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5 night archipelago ADVENTURE

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Day One:

Complimentary transfers are arranged for guests to depart from either Broome or Derby to board the Mahalo II at approximately 1pm (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 2pm.  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.  Relax and enjoy the ambiance while the crew prepare and serve dinner.  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 sue to amaze you). Heading on past Cone Bay and Stricklands Bay, 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 brillant 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 abanonded 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 where 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 evening's entree, we drop the lines at one of our secret spots in Yampi Sound for Finger-mark Perch, Saddle-tail Sea Pearch 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 freshing swim in the freshwater pools (yes a swim in 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.  From here we make our way 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 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 skin if you have your hand in the wrong place at the wrong time!

Day Four:

After our breakfast, 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 are the greater the falls created.  On King Spring tides it is said to be 4.5 metre difference in the water level one side to the other. We only transverse the falls when the Captain decides it is safe to do so.  Once we have conquered the Horizonal Falls we will take a short cruise through the maze of waterways that's known as Cyclone Creek.  This reveals some great rock formations before cruising north out of Talbot Bay stopping off at Turtle Reef for a walk to explore the abundance of life that lives and feeds on the fringing reefs that surround most of the islands in the Buccaneer Archipelago.  Heading further out of Talbot Bay 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 five:

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 make our way south through Whirlpool Pass, Strickland Bay and into an inlet called The Grave Yards.   With the tide flooding, it is the time to set the crab pots and catch a feed of succulent brown mud crabs for dinner.  Having caught a sufficient number of crabs for a good feed we will cruise down to the south/eastern end of the bay and take a short walk to the Strickland Falls.  Here we can take a refreshing dip in the freshwater rock pools under the falls.  (The walk takes 1 hr duration return).  After our swim, we will make our way back to the Mahalo II.  Once we are on board we cruise out into the bay and make our way to the Edeline Islands to visit some old lonely graves from the pearling days in 1890's. Most of the islands in Strickland Bay have graves on them, a cruel reminder of the harsh times the early Pearl Divers faces fishing these areas for wild pearl shell.  The Island also has some amazing rock formations created by the weathering of the soft mud stone rocks.  Departing Strickland Bay, we enter a shallow passage called Sir Richard Pass that brings us into Cone Bay.  Our journey takes us past the Barramundi Farm and down the sheltered part of the bay, where we anchor for our last night onboard Mahalo II.  If the tides are favourable, we have our last change 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 and mixed with the occasional larger wild fish, the action is at times full on.  Fresh fish will be the menu again tonight.
 

Day six:

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 abondoned 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 1 hr 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 Derby Jetty at approximately 2pm (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 approximately 5pm. 

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.