Access to Horizontal Falls may close by 2028 | WA
Naturalist David Attenborough has described the Horizontal Falls on Western Australia’s Kimberley Coast as “one of the greatest wonders of the natural world”, and it’s easy to see why.
The Lalang-garram / Horizontal Falls Marine Park is a protected area covering the falls and wider area and is jointly managed by the Western Australian Government and the Indigenous Traditional Owners of the area and surrounding waters, the Dambimangari group. So remote is this area, it is only accessible by seaplane or on a boat tour.
My partner and I were lucky enough to see this natural phenomenon up close recently on a day tour out of Broome with Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures.
A boat operated by Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures was involved in an accident at the Falls in May 2022, resulting in injuries to passengers. The WA Government has publicly stated that boat access through the gap will cease in 2028 for safety and cultural reasons. Our tour guide said no firm decision had yet been made, but it appears that the writing is on the wall and there’s only a few years for tourists to see the iconic horizontal falls up close.
Leaving Broome Airport before dawn, we boarded one of five seaplanes making the one-hour trip northeast to the Falls, landing in the turquoise splendour of Talbot Bay and docking at the dedicated pontoon/houseboat, which also serves as a hotel for customers taking part in the overnight tour. We immediately stepped aboard our boat to make the short trip to see the outgoing tide rushing through the two short narrow cliff gaps/gorges in the McLarty Ranges.
The 12m tides along this part of the coast are the second largest in the world, second to the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia, Canada. The water builds up on one side or the other of the gaps faster than it can flow through them, creating rapid-like torrents and — in the case of the narrower gap — a ‘horizontal’ waterfall up to 4m. With the changing tidal currents, the direction of the falls reverses twice a day from inflow to outflow and back again.
The first gap is about 20m wide and only a handful of tour operators, including the one we used, have permission to take a boat through it. It’s a thrilling ride, at speed, to get through the force of the rushing water. The narrower (10m) and more spectacular second gap is where you’ll see the difference in the water level on the other side. This gap is no longer traversable by boat, closed several years ago for cultural reasons.
We returned to the pontoon for a cooked breakfast before enjoying a more leisurely boat ride to explore some of the bays and inlets. Morning tea was served, and we were given opportunity to learn about some of the local marine life and feed the curious grey nurse sharks.
Back in the boat, we again made the trip to the Falls to see the changed tide, this time incoming.
We’d packed a lot into half a day, but it wasn’t yet over. Back on the seaplane for a 30-minute scenic flight west where we landed at the airstrip in the Aboriginal community of Lombadina and boarded a bus to the Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm for a lunch of grilled barramundi, a tour and a wander through the gallery where these exquisite pearls — years in the making — are available to buy. A bus ride back to Broome was the culmination of a very long but rewarding day.
For more information, head here. It may be years before boat access to the horizontal waterfalls is restricted, but there’s no time like the present to plan your trip to this famous tourism attraction — and spots fill up quick!
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