Horizontal Falls Jetboat & Overnight

So a roar of the 900hp outboards on the jetboat and here we go, navigating through the middle of the lower Horizontal Falls passing over whirl pools, vortexes and a powerful outgoing current. A sweeping turn around and we fizz through the gap on the way back and do three runs in succession.

Horizontal Falls are created by the huge tidal movements in the area moving through gaps in the McLarty Range, which has two ridges running parallel approximately 300m apart. The first and most seaward gap is about 20m wide and the second gap is about 7.5m wide.

Tidal heights vary dramatically with two high tides a day flowing through the gaps and reaching up to 11m in height. You can see the high tide watermarks on the surrounding King Leopold Sandstone and during a rare King tide event, Horizontal Falls will fill one to two metres higher than a normal high tide.

After our 3rd passing through the lower falls, we sit back glued to the back of our seats as the jetboat races up to the second falls.

There’s definitely something different about these falls. For a start they are very narrow and the tide is fiercely gushing out from the top three metres high like a grade 5 rapid. After everyone onboard had convinced themselves, well, this is it, hold on for dear life, the jetboat driver abruptly stops and explains that there’s no way we can pass during these tidal conditions. Not sure if I was relieved or disappointed but the driver assured us that conditions will be good tomorrow morning when the tide has changed.

All good, we race back to the first falls and do a series of shots through the gap and take a closer look at the outgoing tide’s flow. Jen is super excited and I think she quietly wanted to drive the jet boat or heck even have a go a skiing behind it through the gap. I don’t think it’s been tried before.

We return to the pontoon after our adrenalin fix to be then invited to swim in the pool with the sharks! That sounds good, hearts still racing, we’ll give it a go.

The pool is split into two sections, one enclosed and one open to the outside sea. We flip a coin and get the enclosed section!

As soon as the shark handler baits the water with a bit of barramundi, the resident sharks as well as other fish come visiting from the surrounding sea.

The sharks are Tawny Nurse Sharks a couple of metres long and they are obviously used to the shark handler and the feeding ritual. Each shark is male and has a name and one’s called Steve. Yeah, that’s right, Steve, not Alan. So we have three things in common, male, same name and a bit of a shark... When feeding, the sharks literally suck their food up like a vacuum cleaner even though they have plentiful teeth.

Before dinner, we are back in the jetboat for a leisurely sunset cruise into Cyclone Creek. Cyclone Creek is aptly named because it’s high sandstone walls provide a natural safe haven from cyclones and storms. This is where the Horizontal Falls group store their pontoon and equipment during the wet season. I capture a near full moon rising from behind one of the towering walls.

Back at the pontoon, we sit and unwind to reflect on today’s epic adventures, tucking into platters of cheese and dip and our supplies of beer, cider and wine. Dinner is served soon after as our hosts have been busy preparing fresh seared Barramundi on the bbq with salads followed by choc brownies. Again we’ve been doing it tough on this trip and tonight, we don’t even have to do the dishes.

It’s not a late night as we will be up and ready to go again at 5.45am in the morning so we retire to our Montgomery Reef room at 9.30pm.Les mer