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Abrolhos Islands Tours

3 options · from $469 AUD

Abrolhos Islands tours start in the air. The Houtman Abrolhos are 122 islands and coral reefs about 65km off the Western Australian coast, with no hotels and no ferries, so the way in from Kalbarri is a small plane over 400-million-year-old red cliffs and out across water that looks like a colour chart. The islands are also where the Dutch ship Batavia was wrecked in 1629.

Three flights cover it: a two-hour Batavia tour with an island landing from $469, a 5.5-hour discovery day with snorkelling from $539, and a 1 hour 45 grand flight adding the pink lake and the Kalbarri gorges from $559.

What an Abrolhos Islands tour is actually like

Every tour here departs Kalbarri in a light aircraft with a maximum of 14 passengers, so you get a window. The outbound leg tracks the coastal cliffs of Gantheume Bay, red sedimentary rock meeting the Indian Ocean, then heads out to sea, where the reefs read as rings of turquoise and sand around dark coral gardens.

Two of the three tours land on East Wallabi Island, a seabird breeding ground ringed by coral. On the short tour that means tea and coffee and a look around; on the longer one it means snorkelling Turtle Bay's protected reef and a guided nature walk. The flights home cross the atolls and the Batavia wreck site on Morning Reef.

Which Abrolhos flight to book

The Abrolhos Islands & Batavia Shipwreck Tour from $469 is the quick taste: two hours all up, out over the cliffs, a landing on East Wallabi for tea and coffee and a wander around the coral reef scenery, then home over the atolls and the 1629 Batavia site. Pick it to set foot on the islands without giving up a whole day.

The Abrolhos Island Discovery Tour from $539 is the one to do if you can: 5.5 hours, with the East Wallabi landing, swimming and snorkelling in Turtle Bay, a guided island nature walk past birdlife and limestone caves, and a pre-ordered lunch box. It is the only option where you get in the water, so it suits anyone who came to WA for reef as much as scenery.

The Abrolhos Islands, Pink Lake & Gorges Grand Flight from $559 does not land at all. It is 1 hour 45 of scenery from Kalbarri Airport: the Murchison River mouth, the cliffs and Bluff Point, a 20-minute low-level pass over East Wallabi, West Wallabi and the Super Tubes surf break, then Hutt Lagoon, a lake turned genuinely pink by algae, and the river gorges of Kalbarri National Park on the way back. The pick for photographers.

Practical tips for flying to the Abrolhos

These are small aircraft, so flights depend on weather and wind, and you may be asked for your weight at booking so the plane can be balanced. Book early in your Kalbarri stay to leave room for a reschedule.

For the discovery day bring swimmers, a towel, reef-safe sunscreen, a hat and shoes you can walk a rough island in. There is no shade on a reef, so cover up. The islands are protected, so take nothing but pictures and leave the birds and coral alone.

Abrolhos Islands tours: your questions

Can you snorkel on an Abrolhos Islands tour?

Yes, on the Abrolhos Island Discovery Tour from $539, which lands on East Wallabi Island for swimming and snorkelling in Turtle Bay's protected coral reef. The other two tours are flight-and-landing or flight-only.

Where do Abrolhos Islands tours leave from?

Kalbarri, on the WA coast north of Geraldton. All three tours fly out of Kalbarri in light aircraft with a maximum of 14 passengers.

What is the Batavia shipwreck?

The Batavia was a Dutch ship wrecked on Morning Reef in the Abrolhos Islands in 1629. A mutiny and massacre among the survivors followed before a rescue arrived. Two of the tours fly over the wreck site on the way home.

Which Abrolhos flight includes the pink lake?

The Abrolhos Islands, Pink Lake & Gorges Grand Flight from $559. It passes low over the islands, then Hutt Lagoon's pink water and the Kalbarri National Park gorges, without landing.

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