It’s now easier to visit this Aussie bucket-list item
Western Australia’s great northern wilderness, the Kimberley, is more than 423,000 square kilometres of saltwater bays and towering cliffs, majestic rivers and waterfalls, vast plateaus, prolific wildlife and ancient Indigenous culture.
Its highlights are many and varied but one tops many a bucket list: Horizontal Falls in Talbot Bay.
Horizontal Falls is the result of intense currents pushing through narrow coastal gorges.Credit: Tourism Western Australia
A unique manifestation of the dramatically changing tides caused by the form of the continental shelf in the area, the natural phenomena is the result of intense currents pushing through narrow coastal gorges to make the water movement seem, quite magically, like dramatic falls.
Since 2006, Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures has been giving travellers the opportunity to tick it off their wish lists.
The longest-running Horizontal Falls tour operator takes the intrepid over the Kimberley in the company’s fleet of Cessna turboprop seaplanes, then land right at Horizontal Falls where guests meet speedboats at the operator’s pontoon for cruising Talbot Bay.
Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures have launched a premium overnight experience aboard Jetwave Pearl.
On May 16, Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures launches a premium overnight experience aboard Jetwave Pearl, moored in Talbot Bay. Ultimate Horizontal Falls Luxury Stay 24-hour tour includes seaplane transfers, a scenic helicopter flight, powerboat rides, fishing, swimming in a marine enclosure to view sharks and an overnight stay on the two-level, 10-room Jetwave Pearl.
Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures general manager Sveva Falletto, says environmental and cultural sensitivity was paramount when planning the new attraction.
“From the outset, Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures worked closely with the partnership that manages the Horizontal Falls Marine Park with the understanding that this is a sacred place to the Traditional Owners. The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions has assisted in guiding the set up of this unique business to ensure it allows our guests to experience this incredible part of the world, while having minimal impact on the surrounding ecology.”
The tour includes swimming in a marine enclosure to view sharks.
Whatever way you get there, Falletto hopes more Australians (and visitors from abroad too) put the Kimberley on their bucket lists – and tick it off.
“The Kimberley is one of Australia’s most special places, where you can still feel a strong sense of frontier,” she says. “It is an expansive area of dramatic and mostly undisturbed landscapes, biologically rich, providing important geological evidence of Australia’s evolutionary history.
“Aboriginal culture is strong and well-represented, too. This is an element close to my heart, and I believe every visitor should have the opportunity to learn about and appreciate the area and its sacred importance to the Traditional Owners.”
In 2019 Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures became part of the Journey Beyond Group, alongside The Ghan and Indian Pacific, Cruise Whitsundays, Rottnest Express, Sal Salis Ningaloo Reef, Outback Spirit Tours, Journey Beyond Cruise Sydney, Darwin Harbour Cruises, Melbourne Skydeck and Eureka 89.
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