The Kimberley: Bestselling Expedition from Darwin to Broome with Free Return Flights & Hotel Stays

Important: Departures on 8 April 2025 are aboard Coral Geographer. Departures on 16 April 2025 are aboard Coral Adventurer. Please select your package carefully.

Coral Expeditions – Australia’s adventure cruising pioneers

Coral Expeditions, Australia’s foremost expedition cruise operator, has been navigating remote and pristine waters for four decades. With a fleet of three specialised expedition craft and tenders, Coral Expeditions takes guests to beautiful, undiscovered islands and coastal regions in Australia, Oceania and beyond.

Journeys are build upon carefully crafted expedition itineraries that cannot be replicated by larger vessels. Onboard, guests are treated to a laidback atmosphere full of comraderie, enjoying all-inclusive ‘small-batch’ cuisine made with high-quality Australian produce and wines.

Coral Expeditions maintains the highest standards of safety with Australian crews and have been pioneers in introducing interpretive programs led by expert Expedition Leaders, Guest Lecturers, and SCUBA Instructors – continuing a proud tradition of immersive, educational travel.

Coral Adventurer – Small-ship sailing with an intimate group of like-minded travellers

Your small-ship cruise takes place on Coral Adventurer (max. 120 guests) – a multi-faceted expedition ship designed to access the shores of remote wildernesses often inaccessible to large cruise vessels. Purpose-built to take you closer to unspoiled vistas in comfort, style and safety, the ship carries both Zodiac and Xplorer vessels, specially designed for remote sites and natural habitats. Your journey of discovery will be enhanced by expert guides and guest lecturers, and directed by local crew members who know the region intimately.

Indulge in freshly prepared cuisine featuring the best local ingredients, relax and enjoy quality local beers and wines at one of the multiple indoor and outdoor bars (surcharges may apply), discover more about the places you’ve seen in the reference library and take in a lecture in the lounge, where daily expedition briefings and presentations are ready to engage and amaze you.

Coral Geographer – An intimate, yacht-like experience

Step aboard Coral Geographer, the latest addition to Coral Expeditions’ sophisticated fleet. Purpose-built for expedition cruising, this magnificent vessel has the unique ability to access remote wilderness shores – taking you closer to unspoiled vistas in comfort, style and safety.

Share your yacht-like cruising experience with an intimate group of like-minded travellers (up to 120 guests) and relax across over 1,000 square-metres of open deck space, with well-appointed communal lounge and dining areas, including a wrap-around promenade deck that features panoramic views and the outdoor Explorer Bar – the perfect spot for sunset drinks. The Geographer also features a curated wine cellar with an exceptional range of boutique wines and vintage Australian reds.

This small ship features six zodiacs and two trademark Xplorer tenders, specially designed for smaller remote sites and natural habitats. Your journey of discovery will be enhanced by expert guides and guest lecturers, and directed by local crew members from Australia.

The Staterooms – Your sanctuary with a view to the outside world

Coral Deck Stateroom: Situated below the Promenade Deck, this elegant stateroom features a heavenly junior king bed for you where you can recharge after a day of adventure, a compact ensuite, and a porthole window to make sure you don’t miss a moment of the passing scenery.

Promenade Deck Stateroom: Step inside a stylish and cosy stateroom located below the Explorer Deck and furnished with a plush king bed. Modern comforts include a wardrobe, armchair, desk and compact ensuite, and a picture window for you to gaze at the gorgeous landscapes.

Explorer Deck Balcony Stateroom: Below the Bridge Deck is where you will find these comfortable staterooms. Each features a stylish ensuite, shower and storage, along with a junior king bed. This perfectly appointed space boasts a private balcony with seating for two.

Bridge Deck Suite (Coral Adventurer only): Stay in true cruising luxury in the Bridge Deck Balcony Suite, with a full lounge area, a complimentary minibar replenished daily, and personal coffee machine. Sleep in a king bed (can be separated into two singles), enjoy a private furnished balcony with an outdoor day bed, and a unique outside-facing bathroom with picture windows, a bathtub and separate shower.

Your cruise begins in Darwin and ends in Broome, with two nights each of pre- and post-cruise accommodation.

Check-in at your pre-cruise stay in Darwin is available from 3pm on Day 1. Your cruise then departs from Darwin Fort Hill Wharf at 9am on Day 3 and disembarks in Broome at 8am on Day 12. Check-out from your post-cruise accommodation is at 10am on Day 14.

Boarding of your cruise commences at 8am on Day 3; please ensure you arrive in time for boarding.

Return economy class flights from Sydney (SYD), Melbourne (MEL) or Perth (PER) are included in your package. Departures from other cities are available for a surcharge. Please see ‘Fine Print’ for details.

Airport and cruise port transfers are NOT included with your package, please plan accordingly.

When travelling within Australia, please check current state/territory border entry requirements to ensure you’re eligible to travel and have completed any required permits or passes.

Need flights? Our dedicated flights concierge can assist with your flight requirements (subject to availability). Contact sales@luxuryescapes.com.

Day 1: Arrive Darwin

Today, board your included flight from Sydney, Melbourne or Perth to Darwin, gateway to the unspoiled beauty of Western Australia’s ancient Kimberley region. Make your way to your central accommodation for the next two nights, where you can make the most of your time in Australia’s smallest capital city. Discover the CBD’s biggest attractions and events, including the Esplanade, Mitchell Street, Crocosaurus Cove and the WWII Oil Storage Tunnels.

Want to know more about Darwin? Our insider travel guide includes handpicked places to eat and drink, the best activities in the area, and special experiences to make your trip memorable.

Accommodation: Hilton Darwin (King Guest Room) or similar

Day 2: Darwin

With the entire day before you, you could prearrange a tour of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park, discover the limestone cliffs and swimming holes of Litchfield National Park, enjoy a visit to MAGNT (the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory) or join a saltwater crocodile spotting cruise on the Adelaide River (additional costs apply).

The days ahead will be full of adventure, so feel free to alternatively take it easy with a stroll through Darwin’s art-clad laneways. As the sun descends over this tropical harbour city, why not enjoy a pizza under the stars at Cucina Sotto Le Stelle or a beer at the waterfront Precinct Tavern?

Accommodation: Hilton Darwin (King Guest Room) or similar

Meals: Breakfast

Day 3: Darwin (Cruise embarkation)

Your once-in-a-lifetime Kimberley cruise begins in Darwin early this morning. Make your way to Darwin Fort Hill Wharf where boarding will begin at 8am, prior to a 9am departure. Settle into your luxe stateroom, then as dusk settles over the Timor Sea as you head west, toast to this incredible escape over welcome drinks with your fellow travellers and captain.

Accommodation: Coral Adventurer / Coral Geographer

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Day 4–13: At Sea

During your days at sea, indulge in freshly prepared cuisine featuring the best local ingredients, relax and enjoy quality spirits and wines at one of the multiple indoor and outdoor bars (surcharges apply), take in a lecture in the lounge, tour the bridge and engine room and more.

Purpose-built to take you closer to unspoiled vistas in comfort, style and safety, Coral Expeditions vessels are specially designed for remote sites and natural habitats. Throughout your time at sea, experience the otherworldly magic of Western Australia. Though your itinerary is weather-dependent, you’ll find a glance at the wonders you can expect to witness in the Kimberley below.

Please note: Xplorer and Zodiac vessel exploration is at all times dependent on weather and tide conditions.

Want to know more about the Kimberley? Our insider travel guide includes handpicked places to eat and drink, the best activities in the area, and special experiences to make your trip memorable.

King George River & Oomari Falls

Cruise through the 400-million-year-old gorges of King George River to discover the 80-metre-tall Oomari Falls, the most impressive waterfalls in Kimberley and the highest twin falls in Western Australia. The King George River plunges over ancient sandstone cliffs into tidal waters, creating this world-renowned sight. Early in the waterfall season, you may cruise around the base of the fall, while in later months, you may view the honeycomb erosion patterns of the sandstone cliffs up close.

Vansittart Bay (Banjal)

Gain a fascinating insight into Indigenous rock art (up to 20,000 years old) as you visit spectacular Banjal, or Vansittart Bay, and explore the nearby Anjo Peninsula, where the well-preserved 1942 wreckage of a DC3 plane can be seen. Njula, or Jar Island, is named after the pot shards found here, brought to the island by Makassan fisherman harvesting sea cucumbers (also known as trepang).

Mitchell Falls (Punamii-Uunpuu), Winyalkan & Swift Bay

Take an optional scenic helicopter flight (additional costs apply) to see the otherworldly Mitchell Falls (Punamii-Uunpuu), where emerald rock pools cascade down the escarpment. Alternatively, you could explore the sandstone caves of Wollaston Bay or Wollaston Creek, a series of labyrinthine weathered tunnels, arches and columns, or visit a series of Wandjina and Gwion Gwion rock art galleries at Swift Bay.

Prince Frederick Harbour & Bigge Island (Wuuyuru)

Travel to Prince Frederick Harbour and Wuuyuru, or Bigge Island, and cruise the sprawling harbour dotted with islands covered in luscious mangroves and monsoon rainforests. Take in white-bellied sea eagles and birds of prey as they soar in the skies above and, at low tide, watch as the expansive mudflats reveal a plethora of mudskippers and mangrove crabs. Later, board an Xplorer vessel and cruise through the rarely visited rock formations along Porosus Creek.

Prince Regent River & Careening Bay

Sail down Prince Regent River in an Xplorer vessel and enter one of the last untouched wilderness areas on Earth, a haven for more than half of the Kimberley’s native wildlife and home to Mambulbada, or the King Cascade waterfall. Tumbling dramatically from above, this waterfall is one of the most beautiful sights in the Kimberley. Take a moment to watch as fresh water tumbles down the staggered terraces of sandstone, and perhaps take a walk among the lush ferns.

Afterward, continue to Wunbung-gu, or Careening Bay, where Lt. Phillip Parker King and the crew of the HMC Mermaid were stranded for 17 days in 1820. Onshore, see the 200-year-old Mermaid Boab Tree, which is etched with the words HMC Mermaid 1820, carved into its trunk by the ship’s carpenter.

Montgomery Reef (Yowjab)

Watch as the Indian Ocean reveals a kaleidoscopic underwater world of reef twice per day with a visit to Yowjab, or Montgomery Reef, the world’s largest inshore reef with 11-metre tides. When the tide falls away, the coral reef appears to rise from the ocean in a torrent of cascading water, and marine life such as octopuses, turtles, reef sharks and manta rays is revealed.

Aboard the Xplorer and Zodiac vessel, learn about the reef from your expert guide, watch as opportunistic birds take advantage of the bounty left exposed in the rock pools, and marvel at this unique spectacle that, in a few hours’ time, will again be reclaimed by the ocean.

Doubtful Bay & Raft Point (Ngumbree)

Unearth some of the oldest art on Earth in its rawest form as you venture to Doubtful Bay and Ngumbree, or Raft Point. Here, you can take a journey back in time — up to 50,000 years — as you see the Worrora Indigenous stories painstakingly etched in the gorges, rock outliers and caves.

On your journey, you may also visit the mighty Sale River, Steep Island and Ruby Falls at Red Cone Creek.

Horizontal Falls & Buccaneer Archipelago

Set sail to Talbot Bay to see the incredible phenomena, Horizontal Falls — described by David Attenborough as ‘one of the greatest natural wonders of the world’. Skim across the bay in a Zodiac vessel to the mouth of Horizontal Falls, where tides as high as 13 metres thunder through the rust-red ridges of the McLarty Range. Water builds up on one side and is forcibly pushed through the bottleneck, creating a rushing horizontal waterfall of swiftly flowing seawater.

Then, continue to the pristine Buccaneer Archipelago, an oasis of over 1,000 islands strewn across the turquoise Timor Sea, where the rocks are estimated to be over two billion years old. At Cyclone Creek, you’ll be rewarded with views of magnificent geological rock formations as you glide through the ochre ‘Iron Islands’ and past Koolan Island, before sunset drinks at Nares Point.

Lacepede Islands

Dive deep into the wilds of the outback this morning with a cruise to the remote wilderness sanctuary of the Lacepede Islands. Nestled 120 kilometres off the coast of Broome, these islands sit atop a kaleidoscopic coral reef and provide a protected class-A nature reserve for a menagerie of birdlife, including the brown booby and roseate tern.

Marvel at the birds above as you ride Xplorer and Zodiac vessels into the lagoon, where you’ll discover a significant breeding site for green turtles, Australian pelicans, frigatebirds and gulls.

Accommodation: Coral Adventurer/ Coral Geographer

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Day 13: Broome

Arriving in Broome at 8am this morning, your incredible Kimberley coast cruise comes to an end. Disembark to discover a landscape of undulating dunes and a glistening coastline where you can watch camels parade along the pillowy sands of iconic Cable Beach, Broome is unlike anywhere else in Australia.

On arrival in this seaside frontier, catch your included transfer to Oaks Cable Beach Resort (or similar), a mere 15-minute walk from the coast’s famous white sands and crimson sunsets. Unwind at one of the resort’s four shimmering swimming pools, with facilities geared toward ensuring guests’ ultimate comfort during their stay.

Accommodation: Oaks Cable Beach Resort (or similar)

Meals: Breakfast

Day 14: Broome

With a full day in Broome, why not explore your scenic surroundings a little further today? Admire the stunning contrast of red pandan sands and sapphire water on the Dampier Peninsula, or simply enjoy sunset during a camel ride on Cable Beach. Do it all on your beachside stay, before stretching out in your very own spacious studio apartment.

Accommodation: Oaks Cable Beach Resort (or similar)

Meals: Breakfast

Day 15: Broome

Your adventure comes to an end today as you check out of your hotel for your onward journey.

Depending on your flight time, you may be able to enjoy a coffee at the Zookeepers Store and then perhaps a tasting paddle at Matso’s, Australia’s most remote brewery, before it’s time to fly home on your included flight to Sydney, Melbourne or Perth.

Meals: Breakfast