Perhaps you’re imagining the sound of a waterfall before it comes into view. Perhaps it’s a helicopter flight over Mitchell Falls, a morning exploring a remote river or the sight of a reef emerging with the falling tide.
Then you open the itineraries. Waterfall. Explore the Kimberley. Kimberley Highlights. Great Rivers & Wildlife.
Which one should you choose?
The answer begins with what excites you most – and how much time you have. Discovery One’s small boat Kimberley cruises share the same intimate atmosphere, experienced crew and appetite for exploration. Each welcomes just 21 guests, but the journeys offer different ways to experience this extraordinary coast.
Here’s how to find yours.
Your Kimberley cruise at a glance
| Cruise: | Duration and route: | Choose it for: |
| Waterfall | 14 nights; Darwin to Broome or reverse | Waterfalls, dramatic river scenery and an early-season adventure |
| Explore the Kimberley | 11 nights; Broome to Broome | A varied expedition combining coastal cruising, a helicopter flight and scenic light aircraft flight |
| Kimberley Highlights | 7 nights; Broome to Broome | A shorter journey featuring iconic coastal locations and a night at Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm |
| Great Rivers & Wildlife | 14-night package; Broome to Darwin | Naturalist-led discovery of rivers, wildlife, birdlife and interconnected ecosystems |
NOTE: Every season we allocate a cruise package for an exclusive Photography experience, allowing you to create the best photographic memories of your time exploring the Kimberley with the help of an experienced nature photographer.
Waterfall: for the Kimberley in full flow
Some journeys begin with a particular image you cannot get out of your mind. If yours is a waterfall tumbling down a towering rock face, start here.
Timed for the end of the wet season, our Waterfall cruise explores the Kimberley when seasonal rain has replenished its rivers and waterfalls. The experience changes with each season’s rainfall, making every departure its own adventure.
The itinerary features places including King George Falls, Berkeley River, Prince Regent River, Montgomery Reef, Horizontal Falls and Talbot Bay, alongside opportunities to explore remote waterfalls, swimming holes and ancient rock art.
Imagine approaching a river bend in a tender, looking upwards as the cliffs rise around you. Later, back onboard, you find yourself looking through photographs that struggle to convey the scale.
The journey also offers a view from above. Your package includes a scenic light aircraft flight between Kununurra and the Berkeley River, adding another perspective on the country you’re exploring.
Choose Waterfall if: waterfalls and river landscapes are high on your wish list, you can travel early in the season and you want time to settle into a longer expedition.
What’s included: 13 nights onboard, one night in Kununurra, a flight between Darwin and Kununurra or flight credit, scenic light aircraft flight between Kununurra and the Berkely River, multiple daily excursions, all meals and transfer to or from your Broome accommodation.
Discovery One visits Horizontal Falls and Montgomery Reef on every expedition. With only 21 guests and expedition tenders that can access shallow channels and creeks, you will experience these iconic highlights up close and personal.
Explore the Kimberley: for discovery by sea and air
You want the waterways, the wildlife and the rock art. You also want that moment when the aircraft lifts and the landscape opens beneath you.
Explore the Kimberley brings these experiences together in an 11-night, Broome-to-Broome journey.
Its itinerary includes Horizontal Falls and Talbot Bay, Montgomery Reef, Prince Regent River and Hunter River, with opportunities to explore remote creeks, waterfalls and Aboriginal rock art sites.
Then there are the flights.
A scenic helicopter flight over Mitchell Falls reveals the landscape from a thrilling new angle. A scenic light aircraft flight over the Kimberley coast, including Horizontal Falls, helps you appreciate the vastness and intricate geography of this remarkable region.
From the water, you notice detail. From the air, you begin to see how it all fits together.
Our guests repeatedly comment on the excitement of combining flights with tender excursions, and on how much they enjoy seeing the Kimberley from these different perspectives.
Choose Explore if: you’re visiting for the first time, enjoy variety and would love both helicopter and light aircraft experiences within your Kimberley coast cruise.
What’s included: the 11-night journey, both scenic flight experiences, multiple daily excursions, all meals and transfers to and from your Broome accommodation.
Kimberley Highlights: for a shorter adventure with plenty to discover
A week can hold a remarkable amount when your days are spent exploring.
Kimberley Highlights combines six nights onboard Discovery One with one night at Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm, including a Pearl Harvest Tour.
It’s a different introduction to the region: an opportunity to learn about pearling alongside an expedition through the coast’s extraordinary natural scenery.
The journey features Horizontal Falls and Talbot Bay, Montgomery Reef and the Buccaneer Archipelago, with wildlife and remote landscapes along the way.
There is still time to settle into life onboard. Get to know your fellow guests, head out in the tenders and return with something new to talk about over dinner. Enjoy the changing view from the top deck, a quiet read or a friendly game of cards between outings.
Choose Highlights if: you have less time, are adding a cruise to a wider Western Australian holiday or are drawn to the combination of coastal exploration and Cygnet Bay.
What’s included: six nights onboard, one night at Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm with its Pearl Harvest Tour, multiple daily excursions, all meals and transfers to and from your Broome accommodation.
Note: there are no scenic flights or aboriginal art sites included in this package.
Great Rivers & Wildlife: for the endlessly curious
You spot a bird at the water’s edge. Then another. Why are they feeding here, now?
On Great Rivers & Wildlife, questions like these become part of the pleasure.
With an expert naturalist onboard, this 14-night package explores remote rivers, wetlands and coastal habitats, helping you understand the relationships between wildlife, flora, tides and the surrounding landscape.
The itinerary features the Prince Regent, Hunter, King George and Berkeley Rivers, alongside Horizontal Falls, Montgomery Reef and opportunities to experience rock art, remote waterfalls and swimming holes.
This is a compelling choice for anyone interested in Kimberley river cruises. You have time to look closely, ask questions and build on what you learned yesterday.
Back onboard, books and compendiums offer more to explore. A sighting can become a conversation that continues long after the tender returns.
Choose Great Rivers & Wildlife if: wildlife, ecology and exploring the Kimberley waterways are part of your ideal holiday.
What’s included: the 14-night cruise package, multiple daily excursions, all meals, transfer from your Broome accommodation and a flight between Kununurra and Darwin or flight credit. Special inclusions vary by departure, so check your chosen itinerary.
What makes every Discovery One journey special?
Whichever itinerary you choose, you’ll travel with a maximum of 21 guests and a crew experienced in the Kimberley’s demanding waterways.
Their knowledge of tides, weather and local conditions helps shape each day. The brochure describes multiple guided excursions daily, with the particular activities and access dependent on conditions.
Our itineraries are flexible and get decided on a daily basis to optimise visits to each location. This way every cruise is unique and there is plenty of time to allow for wildlife, weather and tides to shape our journey.
Our guests repeatedly comment on the crew’s enthusiasm and care, the meals, the friendships and the pleasure of exploring in a small group. Those experiences help explain the warm feedback behind Discovery One’s Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice recognition.
Discovery One also brings more than 25 years of Kimberley exploration, Eco Certification and support for Traditional Owner visitor programs.
There are practical details to consider, too. Excursions involve activity and light walking; talk with us about your mobility and comfort with tender boarding. Traditional Owner visitor pass fees apply, and bar drinks are additional. Wildlife sightings, waterfall flows and access vary with the season and conditions.
Still deciding? Start with the moment you most want to experience
Waterfalls? Choose Waterfall.
Helicopter views and varied coastal exploration? Look at Explore the Kimberley.
A shorter expedition with a pearling experience? Consider Kimberley Highlights.
Wildlife, rivers and a deeper understanding of nature? Discover Great Rivers & Wildlife.
Are you an avid photographer? Enquire about our Photography cruise packages.
The best Kimberley cruise for you is the one that matches your curiosity, time and sense of adventure.
Explore our cruise options or call 1800 996 717. Tell us what you’re dreaming of—we’ll help you find your journey.
Nature still feels immense here. Still powerful. Still wonderfully beyond human control.