The Indian River

At Portsmouth the Indian River slides out of the forest dark and slow, and the only way up is the old way: licensed boatmen ship their outboards at the mouth and row, because engines are banned on the protected river. The reward is silence - herons stalking the shallows, crabs on the buttress roots of the bwa mang trees whose flanged trunks wall the banks in sculpted tunnels, and light falling green through the canopy. A riverside bush bar marks the turnaround, and fans of tropical-gothic cinema will recognise the river's cameo mood immediately.

What you actually see

• The bwa mang root tunnels - the sculpted swamp-bloodwood banks.
• Herons and river life - kingfishers, crabs and iguanas along the drift.
• The rowed silence - engines banned, oars only.
• The bush bar - the turnaround stop for a dynamite punch.

When to go

Mornings are stillest and birdiest; the drier February-to-May window keeps the mouth calm. Cruise-ship days in Portsmouth queue the boats - check the schedule or go early. The trip runs about ninety minutes.

Honest expectations

Fees are per person on a shared or private boat and boatmen expect tips; agree terms at the bridge before boarding. The river is short - this is an atmosphere piece, not an expedition. Mosquitoes attend the stiller stretches. The bush bar's punches are stronger than their fruit-juice manner suggests.

Nearby

The Cabrits and Fort Shirley, Portsmouth's bay and the northern beaches.