Horizontal Falls, Western Autsralia
If you have not been to, or heard of Horizontal Falls get ready to be WOW’d – fasten your seat belts as we take you on a ride to explore this astounding destination that you simply must add to your Bucket List – NOW!!!!!
Covering almost 423,000 square kilometers, The northern point of western Australia is one of the most sparsely populated places on earth! Situated off the North Eastern coast of Derby Western Australia in Talbot Bay, Buccaneer Archipelago – Horizontal falls is one of the most spectacular sites you will ever behold. Only accessible by sea plane or helicopter this reversing horizontal waterfall is one of the most unique natural attractions of the Kimberley if not The World.
But how can a waterfall be horizontal? We asked ourselves this question so many times before we had seen it with our own eyes. The falls are formed when powerful tides rush water horizontally through two narrow gorges, about 300 meters apart in the McLarty Ranges. Water backs up behind the range during tidal flows in each direction. Tides of up to 10 meters regularly occur in this area. The natural phenomenon is created as seawater builds up faster on one side of the gaps than the other, creating a waterfall up to 4 meters. With each change of the tide, the direction of the falls reverses.
David Attenborough described Horizontal Falls as “one of the world’s greatest natural wonders” and he certainly isn’t wrong!
The day started at 7.30am by getting driven to the local airport where the friendly pilot went through the safety briefing before being introduced to our sweet ride for the day – a Bell Long Range Helicopter! Opting to take the front doors off to ensure unobstructed photos was certainly the cherry on top!
The first surprise of the day came when flying out over Derby. Seeing the tidal movement from above was incredible!!!!! Derby experiences tidal fluctuations of up to 14 meters and seeing this from a unique perspective ensured we captured some epic pics – and you will too!
After 50 minutes of jaw-dropping scenery, my first glimpse of the falls and astonishment doesn’t even do it justice. Flying directly over the top of the falls gave the most incredible views and by the time we were landing on the floating pontoon, I was completely speechless of what we had just witnessed. And I was finally able to comprehend how a waterfall could be horizontal!
From the moment we landed at Horizontal Falls, we were taken such great care of by the staff! We were first to arrive for the day so we had a little wait for all of the other groups to arrive – we did not mind this at all! After what we had just experienced it was wonderful to have a few minutes to ourselves to take it all in.
After about 30 minutes everyone had arrived and we were split into our groups for the day. Our first stop was the marine life enclosure where you can get up close and personal with many species of fish and the highlight was the shark feeding display featuring about 14 Tawny Nurse Sharks
Next, it was off on a stunning luxury cruise through the untouched bays and creeks of Talbot Bay. The serenity of this cruise was such an enjoyable element of the day which offered incredible contrast of what was to come.
Take a seat and hold on to your hat as you head off in a 900hp fast boat that will have you reaching for the handrails and screaming with exhilaration. Speed through the narrow chasms so close that it feels like you could reach out and touch it.
Pick your jaw up from the floor as the water rushes by and powerful whirlpool drains appear right before your eyes – a sight that has to be seen to be believed! (for videos of this incredible boat trip check out Instagram https://instagram.com/where_jesswanders
On the day we went to Horizontal Falls the tide was at its largest variance so our incredibly skilful skipper was unable to get us through both gorges (referred to as the large gap and the small gap) on our first attempt. This resulted in us heading back to the pontoon for a delicious bay caught Barramundi lunch while we waited with our fingers crossed for the tide to drop to a safe distance for us to be able to cross both the small and large gap.
We boarded our boat again and set off to attempt both gaps and this time it was successful – lots of laughter and cheering and a few screams as we approached the even more narrow walls of the small gap! We flew through both gaps multiple times at a rapid speed as we bounced across the waves and water wash created from the horizontal push of the water with a few 360-degree spins thrown in for good measure. Pure Joy!
Adrenaline racing and smiles from ear to ear we headed back to the pontoon to board our flights home.
As if the day couldn’t get any better our wonderful pilot Mick decided to do one last go around directly over the top of the falls. As we headed back to Derby we went on a search for crocodiles flying low over the Fitzroy River!
My top tips for visiting Horizontal Falls:
- The Falls can be visited from either Broome or Derby Western Australia. My preference was from Derby as it is closer to The Falls so it makes a long day much more manageable.
- Most tours take you to Horizontal Falls in a seaplane. We opted to charter a helicopter as it was for a special occasion and we absolutely love going in helicopters. While this did add considerable expense to the day, for us it was worth it.
- Seaplanes have weight limits of around 115kgs so for anyone bigger than that the helicopter is your only option to visit The Falls
- Tides are what make The Falls, no tide no Horizontal Waterfall. Neap Tide means next to no water flowing through the chasms so no tours will operate on these days. Check out Horizontal Falls Adventures for information on the best dates to go.
- Booking in advance is vital! These tours are bucket list tours so booking in advance means you will guarantee getting on these tours. From. May to August is peak season in The Kimberley and tours sell out fast!
NOTE: This trip was paid for from our own pocket and this is not a sponsored post
