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The Horizontal Falls are a unique, natural phenomenon that can only be witnessed in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
They are described by Sir David Attenborough as one of the greatest natural wonders of the world, and for good reason.
These two Horizontal Waterfalls, known as Lalang-garram or Garaanngaddim by the indigenous Dambimangari people, are formed by tidal flows through narrow gorges of the Mclarty Range, causing waterfalls on the ebb and flow of each tide. Or in layman’s terms, waterfalls that flow horizontally.
There are two ways to witness the falls, from the ground and from above. I highly recommend both, as they both offer a unique perspective and a highly different experience.
We were lucky to enjoy both a scenic flight and a jetboat tour of Horizontal Falls. We share the best way to see the Horizontal Falls in this guide, including our experience of each.
The Horizontal Falls Phenomena
We’d heard so much about the falls during our time at Kuri Bay, but had never gone to visit. You can only visit the falls on a tour and with an experienced boat driver or by scenic flight.
The horizontal waterfalls are created by two narrow openings between two escarpments. The tidal movements in this region are some of the biggest in the world and can reach a difference of up to 12 metres.
As the tides change from low tides to high tides (and vice versa) they are sending an immense amount of water from one bay to another. The direction of the flow changes twice a day, but the falls are always flowing.
The build up of that water forms a drop of up to four metres, hence creating a horizontal waterfall.
How To See The Horizontal Falls
There are several ways to see the Horizontal Falls, but all of them require booking onto a tour.
You can choose between a scenic flight, or a speed boat ride through the falls.
As mentioned earlier, ideally you want to see the falls from both perspective, so we recommend booking onto a tour that offers both Horizontal Falls experiences!
Best time to see the Horizontal Falls
The best time to visit the Horizontal Falls is from May to October, which is during the dry season in Western Australia.
At this time of year you can expect warm, mild weather and little rainfall.
If the weather is too wet, then tours will be cancelled due to bad weather, so you do need to consider this before booking a tour.
You also need to consider the tides. There are spring tides and neap tides.
Spring tides are when the water flows rapidly, but neap tides are when the flow is weak.
You want to make sure you check the tides before you book onto a tour as the power boats can’t drive through powerful tides for safety.
Our Broome to Horizontal Falls Half Day Tour Experience
Below is our seaplane tour and cruise itinerary with Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures Tours.
These tours are pretty expensive, but they are are absolutely worth the price as you have experienced pilots to take you to Horizontal Falls Marine Park and back, as well as experienced jet boat drivers.
The tour is classed as a half day tour, but it takes 6 hours from start to finish, so we don’t recommend doing much when you get back.
Beginning with a Scenic Flight
The 90-minute scenic flight started with a departure from Broome, first flying over the the Buccaneer Archipelago and Kimberley coastline to towards the Dampier Peninsula, and over to Talbot Bay.
It was our commute path when we worked at a pearl farm in Kuri Bay.
My excitement to be back on a seaplane overrode the pain of a 5:30am take off.
A sea plane is my favourite way to fly; the landings and takeoffs are so smooth you don’t even realise you’ve done them.
The girls were so excited to be experiencing it for the first time. Although, after this small plane flight on Fraser Island that terrified Kalyra she was a little shaky.
On our pearl farm commute we’d fly quite high over this region, but on the Horizontal Falls tour, we took off over famous Cable Beach and then flew quite low for a closer look at the stunning coastline.
This alone made the trip worthwhile.
We flew over Willie Creek Pearl Farm and Cape Leveque, where we had been camping only a few days before.
It was amazing to get a birds eye view of those red cliffs, the white sand and turquoise water. More people need to come and see this stunning region of The Kimberley (or maybe not!)
Then we flew low over the Buccaneer Archipelago, which is a series of over 800 small islands.
We were looking for whales and crocodiles but had no luck. We only saw pristine and isolated rocky islands with high cliffs, some sparsely vegetated with patches of rainforest and beaches and fringed by mangroves (the perfect croc habitat.).
Kalyra had relaxed by now and was pretty amazed by it all and had her head pressed up against the glass for most of the trip.
But the best was yet to come.
Flying over the Horizontal Falls
Our scenic flight ended with a fly over the Horizontal Falls before gliding into the calm waters of Talbot Bay and came to a halt at the permanent mooring to get ready to see the falls up close by jet boat.
Jet boating through the Horizontal Falls
Yeah! It was thrill time.
I was a little nervous with the girls, but I held Savannah tight and Kalyra squeezed her daddy.
You can only go through the Horizontal Falls on the boat when the drop is no higher than one metre, otherwise, it’s too dangerous.
We were there just in time before it got higher and we went screaming through the first one.
Once Kalyra knew it was safe she threw up her hands and squealed, “this is so much fun!”
The second opening was much narrower than the first (at 12 metres) and kinda made you hold your breath a little bit, hoping he was going to pick the gap with all that gushing water.
As I said, you have to do this with experienced drivers.
We kept going back and forth speeding through the wide gap and getting a feel for the immense power of water.
Our driver and guide were very knowledgeable and stopped to tell us a lot about the region and the falls and allowed us a slower move through to get an understanding of how that water moves and changes.
Breakfast with sharks
The rest of the half-day tour was a little more sedate.
We had a breakfast of bacon and egg rolls with stunning views of the cygnet bay from a pontoon and then headed down to the netted pool for a swim with sharks.
About three tawny nurse sharks came up to the cage for some feeding.
They are very careful to feed them only a small amount so it does no affect their normal hunting habits.
It was pretty awesome to be so close to these sharks.
Kalyra went under water with Craig with snorkels on to try and get face to face with them, but she only caught the swish of its tail – and was excited!
Cyclone Creek Tour
We finished off the tour with a calm boat tour up Cyclone Creek through the mangroves and past the stunning landscape of The Kimberley.
I loved sitting back and soaking up this region that I love so much.
Working at Kuri Bay was the most exciting, exotic adventure I ever had. The Kimberley region is like Africa, it gets under your skin and into your heart and you can’t ever get it out of your system.
It’s just an ancient, magnificent wonder.
Return Scenic Flight To Broome
We were all a little sleepy on the return seaplane home.
We flew back over inland so didn’t feel like we missed much of a viewing opportunity.
Although coming back into Broome over Roebuck Bay to see that palette of emerald green, turquoise blue, and red pindan just blew my mind.
The most magical place on earth.
The Horizontal Falls trip was a highlight of our visit to Western Australia.
The Horizontal Falls trip is expensive, but if it’s a bucket list experience for you, then it’s worth it.
I think this region is one of the most special in Australia and deserves to be experienced.
Thanks to the guys at Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures for covering the cost of our half day tour. It was the day before my birthday, so I’ll claim it as a special birthday treat!
More Tours in the Kimberley Region of Western Australia
More West Australia Travel Tips
Have you visited a phenomena like the Horizontal Falls before? Let us know about it in the comments!
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