Kimberley Cruise advice wanted

[Dieselcanberrra]

Looking for some advice please. We are considering a Kimberley cruise and would be interested to know if anyone has any advice in regards to providers and best time of year to undertake the cruise. There seems to be quite a few companies offering this route (Seabourn, True North, Coral Expeditions etc). Any past cruisers happy to share their experience? Thanks

 

[kookaburra75]

@JohnM travelled around the Kimberely in April and wrote up his trip, and there's probably more in the Trip Reports section

Thread 'A Kimberley coast crawl'

Apr 11, 2025

Tomorrow it’s on the bird PER-BME to board a 12-pax/5-crew 67ft catamaran for a two-week voyage along the Kimberley coast to Wyndham, where we disembark for a land transfer to Kununurra to fly KNX-xBME-PER.

Here’s the itinerary:



The voyage is timed to coincide with the end of the wet season and with that the opportunity to see the many waterfalls flowing. For that, there is generally a fairly narrow window with the Kimberley voyaging season opening in mid to late March after the wet and cyclone season is normally finished (errr… the weather forecast indicates that I may be...

• JohnM
• Replies: 87
• Forum: Trip Reports

• 

 

[RooFlyer]

I did Ponant a few years ago Darwin to Broome - my first 'blue water' cruise and loved it; it turned me into a dedicated cruiser. Ponant are sort of mid-priced. I would say look carefully at the nature of the expedition crew and pax: exped crew ratio, and the smaller boat you can afford, the better.

Mid-year, the Northern Dry would be my recommendation.

Thread 'Cruising the Kimberley coast on Le Laperouse, Darwin to Broome'

Aug 7, 2022

OK, let me first say to the cruise veterans out there - I get it now. This is my first substantial cruise (spent a week around the Galapagos islands but the boat was smaller and very much not the focus) and after a day I'm loving it. You'll have to put up with some gushing, sorry.

I'm on Ponant's Le Laperouse for a 10 day journey down the Kimberley Coast from Darwin to Broome. 92 cabins, up to 184 guests (we're full this trip) and 118 crew. Everything included except premium booze (E20/day), which I've bought with my E200 credit courtesy of my TA and Virtuoso. Also have to pay for...

• RooFlyer

• 

 

[Daver6]

@JohnM is the official ambassador for this part of the world. Surprised he hasn't start up his own tour company for it yet!

 

[Dieselcanberrra]

Thanks all for your advice. Will investigate further the trip reports.