Southern Quest

Despite the name, this creek has a favoured swimming place – a beautiful natural pool above a waterfall. The scenic approach passes quartzite cliffs and slate-like outcrops of Wotjulum porphyry.

As the region’s largest town, founded in the heyday of pearling, Broome’s multicultural heritage runs deep. This is the place that inspired the music of the Pigram Brothers and Jimmy Chi’s Bran Nue Dae and Corrugation Road. Enjoy magnificent Cable Beach, ride on a camel or watch the Staircase to the Moon over glittering Roebuck Bay. If you visit in August, Opera under the Stars and Race Round are options, while September’s highlight is the Shinju Matsuri Festival.

Located at the northern tip of the Dampier Peninsula and flanked by magnificent beaches, the headland is best known for its lighthouse and Bardi-owned Kooljaman resort. With a setting sun, the blood-red cliffs provide a stunning background for breaching humpback whales.

Often referred to as the “Thousand Islands”, though many are mere rocks, the name celebrates the explorer and erstwhile pirate William Dampier. Englishman Dampier visited the area in 1688. One of the attractions of the area is the remarkable Silica Beach, where we sometimes swim on high tide. Its sand is blindingly white and as fine as caster sugar.

Talbot Bay is home to one of the icons of the Kimberley coast, the spectacular Horizontal Waterfalls. These twin narrow gaps in a corner of the bay separate a series of double bays. Extreme tidal whirlpools develop around the gaps, making for a thrilling dinghy ride. Take a tender and head in for an up-close and exhilarating ride through this natural phenomenon.

Koolan Island functions as a major mine, exporting high grade iron ore (haematite) in bulk carriers from its wharf to China. The mine was originally begun by BHP in 1965, creating a colossal pit extending below sea level.

Operated by BHP as the area’s first iron ore mine (1951-1984), it later functioned and failed as a resort operated by entrepreneur Alan Bond. The mine site is currently owned by Pluton Resources, but is approaching economic closure.

East of the Horizontal Falls, Cyclone Creek displays geological marvels. Join a scenic excursion up the back of Cyclone Creek to marvel at these amazing rock formations.

Twin narrow gaps in a corner of Talbot Bay separate a series of double bays. Extreme tidal whirlpools develop around the gaps, making for a thrilling dinghy ride. Further east, Cyclone Creek displays geological marvels including cliffs of pressure-folded rock, fault-lines and a wall of conglomerate.

East of the Horizontal Falls, Cyclone Creek displays geological marvels. Join a scenic excursion up the back of Cyclone Creek to marvel at these amazing rock formations.

In reality, Secure Bay is two bays, connected by a narrow scenic passage with a spectacular tide-race and whirlpool. The inner bay features a stark black hillside of dolerite boulders with spinifex ‘stripes’, as well as vast areas of mangrove habitat.

At sixty kilometres in length, Walcott Inlet is fed by the Calder, Charnley and Isdell Rivers. Only the beautiful Isdell Gorge is accessible to dinghies on spring tides. Yule Entrance, at the mouth of the inlet, has one of the most formidable tidal whirlpools on the planet.

Traversed en route to Raft Point and Montgomery Reef, our track typically passes the Kingfisher Islands in the centre of the Bay. The Kingfisher Islands are noted for their pink-hued cliffs, stone barrier beaches and fishing opportunities.

On the eastern shore of Doubtful Bay, a vast area of mangrove-lined creeks surrounds a conical hill. Behind here, Ruby Falls plunges into a narrow gorge, above which are a string of beautiful billabongs, ideal for a swim. Red Cone Creek is noted for its mud crabs and fishing.

Named by John Lort Stokes RN of HMS Beagle in 1838 due to his uncertainty as to whether or not the bay led to the Glenelg River, which had just been found by George Grey travelling overland. This area has many scenic and fishing attractions.

Covering an astounding 280 square kilometres, this reef seems to miraculously rise out of the sea – such is the size of its tides. Draining seawater pours continuously over the reef edge, particularly along the spectacular reef channel. Turtles, schools of surgeon-fish and reef egrets abound. Marine biologist Barry Wilson theorises that the reef has grown on top of a drowned sandstone mesa, making it truly one of a kind.

A beautiful estuary noted for its dramatic sandstone cliffs, home to a rare endemic Grevillea with silver leaves. Near the tidal limit is a lush rainforest, full of ferns and butterflies.

Once the largest pearl farm in the world, this remote settlement is now abandoned. It was here in the 1950s that the first South Sea cultured pearls were produced by Pearls Pty Ltd, laying the foundation of a multi-million dollar industry.

Lending its name to WA’s newest marine park, this area is the principal focus for breeding humpback whales. WA has the world’s largest population. These leviathans arrive in June, typically calving in July-August, before making their way back to Antarctic waters.

With an impressive 80 metre drop, ‘Cathedral Falls’ boasts an amphitheatre of vertical cliffs surrounding a circular plunge-pool. Accessible only on spring tides by dinghy, through a narrow corridor of mangroves.

This iconic waterfall is renowned for its beautiful stepped terraces, graced with delicate grasses and lush ferns. It was named after Lieutenant Phillip Parker King RN, who sketched the site in 1820. Tragedy struck in 1987 when a young American woman, Ginger Meadows, was taken by a crocodile at the base of the falls. Much safer swimming in crystal-clear pools lies upstream of the Cascade.

This was the scene of a disastrous agricultural settlement in 1864-1865, based on Merino sheep. Stone ruins and an island cemetery can still be seen. Delicious rock oysters abound. Opposite is Augustus Island, which at 17,950 hectares, is the largest island on the Kimberley coast.

This is a major tributary of the Prince Regent River, flowing in on its southern bank. Above tidal rapids, accessible by dinghy, weeping paperbark trees line tranquil billabongs. An energetic walk leads to a spectacular waterfall with a natural swimming pool.

By dinghy on spring tides, it is possible to view the spectacular gorge of the Roe River upstream to its confluence with the Moran River. This was the spot reached by Joseph Bradshaw in his epic horseback trek from Wyndham in 1891. The Roe estuary is famed for its many large crocodiles, birdlife and excellent fishing. PLEASE NOTE: NOT VISITED ON 14 DAY VOYAGES BROOME TO WYNDHAM OR VICE VERSA.

Following a fault-line trending southeast, the 104 km river runs remarkably straight, giving it a unique character. Keep an eye out for rare snubfin dolphins, which live in the estuary. Almost the whole catchment is conserved in the Prince Regent National Park: one of the great wilderness areas of Australia.

The Kimberley’s magnificent ‘inland sea’ is studded with scenic islands. The Basin supports the largest area of mangrove habitat in the southern hemisphere. Spitfire Creek and the Southern Arms are renowned for barra fishing.

At 391 metres, this is a stunning sandstone mesa, which dominates the landscape with its dramatic silhouette. Below adjacent Mt Waterloo lies Marigui, where Joseph Bradshaw and Aeneas Gunn attempted to run sheep during the 1890s.

Growing behind a sandy beach is an ancient boab tree with ‘HMC Mermaid 1820’ etched deeply into its twin trunks. The carving commemorates 16 days of hull and rudder repairs undertaken on the naval cutter commanded by Phillip Parker King, while charting the Kimberley coast. Groves of endemic cycads occur at the southern end of the beach.

Iconic, multi-tiered waterfall, located west of Mitchell Plateau Airstrip. It is Punamii-unpuu to the Wunambal people, who revere the place as the home of Creator Snakes or Wunggurr. Enjoy excellent views of the Falls on your helicopter flight to or from Mitchell Plateau Airstrip.

This spectacular estuary in the NE corner of Prince Frederick Harbour features huge cliffs, rainforests and mangroves. Our anchorage in magnificent Porosus Creek serves as the turnaround point for 7 day voyages, where guests arrive or depart by helicopter from Mitchell Plateau. PLEASE NOTE: NOT VISITED ON 14 DAY VOYAGES BROOME TO WYNDHAM OR VICE VERSA.

The Mitchell Plateau is a transfer point for our Northern cruises. You will either fly in from Broome before being transferred to the Kimberley Quest II via a scenic helicopter flight over Mitchell Falls; or land at Mitchell Plateau after farewelling the Kimberley Quest II and enjoying your spectacular scenic Mitchell Falls flight, before catching a flight back to Broome.