Horizontal Falls

In Talbot Bay in the Buccaneer Archipelago, two narrow gaps in a ridge, one about twenty metres wide and the other roughly ten, connect a series of bays to the sea. Kimberley tides run to more than ten metres, and the water cannot pass through the gaps fast enough to keep up, so a height difference of up to four metres builds between one side and the other, producing what looks like a waterfall lying on its side, reversing direction with each tide. David Attenborough called it one of the greatest natural wonders of the world. Fast boats still take tours through the gaps at suitable tides - one crashed into the rock wall there in 2022 - and many visitors see the falls from a seaplane instead.

Highlights

• The tidal gaps - water dropping several metres between one bay and the next.
• The reversal - the direction changing with each incoming and outgoing tide.
• The archipelago - the drowned ridges and islands of the Buccaneer group.
• The seaplane approach - the aerial view of the whole system.

When to go

April to October for the dry season and calmest flying; the strongest flow comes on the biggest spring tides, which tour operators plan around. The wet season brings cyclones and reduced operation.

Practical notes

Boat transits through the gaps, once the main attraction, have been banned following a capsizing, so the experience is now viewing rather than riding. Tours are expensive, typically involving seaplane flights from Broome. Sightings depend on tide timing, and small tides produce little.

Nearby

Derby and Broome are the departure points; the Kimberley coast lies north.

Key facts