Daintree River Crocodile & Wildlife Cruise
Cruise the Daintree River for a close encounter with the estuarine crocodiles that inhabit this World Heritage waterway, along with the extraordinary diversity of birds and wildlife visible from the river.
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Daintree Village Boat Ramp
Daintree Village on the lower river is the departure point for wildlife cruises — the small town has been running crocodile tours since the 1980s, and the river is one of the most reliable places in Queensland to observe large saltwater crocodiles.
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Estuarine Crocodile Habitat
The Daintree River estuary is one of the most important saltwater crocodile habitats in Australia — the largest crocodile documented in the river was 5.4 metres long, and encounters with animals of 3-4 metres are common.
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Mangrove Bird Zone
The mangrove sections of the river are exceptionally rich in birdlife — little kingfishers, azure kingfishers, yellow-billed kingfishers, and great-billed herons all use the mangrove edge as feeding habitat.
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Platypus Observation Area
The upper freshwater sections of the Daintree River are platypus habitat — the elusive monotreme is sometimes observed at dawn from low bridges or the river bank, foraging in the clear, tannin-coloured water.
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Fig Tree Bat Colony
Large fig trees along the river edge support colonies of spectacled flying foxes — the fruit bats are critical pollinators and seed dispersers in the rainforest, and their evening departure from roost trees is a spectacular daily event.
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River Mouth View
The Daintree River mouth near the ferry crossing shows the transition from freshwater to marine habitat — the ferry crossing itself passes directly over prime crocodile territory, and sightings from the ferry are common.