Day trip

From Darwin: Tiwi Islands Cultural Day Tour by Ferry

Day trip

From Darwin: Tiwi Islands Cultural Day Tour by Ferry

Activity provider: SeaLink Northern Territory

From US$ 285.37 per person

Explore the Tiwi Islands community of Wurrumiyanga on this cultural walking tour. Experience a traditional Tiwi welcome smoking ceremony and explore the Tiwi Design art center and Catholic mission precinct with your local Tiwi guide.

About this activity

Free cancellation
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Covid-19 precautions
Special health and safety measures are in place. Check your activity voucher once you book for full details.
Duration 10 hours
Check availability to see starting times.
Live tour guide
English

Experience

Highlights
  • Take part in a cultural art workshop and take home an art memento
  • Visit the Tiwi Mission Precinct
  • Learn the Tiwi Creation Story
Full description

Tour the Tiwi Islands community and experience a traditional Tiwi welcome smoking ceremony. Visit the Tiwi Design art center and Catholic mission precinct in the company of a local guide.

The Tiwi Islands ferry departs Cullen Bay Ferry Terminal, located 5 minutes from Darwin's city center. Boarding commences at 7:30 AM for a prompt 8:00 AM departure.

Bring a book, sit back and relax on the 2.5-hour journey to the Tiwi Islands, 80km north of Darwin. Sandwiches, pies, coffee, drinks, and snack foods are available for purchase from the ferry kiosk.  Upon arrival, your local Tiwi guide will greet you on the beach and take you on a walking tour of the community. For those with mobility impairments, don't be disheartened as it is only a few minutes' walk between locations. 

From the ferry landing, wander up to Tiwi Design for a traditional welcome ceremony and morning tea (damper and a cuppa). Your guide will then show you local paintings and teach you about the culture and history of the Tiwi People. On to the historic Catholic mission precinct before returning to Tiwi Design for lunch and a 'behind-the-scenes' screen printing session with a local Tiwi artist. Create your own screen-printed Tiwi-style art piece to take home – a memento of your day on the Tiwi Islands. 

You also have the opportunity to purchase unique and traditional Tiwi artworks including paintings, fabrics, carving, pottery and clothing at island prices. Return to the ferry at 15:00 PM for the journey back to Darwin, arriving back in Cullen Bay at 5:45 PM.

Includes
  • Return ferry from Darwin
  • Morning tea and lunch
  • Fully guided walking tour
  • Souvenir screenprint
  • Entry to the Tiwi mission precinct and church
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off

Select participants and date

Participants

Date

Meeting point

Cullen Bay Ferry Terminal

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Important information

Know before you go

  • Dietary requirements can be catered for, please inform at the time of booking
  • Please note that this tour a walking tour, not a coach tour. It is conducted at a leisurely pace, with no special level of fitness required. Wurrumiyanga is a small Aboriginal community with everything easily accessible by foot
Customer reviews

Overall rating

4.8 /5

based on 79 reviews

Review summary

  • Guide
    4.6/5
  • Transportation
    4.6/5
  • Service
    4.8/5
  • Organization
    4.7/5

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Star rating:

A must do tour for anyone looking for an excellent indigenous experience. Our guide, Vivien, was just wonderful. His warm friendly manner put us all at ease and his ability and willingness to share his heritage was exceptional. All the people we encountered were welcoming and their great sense of humor made for a happy fun day.

March 26, 2023

Many thanks. It was extremely enjoyable, informative and just wonderful! I would have loved more time in the Museum and feel that the spare time at the end could have been far better used at the Museum for a lot of us who wanted to see and read a lot more. My friend was very ill on the ferry trip home (and other travellers) and the staff were fantastic. It was calmer than on the trip over (she was just ok) and she wasn't looking forward to the trip back! Many thanks

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March 26, 2023

The experience and our guide were good but a few things let it down. When we had lunch there was no sanitizer anywhere to clean our hands - not good. The lunch itself was nice. The tour was interesting and the guide was very informative. I enjoyed the screen printing, however there was a lack of assistance and people were left standing around not knowing what to do, even though there were several artists in the centre. Also the man who assisted me asked what colours I wanted, but he chose totally different colours. I mentioned again the colours I wanted but he ignored this and so the end result was not what I wanted. The picture advertising the tour is very different to the reality.

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March 26, 2023

Product ID: 122834