Everyone Loves Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures
What tour of North Queensland is complete without some kind of Crocodile Adventure? Down Under Tours has partnered with Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures to ensure your experience is the very best available. This Eco Tourism award winning, accredited tourist attraction is just 40mins North of Cairns between Cairns and Port Douglas. The bus ride to Hartley’s Adventures is well worth the scenic drive along the coastline and through the rainforest.
Once you arrive there are so many things to do and see. Hartley’s is family friendly with self-guided tours through most of the park. There is over 210m of easy boardwalks and pathways to follow through 5 distinct wildlife zones. There is also an education centre and signs posted throughout presenting information on each zone and the animals within. Some sections of the park are accessible only with a tour guide. This is mainly due to the danger posed by the estuarine crocodiles or saltwater crocodiles as they are called by many of the locals.
Operating since the late 1930’s Hartley’s Adventures began as entertainment for travellers waiting at a halfway house for tea and scones. The show consisted of only one crocodile named Old Charlie and over the years has been built up into the wildlife experience you see today. Sadly Old Charlie passed away in 2000 from cancer but there are plenty of his friends to meet and learn about.
The Wetlands Tour is one of the sections where a tour guide is needed and the boats that travel round the lagoon are specially built to protect sight seers from possible crocodile attacks. It takes about 25 minutes to complete the circuit and with 19 or more crocodiles ranging from 2.5m to large 5m males you are guaranteed to spot a few. Your guide shares information about saltwater crocodiles and about several of the large males in residence before they stop the boat for a feeding display. Pieces of chicken are dangled from a long pole to entice the crocodiles closer. This rare opportunity to get up close and personal with these ancient creatures on this immersive tour is one not to be passed up and the photo opportunities are amazing.
Down Under Tours has allowed enough time to see the wildlife shows, Wetlands tour and have your photo taken with a baby crocodile if you choose. The shows on offer are the Snake show, Wetlands tour, Croc attack show, Cassowary feeding and Koala feeding. There are also plenty of kangaroos and wallabies about and Fresh water Crocs on display. This smaller species of crocodile is not only different in appearance they have a much calmer temperament and are nowhere near as dangerous as their salt water cousins.
Call Down Under Tours today to book your Hartley’s Crocodile Adventure and see what all the fuss is about. Here is want some of our visitors had to say about this experience:
“A surprising great day out. I must say that this was quite a surprise. Although it had good ratings, when I saw the modest entry fee (discounted for seniors) I thought it would be just an OK visit to fill in half a day. I’m glad I was wrong!”
“ Plenty of crocs on view and other interesting sites and shows. The staff are very entertaining and informative and happy to discuss any aspect of this industry.”
“Unlike other venues there are no annoying attempts to drag extra money from you once inside either. It’s a pleasant stroll around the property to check out their displays and the shows/presentations are spaced and repeated to ensure you don’t have to rush to catch them all.” (Visited August 2016)
