Northern Quest

From Lacrosse Island in the north to Wyndham and beyond in the south stretches the huge tide-dominated estuary known as Cambridge Gulf. It was first charted by Phillip Parker King in 1819 and functions as the shipping channel for the port of Wyndham. We usually cruise through overnight on our voyages.

The port of Wyndham is both the starting and ending point for 14 day voyages between Wyndham and Broome or vice versa. Exporting live cattle, nickel and iron ore has helped revive the town’s fortunes in recent years. From the Five Rivers Lookout, high above the port on The Bastion, there are sweeping views west across the vast salt flats.

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.

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.

Named as recently as 1921, this was the last major Kimberley waterway to be located by surveyors. The funnel-shaped estuary is strewn with rocks and sandbanks, requiring skilful navigation. An excellent area for mud crabs, barramundi and bird-watching.

The long Voltaire Peninsula separates Montague Sound from Admiralty Gulf. The Cape itself is a remarkable headland of columnar basalt, which contrasts strikingly with surrounding cliffs of sandstone. There are exciting opportunities for pelagic fishing in this area.

This is a group of steep-sided volcanic islands with lush rainforests, located in Admiralty Gulf. Surrounding waters support an extensive pearl farm and a heritage-listed shipwreck, visible only at spring tides. Nearby on the mainland are several idyllic swimming spots as well as easily-accessed rock art sites.

Separating Admiralty Gulf from Vansittart Bay, Bougainville Peninsula is noted for its dense rain-forested slopes, plateau-capped hills and numerous long inlets. There is excellent pelagic fishing off the cliffs and headlands.

A Mecca for rock art enthusiasts, locations such as Jar Island, Rocky Cove and Jalandal are justly famed for their fine examples of Gwion and Wanjina style panels. Less well-known is the area’s interesting heritage of Makassan campsites, used for centuries by Indonesian fishermen collecting and processing sea cucumbers (also known as trepang or beche-de-mer).

Behind a salt-pan lie the poignant remains of a US Army Air Corps Dakota, victim of a forced landing during World War II. The crew, flying from Perth to Broome, made a simple navigation error which nearly cost them their lives.

Napier Broome Bay is home to historic Indonesian trepang site, which gives an insight into the lives of the early Macassan fisherman, who came down to north of Australia in search of trepang – also know as bêch-de-mer , or more commonly, sea cucumber. This site stems back to the first early contact between Aboriginal tribes and the Indonesian fisherman.

It is also a great location to fish the inlets and estuaries of Barra and Mangrove Jack and try your luck at mud-crabbing.

The third-longest river in the Kimberley is entered over shallow sandbars. Its wide estuary features a maze of channels cutting through mangrove islands, which form a delta. The area is excellent for bird-watching, barra fishing and beach-walking. Impressive tidal rapids in a low sandstone gorge can be reached after a long dinghy ride.

Marking the junction of the Indian Ocean with the Timor Sea, passage past here is sometimes rough. Stewart Island, lying off the Cape, is the most northerly point of Western Australia.

Named for a native plant in the citrus family, these are actually twin waterfalls at the head of a shallow bay. Nearby sandstone cliffs feature examples of Gwion style rock art.

Fringed by formidable sandstone cliffs on either side, this bay commemorates the State Ship Koolama beached here in 1942, after attack by Japanese floatplanes. The long sand-spit beach at the back of the bay disguises the entrance to the King George River.

One of the most spectacular gorges in Australia, rimmed by dizzying cliffs, terminates in twin 80 metre high waterfalls. Arguably, the ultimate anchorage! Enjoy a refreshing shower on the bow, marvel at the cappuchino foam, swim in a fault-line crevice or fish for barra below East Arm Falls.

These two sites are associated with the German aviators Bertram and Klaussman. In 1932, the pair were blown off course in their seaplane Atlantis and endured starvation in the wilderness, before being found and rescued by Gwini Aborigines after 40 days.

From Lacrosse Island in the north to Wyndham and beyond in the south stretches the huge tide-dominated estuary known as Cambridge Gulf. It was first charted by Phillip Parker King in 1819 and functions as the shipping channel for the port of Wyndham. We usually cruise through overnight on our voyages.

Hidden behind Reveley Island and a maze of sandbanks, the entrance cannot be navigated on every tide. The long, sublimely beautiful gorge has numerous side waterfalls such as Casuarina Falls and Amphitheatre Falls. Angel Falls on the eastern bank at 100 metres is the highest falls on the Kimberley coast. Fish at the rock-bar, spot a nabarlek (rock wallaby) or enjoy a refreshing swim.

100 km by scenic road from Wyndham, Kununurra is the largest town in the East Kimberley. Built to service the Ord River Irrigation project in the 1960s, horticultural enterprises dominate – notably sandalwood, bananas, mangoes, melons and chia seed. Visit Lake Argyle or enjoy a cruise along the Ord River.