Cape Leveque /Cygnet Bay - Waterfall Reef Tour
One of our bucket list items was to do the Waterfall Reef tour from Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm which is approximately 220km from Broome. This is situated on the way up to Cape Leveque. We decided as as the tour was 6am in the morning we would stay the night at Cygnet Bay Pear Farm – which thanks to the Broome Visitor Centre they were able to organise for us. As this part of the world gets very busy towards the end of June right through to September the only thing we could get was an Eco tent or should i say a glamping tent as it had a shower, toilet and king size bed as well as an outdoor area to watch the world go by.
We got up early on the Saturday morning deciding to make an early start so we could explore some of the Cape on our way up to Cygnet Bay. First stop was Middle Lagoon which was about 20km off the highway but what a beautiful spot, then it was on to Pender Bay for a look. This was also a beautiful spot with the famous heart rock, the beach here was beautiful with great rock pools and also lots of hermit crabs – we spent ages watching them scooting around the rocks. To have a look at each of these places we were charged a $10 entry fee whether you were here for 10 minutes or 2 hours !!! Unfortunately a lot of the aboriginal communities were closed due to Covid so we were unable to go into Beagle Bay or past Cygnet Bay to have a look – Maybe next time !! We did stop in to have a look at Kooljaman Resort at Cape Leveque but they unfortunately wanted to charge us $20 each for the privilege of spending a couple of hours, so we gave that one a miss.
The Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm was a great place to stay for the night. On the night we stayed they had a movie night featuring locally made movies. Some of these were really great especially the Broome Primary School – Seasons one, which was our favourite. The breakfast the next morning when we got back from our tour was delicious and much needed after our early start – Yum !!
Our tour to Waterfall Reef meant an early start so we were up at 5am to meet the guides at 5.45am. No walking down to the water on this tour – a purpose made boat drives right to the resort and loads you up and drives down onto the beach and into the water and straight out to the tour boats – Fantastic !! We were out on the water by 6am and on our way out to the reef. Wow it is the most stunning thing we have seen, the water rushing off this live reef is just amazing – when we first arrived the water was pouring off and by the time we left there was only a trickle of water. The trip back was equally as enthralling as the giant tides provide a spectacular sight as the water looks like it is boiling. At one stage we pulled up near a small island and the water rushing past it was amazing – it created a whirlpool and the water actually started spinning the boat around. Where the tides met small bait fish were trapped and birds were diving into the water all around us – apparently this happens on a daily basis in the exact same spot. The tides are amazing with whirlpools and bubbling water all around. This tour was a fantastic experience and I would recommend everyone to put it on there bucket list.
