Why the Kimberley Ultimate is truly the ultimate cruise
Published on 09 Dec 2025
In the Kimberley, everything is shaped by water. Tides that rise and fall like breathing. Rivers that carve through rock. Reefs that appear and vanish with the moon. It’s a place that doesn’t care for timetables or plans. You have to be patient and you have to let it unfold.
And that’s why the Kimberley Ultimate exists.
For 37 years, this has been True North’s most iconic itinerary. Thirteen nights of staying longer, exploring further, and moving with the rhythm of the land. It’s the cruise that was built not just to show you the Kimberley, but to give you time to feel it.
This is the trip that shows you everything.
37 Years of crafting the perfect adventure
The Kimberley Ultimate is the itinerary that started it all. We’ve been running it for nearly four decades, and over that time, it’s been refined again and again.
This cruise has been shaped by experience. After hundreds of trips, we know exactly how to time each location with the tides, how long to stay, and what order to do things in. That kind of knowledge only comes from doing it over and over (and paying attention every single time).
It’s also one of our most in-demand itineraries. People come back for it, and people plan around it, because they know what they’re in for.
Time is the luxury
One of the biggest differences with the Kimberley Ultimate is time. With thirteen nights on board, the itinerary is designed to stay longer at each key location (often two full days).
That extra time makes all the difference. In the Kimberley, everything is planned around the tides. Some places are only accessible at certain times, and shorter trips often mean you’re limited to whatever the tides are doing while you’re there. But on the Ultimate, you’re at each location long enough to experience more access, more flexibility, and not having to choose between one experience or another.
When you’re on board, you’ll have the time to see and do everything at its best. The reef when it rises, the falls when they’re flowing, the fishing when it’s on, and the heli flights when the light’s right.
The experiences that make it ultimate
Heli-picnics in the middle of nowhere
Land beside a remote waterfall, drop your boots by a billabong, and sit down to a gourmet BBQ cooked over the fire by the chefs. These picnics aren’t staged or rushed. They’re part of the rhythm of the trip, and often end up being some of the most memorable moments on board.
→ Learn more about heli-picnics with True North
Rock art few people ever see
You’ll visit both Wandjina and Gwion Gwion galleries (some of the oldest and most significant art sites in the country). Some are reached by tender, others by helicopter. Either way, the access is rare, and the time spent there is never hurried.
→ Explore the rock art of the Kimberley
Fishing, shucking, and reef watching
Drop a line for barra and mangrove jack in quiet rivers or net a tasty mud crab from amongst the mangroves. Shuck black-lip oysters straight from the reef at Swift Bay. Watch Montgomery Reef lift out of the ocean as the tide falls away. These are the kind of experiences you can’t schedule on a tight timeline. They happen when nature says so, and this cruise gives you the time to catch them.
→ Learn more about fishing in the Kimberley
Scenic flights, secret spots, and beach dinners
From Mitchell Falls to the Horizontal Falls, you’ll see the Kimberley from the air, the water, and the ground. There are bushwalks to swimming holes, sunset drinks on remote peaks, and dinners served on the sand at the end of a big day.
→ Read more on the benefits of scenic helicopter flights
Where you’ll go: A overview of the Kimberley Ultimate
Across thirteen nights, you’ll experience some of the most remote, iconic and spectacular locations on the Kimberley coast. Here are just a few standouts:
- King George Falls – Cruise right up to the base of these towering twin waterfalls, then take to the air for a helicopter view from above.
- Eagle Falls – Land by helicopter beside a remote waterfall, where lunch is served creekside in one of the Kimberley’s most untouched spots.
- Mitchell Falls – Land at this four-tiered waterfall, an icon of the Kimberley, for a ground tour & photo opportunity at the best vantage point in the area.
- Montgomery Reef – Watch a living reef rise out of the ocean as the tide drops, revealing a maze of coral, channels, and marine life.
- Prince Regent River & King Cascade – One of the Kimberley’s most iconic river systems, including the moment True North noses right up beneath the King Cascade.
- Hunter River & Jackson Falls – Red cliffs, rainforest, croc-spotting, heli-flights and a bushwalk to a hidden waterfall that few others ever reach.
- Gwion Gwion and Wandjina rock art sites – Ancient galleries accessed by tender or helicopter — some only reachable thanks to True North’s long-standing access and knowledge.
- Buccaneer Archipelago & Horizontal Falls – Scenic flights over more than 800 islands and a flyover of one of the region’s most powerful natural spectacles.
13 Nights of unrushed Kimberley is calling you
Some places deserve more than a quick look. The Kimberley region is one of them.
With more time on location, better access to remote areas, and a long track record of delivering the goods, the Kimberley Ultimate cruise gives you the full experience.
Browse upcoming itineraries to find your dates and start planning your next adventure.
