Things to Do in the Kimberley

Because the Kimberley is so remote, its most extraordinary experiences are found nowhere else in Australia. Unlocking them requires a blend of air, land, and sea access:

Horizontal Falls: Described by David Attenborough as “one of the greatest natural wonders of the world”. Billions of litres of water are forced through two narrow gorges, creating a powerful horizontal rush unlike anything else on the planet. Best experienced by seaplane and high-speed boat.

Mitchell Falls: A breathtaking, four-tiered waterfall deep in the remote Mitchell Plateau,  surrounded by ancient Gwion Gwion rock art (some of the oldest continuous art traditions known to humanity). Reach them by helicopter, then walk through one of Australia’s most significant Indigenous cultural landscapes to swim in the pools below.

Purnululu National Park: Home to the Bungle Bungle Range, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Beehive-shaped sandstone domes striped in orange and black, formed over 350 million years, rise improbably from the surrounding plains. Walking into Cathedral Gorge reveals a sense of scale that becomes something you feel rather than simply see.

The Kimberley’s wildlife is as distinctive as its landscape. Ancient evolutionary lines have adapted to survive in a climate defined by two dramatic seasons: the dry winter months and the tropical monsoon “wet.”

Saltwater crocodiles, the world’s largest living reptiles, inhabit the estuarine river systems, while thousands of humpback whales migrate from Antarctica to the warm, protected waters of Camden Sound each winter to give birth. On land, short-eared rock-wallabies, dingoes, and northern quolls roam the ancient sandstone ranges.

For birdwatchers, the region is extraordinary throughout the year. Coastal mangroves and inland billabongs harbor white-bellied sea eagles, osprey, vibrant Red-tailed Black Cockatoos, and the rare, multi-coloured Gouldian finch.

While Purnululu is the Kimberley’s most celebrated national park, the region’s protected areas extend across the entire coastline, from the Prince Regent Nature Reserve, home to the unusual King Cascade waterfall, to the remote islands of the Bonaparte Archipelago. Each sanctuary guards its own distinct ecosystem and wildlife community.