7 Night Sale River Doubtful Bay Discovery
Day One: Complimentary transfers are arranged for guests to depart from either Broome or Derby to board the Mahalo II at approximately 1.00pm. (Tide Permitting) The Captain and crew give a warm welcome to guests boarding Mahalo II and show guests to their cabins. Following introductions and a safety briefing, the Mahalo II will depart from Derby at 2.00pm. We will get underway cruising North, up King Sound to Stokes Bay and into Cascade Bay. Watch the sunset while enjoying evening nibbles and refreshments on the upper deck. After maneuvering into the shelter of Lachlan Island the anchor is dropped for the night at approximately 6.00pm. Relax and enjoy the ambiance while the crew prepare and serve dinner around 7.15pm. Enjoy your first night aboard Mahalo II.
Day Two: Wake to the beauty of the Islands of the Buccaneer Archipelago and enjoy a healthy breakfast whilst cruising through Cascade Bay and Hell’s Gate (our first look at the rush of water created by the tide movement is sure to amaze you.) Heading on past Cone Bay & Strickland Bays, we enter Whirlpool Passage with its spinning, swirling maze of whirlpools. After navigating our way through this waterway, we arrive at Hidden Island to do some reef fishing for our dinner. Next we take a refreshing swim at Silica Beach, with its brilliant white squeaky silica sand, picturesque rocks and crystal clear water. From here we will cruise into Yampi Sound and anchor at Coppermine Creek for the night. Coppermine creek apart from having an old abandoned Coppermine is also the last location where the Traditional Aboriginals lived on this part of the coast. It was called “Watchulum” and the community was here up to the mid 50s before they were moved into Derby and formed a new community called “Mowanjum” currently located 4kms up the Gibb River Road were they have a fantastic new art gallery.
Day Three: Enjoy a hearty breakfast before trying your hand at oyster chipping and shucking to collect a delicious feed of succulent Black- Lipped Oysters. Once we have collected sufficient oysters for our evenings’ entrée, we drop the lines at one of our secret spots in Yampi Sound for Finger-mark Perch, Saddle-tail Sea Perch and Blue Lined Emperor, all excellent fish for the table. Next we visit the freshwater spring and waterfall at Crocodile Creek. Here we have a refreshing swim in the freshwater pools (Yes a Swim at Crocodile creek!) above the habitat of the Saltwater Crocodile. Leaving Yampi Sound, we cruise around Nears Point and along the Koolan Island “Channel” where you can see the iron ore mine and ship loader facilities. After rounding “Round Island”, we cruise past the “Iron” Islands also known as the “Ballast” Islands for their source of ballast rocks used in past times. We start making our way across Collier Bay, while keeping an eye out for Humpback Whales and their calves. (July to October) Our course takes us between the Kingfisher Islands and onto Doubtful Bay and Raft Point where we will anchor for the night. Enjoy our special Oysters Kilpatrick for Entrée and Fresh Fish of the day served with chips and a garden salad.
Day Four: A short cruise South/East across Doubtful Bay brings us to the Red Cone Creek system. On the low tide, we have a fish for some Barramundi or Threadfin Salmon in the creeks from our tenders, always keeping a close look out for the ever present inquisitive Crocodile, as they glide through the water effortlessly without making a ripple. Once the tide is rushing in, it is time to set the crab pots & catch a feed of succulent brown mud-crabs for dinner. Once we have a sufficient number of crabs for a good feed, we venture further up Red Cone Creek to the majestic Ruby Falls for a relaxing swim under the refreshing spring feed waterfall. If you feel up to a bit of a climb you can take a short walk up over the top of the falls. (The walk duration 20 min return) After our swim we make our way back to the Mahalo II. As the tide recedes, we make our way out of Red Cone Creek and cruise back to Raft Point where will take a bushwalk up a ravine to view the “Sea Wandjina” rock art gallery, with its breathtaking views through the lush bush overlooking Steep Island and the mouth of Doubtful Bay. (This walk takes 1.5hrs duration return) We anchor under the back drop of Steep Island and Raft Point Bluff for the night.
Day Five: We depart early on the dropping tide for Montgomery Reef, which covers 400 sq km of exposed reef, sandy areas with thick mangrove covered islands in the middle. The reef is a mecca for turtles, sharks, fish, corals and coralline algae, with a plethora of other marine life and bird life to be viewed, from our tenders or by reef walking and /or snorkeling. As the tide rises and starts to recover the reef we depart from the Montgomery area and make our way back into Doubtful Bay and head to the North/Eastern corner where the Sale River enters the bay. Anchoring the Mahalo II at the mouth of the river, we take the tenders up river to where the Saltwater meets the Freshwater. Along the winding river course the mangroves give way to the spectacular rock gorge covered in Boab Trees and Livistonia Palms. The ever presence of the watchful Saltwater Crocodiles reminds you this is not a place to go swimming. There is some ancient Rock Art Paintings to view along the way up river. Once we arrive at the Freshwater, we can take a pleasant stroll along the Rainforest lined tributary with ferns and tall trees, a left over remnant from an ancient time when the Kimberley was covered in rain forests. You can take a refreshing swim in one of the many pools. After swimming and walking it’s time to catch the receding tide back to Mahalo II. Once back onboard we can do some fishing around the mouth of the river where we will stay anchored overnight.
Day Six: Departing the Sale River, we make our way out of Doubtful Bay and across Collier Bay, (Collier bay has the largest tide movement in the Kimberley at times 13.6 meters at high tide) through the gap at the Kingfisher Islands and into Talbot Bay, the home of the well known and famous Horizontal Waterfalls. Arriving at the Southern end of Talbot Bay, the ever present sleepy sharks will arrive in numbers around the boat shortly after we drop anchor and are more than happy to eat any fish carcasses we have saved for them. Sleepy sharks as we call them (Tawny Nurse Sharks) don’t have any real teeth only raspy plates and can be hand feed with caution as they can still remove some skin if you have your hand in the wrong place at the wrong time! It’s now time to don our life jackets, pluck up some courage and allow our experienced crew to give you some thrills riding the rapids of the Horizontal Waterfalls. There are two gaps in the hills, this forms the Horizontal Waterfalls and is created by the tide rising or falling faster than the water can make its way through the gaps in the hill range, creating a turbulent whirlpool area of water that flows in both directions with the tides. The larger the tides, the greater the falls created. (On King Spring Tides it is said to be 4.5 meter height difference) Buccaneer Sea Safaris only traverse the falls when the Captain decides it is safe to do so. Once we have conquered the Horizontal Falls, we take a short cruise through the maze of waterways locally known as Cyclone Creek. This reveals some great rock formations before cruising North out of Talbot Bay. Once again the opportunity arises to catch some reef fish before having a relaxing swim at the Sisters Island beach. We then make our way back to Yampi Sound and anchor in Myridi Bay for the night.
Day Seven: After waking up in the very picturesque Myridi Bay and enjoying some healthy breakfast, we have some time to do a spot of fishing. After we have caught a feed of fish for our dinner, we cruise to Silver Gull Creek to visit Phil & Marion at Squatters Arms. Here you have the opportunity to purchase souvenirs or some hand crafted jewellery, and to explore Marion’s delightful garden of thriving tropical plants. You can also take a swim in the pool with a view, a converted water tank that was the fresh water supply for the nearby mining settlements on Cockatoo and Koolan Islands. Departing from Silvergull Creek, we cruise on making our way South again, and pass through Whirlpool Passage and head for Cone Bay. Our journey takes us past the Barramundi Farm and down into the sheltered part of the bay, where we will anchor down for our last night onboard Mahalo II. If the tides are favorable we can have our last chance at catching one of those elusive Barramundi in the Cone Bay creeks. Over the last few years the creeks have been getting well stocked with escapees from the Farm mixed with the occasional larger wild fish the action is at times full on. Fresh fish will be on the menu again tonight.
Day Eight: After we have woken to another glorious day and have had our breakfast, we take a walk/climb up a freshwater spring/vine thicket to an abandoned hippy camp from the 80’s locally known as X’n’X’s . We have a swim in the “Pool of Besheda” with its pristine spring water and visit the village ruins. (The walk takes 1hr duration return) Once back aboard Mahalo II, we begin our cruise back to Derby, via Hell’s Gate and Cascade Bay. We take a course via the Inland Sea, through Brolga Pass, and out into King Sound. From here, the journey to Derby takes 3.5 hrs so there is plenty of time to pack your bags. Unfortunately all good things come to an end. The Mahalo II arrives at the Derby Jetty at approximately 2.00pm (Tide permitting). We say our goodbyes and disembark. Transfers are arranged to drop you off in Derby or take you to Broome on our own bus, having you arriving in Broome at approx. 5.00pm.
Please Note: This itinerary is intended to be a guide to the places visited and activities conducted on this tour. Due to the large tides of the Kimberley, at times up to 12+ meters, the day to day schedule and order of activities will vary to suit the tides and weather conditions of each tour. For Exclusive Whole Boat Charter Bookings, the Itinerary can be altered to suit your special interests. Buccaneer Sea Safaris will at all times endeavor to meet and usually exceed our customers’ expectations.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
