and a coastline of unmatched beauty, this is one expedition to remember. Over 13 days, you’ll uncover mighty waterfalls, ancient rock art, incredible wildlife and more.
Your adventure begins in tropical Darwin where you’ll enjoy a night at leisure before joining your Coral Expeditions purpose-built ship. Onboard you’ll delight in daily briefings with guest lecturers, chef-prepared meals with select beverages, Wi-Fi access and more. You’ll also have the chance to experience remote rivers, reef systems and isolated beaches with included shore excursions, led by your Expedition Team from Xplorer and Zodiac tenders.
Every destination is an unforgettable oasis, from the 80-metre-tall King George Falls to Prince Frederick Harbour, where white-bellied sea eagles and mangrove crabs are found. Marvel at the 50-metre-high terraced King Cascade waterfall, one of the most photographed locations in the Kimberley, and observe mammoth 11-metre tides recede at Montgomery Reef. Admire the Indigenous rock art galleries of Swift Bay, experience a heart-pumping ride through the rapids of Horizontal Falls and chance upon green sea turtles in breeding areas of the Lacepede Islands.
Coral Expeditions pioneered the Kimberley Expedition cruise over 35 years ago and have been perfecting the experience ever since. Travel with the Kimberley experts and discover Australia’s wild side with return domestic flights, 2 nights of 4-star hotel accommodation, a 10-night expedition cruise, all meals while cruising and more.
Want more? Explore more with Arrive Early and Stay Behind options in Darwin and Broome.
Please note: Extra charges may apply, see the Important Info section and checkout cart for fees and details
Today you'll fly to Darwin, the gateway to Australia’s untamed top end. Upon arrival, make your own way to your centrally-located hotel and enjoy the rest of your day at leisure.
Overnight: Rydges Darwin Central or similar, Darwin, Northern Territory
Meals included: None
Embark: 08:00
This morning, make your own way to Darwin Fort Hill Wharf for boarding at 08:00. Once onboard, enjoy time to settle into your stateroom before a 09:00 departure. There will also be a light breakfast available upon boarding before you cruise across Joseph Bonaparte Gulf and sail into Western Australian waters.
Please note: This Kimberley Expedition itinerary is flexible to take advantage of changing weather and tidal conditions. This itinerary showcases a selection of the key destinations you may visit.
Overnight: Coral Expeditions' Coral Adventurer or Coral Geographer
Meals included: Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner
Fed by the King George River draining across the Gardner Plateau, the 80-metre-tall King George Falls is the most impressive Kimberley waterfall and the highest twin falls in Western Australia. Before reaching the mist-like spray rising from the base of King George Falls, you'll cruise through steep-sided gorges carved by a flooded river system that carved a swathe through the Kimberley landscape 400 million years ago.
Early in the waterfall season, you may cruise around the base of impressive King George Falls while in later months you might take the opportunity to view the honeycomb erosion patterns of sandstone cliffs up close.
Overnight: Coral Expeditions' Coral Adventurer or Coral Geographer
Meals included: Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner
Vansittart Bay is home to many cultural and historically significant sites like the remarkable Gwion Gwion (Bradshaw) Aboriginal rock art galleries, estimated to be up to 20,000 years old. Jar Island is named after the pot shards found here, brought to the island by Makassar fishermen harvesting sea cucumbers (also known as trepang).
Nearby, on the Anjo Peninsula, lays the well-preserved wreckage of a US Air Force C-53 Skytrooper aircraft. This is the result of a pilot losing his bearings flying from Perth to Broome in 1942 and putting it down on a salt pan near present-day Truscott Airbase.
Overnight: Coral Expeditions' Coral Adventurer or Coral Geographer
Meals included: Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner
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. This is your chance to take a scenic helicopter flight (additional cost, booked during the cruise) to multi-tiered Mitchell Falls where emerald-hued rock pools cascade down the escarpment and ancient rock art galleries are concealed in caves behind curtains of water.
Mitchell River National Park is inhabited by many mammals, amphibians, reptiles and bird species that are lured here 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 option to Mitchell Falls is exploring the sandstone caves of Wollaston Bay or Wollaston Creek. This mass of weathered tunnels, arches and columns form a labyrinth-like 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, watch the sunset over the Indian Ocean while indulging in a gourmet BBQ.
Overnight: Coral Expeditions' Coral Adventurer or Coral Geographer
Meals included: Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner
Prince Frederick Harbour is one of the Kimberley’s most spectacular locations at the southern end of York Sound. The harbour is dotted with islands lined with mangroves and monsoon rainforests, set against a backdrop of ochre-hued escarpment.
White-bellied sea eagles and other birds of prey are often seen here while expansive mudflats reveal large populations of mudskippers and mangrove crabs at low tide. Take the Xplorer tender vessels on a cruise up Porosus Creek to view some striking rock formations.
Bigge Island’s Indigenous name is Wuuyuru, and the Indigenous Group of the area is the Wunambal people.
Overnight: Coral Expeditions' Coral Adventurer or Coral Geographer
Meals included: Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner
King Cascade is a classically beautiful terraced waterfall and one of the most photographed waterfalls in the Kimberley. Falling from a considerable height and around 50 metres across, water tumbles down a staggered terrace of Kimberley sandstone. Layer upon layer of ochre-hued and blackened rock sprouts grasses, mosses and ferns in a sort of lushly vegetated hanging garden.
Reach King Cascade after cruising in the 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.
Lt Phillip Parker King named nearby Careening Bay after he grounded his leaking vessel HMC Mermaid to effect 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. Almost 200 years later, the Mermaid Boab Tree has since split into two trunks and sports a mammoth girth of 12 metres. Significantly, the bulbous tree is listed on the National Register of Big Trees and the carpenter’s careful inscription now stands almost as tall as a person.
Overnight: Coral Expeditions' Coral Adventurer or Coral Geographer
Meals included: Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner
Montgomery Reef is a biologically diverse area covering over 300 square kilometres and was named by Phillip Parker King. Twice daily, as the sea recedes in mammoth 11-metre 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, get up close in the Xplorer and Zodiac inflatable tenders to witness the spectacle as the 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 left exposed in rock pools. Turtles, dolphins, dugongs and sawfish too are also attracted to feeding opportunities as the ocean recedes.
The ocean is awash in a swirl of eddies and whirlpools as the moon’s gravitational force 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.
Overnight: Coral Expeditions' Coral Adventurer or Coral Geographer
Meals included: Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner
Doubtful Bay is the traditional country of the Worrora people who follow the Wandjina, their god, law-maker 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. 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 you may visit in Doubtful Bay include the mighty Steep Island and Ruby Falls at Red Cone Creek.
Overnight: Coral Expeditions' Coral Adventurer or Coral Geographer
Meals included: Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner
Horizontal Falls is one of the Kimberley’s biggest attractions and are a result of the mammoth 11-metre tides the Kimberley is renowned for. Naturalist David Attenborough described Horizontal Falls as ‘one of the greatest natural wonders of the world.'
This natural phenomenon was created as the ocean thundered through a narrow gorge in the McLarty Ranges. Water built up on one side and was forcibly pushed through the bottleneck, creating a rushing horizontal waterfall of swiftly flowing seawater. Riding the rapids on the Zodiac inflatable tenders will be one of the highlights of the Kimberley expedition cruises.
Talbot Bay is at the heart of the Buccaneer Archipelago where rocks on the 800 or so islands are estimated to be over 2 billion years old. At Cyclone Creek, you'll 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.
Overnight: Coral Expeditions' Coral Adventurer or Coral Geographer
Meals included: Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner
The Lacepede Islands are a protected class-A nature reserve and are significant as a seabird 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, you will explore the lagoons by Xplorer and Zodiac tender vessels.
As your incredible Kimberley adventures draw to a close, enjoy the Captain’s farewell drinks amongst new-found friends.
Overnight: Coral Expeditions' Coral Adventurer or Coral Geographer
Meals included: Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner
Disembark: 08:00
Your incredible adventure along the Kimberley Coast concludes in Broome this morning at 08:00. Bid farewell to new-found friends, the Captain and crew.
After disembarkation, meet your transfer driver and head to your hotel then enjoy the rest of your day at leisure.
Overnight: Seashells Broome or similar, Broome, Western Australia
Meals included: Breakfast
At the appropriate time, make your own way to the airport for your flight home.
Due to flight scheduling and availability, some customers may be required to arrive at the airport on Day 13 for a flight scheduled to depart in the early hours of Day 14. Flight times will be indicated on your final documentation, which you will receive 4-6 weeks prior to departure.
Meals included: None
Today you'll fly to Broome, the gateway to Australia’s untamed Kimberley Coast and the starting point for your expedition cruise. Upon arrival, make your own way to your centrally-located hotel and enjoy the rest of your day at leisure.
Overnight: Seashells Broome or similar, Broome, Western Australia
Meals included: None
Embark: 15:30
Make your own way to the Mangrove Hotel at 15:30 where you'll then transfer to Broome Deep Water Port for boarding at 16:00. Enjoy time to settle into your stateroom before a 17:00 departure.
Take the time to become acquainted with the facilities onboard before joining the expedition team in the Bridge Deck Lounge for an introduction to the Kimberley. As dusk falls you can mingle with fellow travellers, the Captain and crew at Captain’s Welcome Drinks.
Please note: This Kimberley Expedition itinerary is flexible to take advantage of changing weather and tidal conditions. This itinerary showcases a selection of the key destinations you may visit.
Overnight: Coral Expeditions' Coral Adventurer or Coral Geographer
Meals included: Dinner
The Lacepede Islands are a protected class-A nature reserve and are significant as a seabird 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, you will explore the lagoons by Xplorer and Zodiac tender vessels.
Overnight: Coral Expeditions' Coral Adventurer or Coral Geographer
Meals included: Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner
Horizontal Falls is one of the Kimberley’s biggest attractions and are a result of the mammoth 11-metre tides the Kimberley is renowned for. Naturalist David Attenborough described Horizontal Falls as ‘one of the greatest natural wonders of the world.'
This natural phenomenon was created as the ocean thundered through a narrow gorge in the McLarty Ranges. Water built up on one side and was forcibly pushed through the bottleneck, creating a rushing horizontal waterfall of swiftly flowing seawater. Riding the rapids on the Zodiac inflatable tenders will be one of the highlights of the Kimberley expedition cruises.
Talbot Bay is at the heart of the Buccaneer Archipelago where rocks on the 800 or so islands are estimated to be over 2 billion years old. At Cyclone Creek, you'll 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.
Overnight: Coral Expeditions' Coral Adventurer or Coral Geographer
Meals included: Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner
Doubtful Bay is the traditional country of the Worrora people who follow the Wandjina, their god, law-maker 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. 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 you may visit in Doubtful Bay include the mighty Steep Island and Ruby Falls at Red Cone Creek.
Overnight: Coral Expeditions' Coral Adventurer or Coral Geographer
Meals included: Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner
Montgomery Reef is a biologically diverse area covering over 300 square kilometres and was named by Phillip Parker King. Twice daily, as the sea recedes in mammoth 11-metre 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, get up close in the Xplorer and Zodiac inflatable tenders to witness the spectacle as the 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 left exposed in rock pools. Turtles, dolphins, dugongs and sawfish too are also attracted to feeding opportunities as the ocean recedes.
The ocean is awash in a swirl of eddies and whirlpools as the moon’s gravitational force 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.
Overnight: Coral Expeditions' Coral Adventurer or Coral Geographer
Meals included: Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner
King Cascade is a classically beautiful terraced waterfall and one of the most photographed waterfalls in the Kimberley. Falling from a considerable height and around 50 metres across, water tumbles down a staggered terrace of Kimberley sandstone. Layer upon layer of ochre-hued and blackened rock sprouts grasses, mosses and ferns in a sort of lushly vegetated hanging garden.
Reach King Cascade after cruising in the 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.
Lt Phillip Parker King named nearby Careening Bay after he grounded his leaking vessel HMC Mermaid to effect 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. Almost 200 years later, the Mermaid Boab Tree has since split into two trunks and sports a mammoth girth of 12 metres. Significantly, the bulbous tree is listed on the National Register of Big Trees and the carpenter’s careful inscription now stands almost as tall as a person.
Overnight: Coral Expeditions' Coral Adventurer or Coral Geographer
Meals included: Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner
Prince Frederick Harbour is one of the Kimberley’s most spectacular locations at the southern end of York Sound. The harbour is dotted with islands lined with mangroves and monsoon rainforests, set against a backdrop of ochre-hued escarpment.
White-bellied sea eagles and other birds of prey are often seen here while expansive mudflats reveal large populations of mudskippers and mangrove crabs at low tide. Take the Xplorer tender vessels on a cruise up Porosus Creek to view some striking rock formations.
Bigge Island’s Indigenous name is Wuuyuru, and the Indigenous Group of the area is the Wunambal people.
Overnight: Coral Expeditions' Coral Adventurer or Coral Geographer
Meals included: Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner
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. This is your chance to take a scenic helicopter flight (additional cost, booked during the cruise) to multi-tiered Mitchell Falls where emerald-hued rock pools cascade down the escarpment and ancient rock art galleries are concealed in caves behind curtains of water.
Mitchell River National Park is inhabited by many mammals, amphibians, reptiles and bird species that are lured here 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 option to Mitchell Falls is exploring the sandstone caves of Wollaston Bay or Wollaston Creek. This mass of weathered tunnels, arches and columns form a labyrinth-like 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, watch the sunset over the Indian Ocean while indulging in a gourmet BBQ.
Overnight: Coral Expeditions' Coral Adventurer or Coral Geographer
Meals included: Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner
Vansittart Bay is home to many cultural and historically significant sites like the remarkable Gwion Gwion (Bradshaw) Aboriginal rock art galleries, estimated to be up to 20,000 years old. Jar Island is named after the pot shards found here, brought to the island by Makassar fishermen harvesting sea cucumbers (also known as trepang).
Nearby, on the Anjo Peninsula, lays the well-preserved wreckage of a US Air Force C-53 Skytrooper aircraft. This is the result of a pilot losing his bearings flying from Perth to Broome in 1942 and putting it down on a salt pan near present-day Truscott Airbase.
Overnight: Coral Expeditions' Coral Adventurer or Coral Geographer
Meals included: Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner
Fed by the King George River draining across the Gardner Plateau, the 80-metre-tall King George Falls is the most impressive Kimberley waterfall and the highest twin falls in Western Australia. Before reaching the mist-like spray rising from the base of King George Falls, you'll cruise through steep-sided gorges carved by a flooded river system that carved a swathe through the Kimberley landscape 400 million years ago.
Early in the waterfall season, you may cruise around the base of impressive King George Falls while in later months you might take the opportunity to view the honeycomb erosion patterns of sandstone cliffs up close.
Overnight: Coral Expeditions' Coral Adventurer or Coral Geographer
Meals included: Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner
Disembark: 08:30
Your incredible adventure along the Kimberley Coast concludes in Darwin this morning at 08:30. Bid farewell to new-found friends, the Captain and crew.
After disembarkation, meet your transfer driver and head to your hotel then enjoy the rest of your day at leisure.
Overnight: Rydges Darwin Central or similar, Darwin, Northern Territory
Meals included: Breakfast
At the appropriate time, make your own way to the airport for your flight home.
Due to flight scheduling and availability, some customers may be required to arrive at the airport on Day 13 for a flight scheduled to depart in the early hours of Day 14. Flight times will be indicated on your final documentation, which you will receive 4-6 weeks prior to departure.
Meals included: None
Be the first to hear about new travel deals!