Nighttime Atherton Tablelands Rainforest Tour: Spot Australia's Unique Wildlife

Embark on a thrilling nighttime rainforest tour in the Atherton Tablelands and discover Australia’s unique wildlife. Spot tree kangaroos, platypus, and more in their natural habitat.

Duration: 8 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Atherton Tablelands - There is no better place close to Cairns to see some of the rarest animals in Australia in the wild. We spend the majority of our tour exploring the region searching for wildlife.
  • Curtain Fig National Park - We take you to this amazing natural spectacle during the night walk section of our tour. The sites and sound of…
What's Included
  • Local guide
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off
  • Afternoon tea
  • All equipment (binoculars, spotlighting gear, rain ponchos, reference materials)
  • Dinner
  • In-vehicle air conditioning
  • National Park fee
What's Not Included
  • Drinks, unless specified
Additional Information

Embark on a captivating tour through the Atherton Tablelands and be amazed by Australia’s distinctive creatures and birds in their natural habitat. Guided by a knowledgeable nature enthusiast, this small group tour will take you through vibrant tropical rainforests and a volcanic crater lake at nightfall. Encounter tree kangaroos, lizards and musky rat…

Location
Atherton Tablelands
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.8
(369 Ratings)
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Charles_f
Sep 8, 2024
Brilliant guide and magnificent wildlife!!! - This was one of the best wildlife tours i’ve ever taken! It was wonderful to see so much of Australia’s legendary creatures in their native habitats like Platypus, Wallaby, Flying Foxes, and too many types of birds to mention. The rainforest was lush and beautiful and the majesty of the famous Curtain fig tree was simply breathtaking!!! Paul is a top-notch guide who knows his local wildlife as well as any biologist. He’s a got a great sense of humor and he always made sure we were in the perfect spots to get a clear view of all the critters. Dinner at the beautiful old Yungaburra was delicious and the old world atmosphere of the place is really something worth experiencing in itself !!! If you’re ever in Queensland, don’t miss this tour!!!
Review provided by Viator
Julie_w
Aug 10, 2024
Great tour - This was a wonderful experience. Great guide and so much to see. This was probably our favorite tour. Highly recommend.
Review provided by Viator
Ross_m
Jul 25, 2024
A brilliant experience - We had a brilliant afternoon and evening with Paul. His knowledge of the area was extensive and he knew exactly what to look out for. The journey there and back was comfortable despite previous reviewers grumblings. We had four stops and did see several possums, a sooty owl, two platypuses and some wallabies. The weather was pretty damp and miserable but we enjoyed the experience nonetheless. The dinner in Yungaburra was excellent with lots of options. Will have to return though to see the starry night sky. We did have two family groups on our trip, though I'm not sure how much the young children got from it other than adding lots of noise to scare off animals! Paul was great at telling them off when their parents didn't!
Review provided by Viator
C2951ncsabrinaf
Jul 13, 2024
Something different - This was an unique experience to see wildlife in their own habitat. We saw many on our tour with our wonderful guide Paul, such as tree kangaroos, platypus, possums, etc. It's not a zoo, so set the expectations that you won't see everything and you gotta be patient, but that's part of the fun where you go look for it. I went with my mom and was initially concerned about the long walks, but most of the paths were well maintained and moderate, and you can just opt out of some of it if you'd like. Would recommend for those that are looking for a true wildlife experience.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Danny_c
Jul 7, 2024
Great tour. Would recommend. - We had a great trip on this tour. We saw many animals and learned a lot. The dinner was also delicious. Seeing the clear night sky was remarkable! We did have two children (11 & 7) with us and the guide was a little short and impatient with them. But overall a good tour and would recommend.
Review provided by Viator
Curteous
Jul 4, 2024
Platypus! - So I asked my wife, what did she want to see when we flew to Australia. Her #1 request was to see a platypus in the wild. My first reaction, was seriously how the heck am I going to pull this off. After doing quite a bit of research, I came across wait-a while tour that claimed 90% success rate seeing a platypus. I was skeptical, but booked it. We just came back from this tour, and I can honestly say, 90% success rate was probably too low. We went to a creek that had multiple platypus, and could tell they were there every night feeding. WE weren't 100 yards away, we were within 25 feet from them. Was so cool! We spent 30-40 minutes just following and watching them. Paul the guide was extremely knowledgable about everything on the tour. After that it was all gravy, and we got lots of it. Saw a rat kangaroo, Tree Kangaroo (Which is extremely hard to see in the wild) and a Pademelon. I loved that the tour allowed us to walk around the rainforest looking for these animals. Went to several different locations spotting different animals. Dinner was included at a local restaurant and was great food. This is a small personal tour. We had 7 people in our total party, and I I believe max is 10 peoplel, If you are debating whether or not to book this tour, I would strongly suggest to book it! We spent 3 weeks all over Australia, and this was the highlight of our trip. You need to book it! My whole family agreed that this was even better than the Great Barrier Reef.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Adriennebrown89
Jul 4, 2024
Great tour - Paul was a great guide, and we really enjoyed our time on this tour. We got to see platypuses and opossums and spiders and pademelons and a rat kangaroo and flying foxes. There were so many things that we never would have seen without Paul’s watchful eye. This was a really unique experience to have that would have been hard to do on our own. Would definitely recommend.
Review provided by Viator
Carolyn
Jul 2, 2024
A great tour to see a platypus in the wild - We were a group of 10 in a minibus and the only Australians with others being from the UK, USA and Singapore. Our guide was informative and definitely knew where to look when it came to platypuses. The drive to the Atherton Tablelands from Cairns was very windy and if you are prone to car sickness i’d take a tablet before you head off. We were lucky to see 3 platypuses up very close and being very active too. Even for an Australian seeing a platypus in the wild is special. We went to a local hotel for a decent dinner ( you could choose from the hotel’s menu) and this was included in the tour price. The nocturnal walk after dinner wasn’t that exciting for an Aussie seeing only possums and bats but for our overseas visitors it was good. If you want to see a platypus in the wild i’d definitely recommend this tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mli8889
Jun 30, 2024
great rainforest tour to see wild animals - It is a great tour if you want to see wild animals behaving naturally in their habitat. Our guide, Paul, is very knowledgeable. Saw a python, two platypuses, several possums, and many birds on our tour. The curtain fig tree at the end is absolutely shocking. Didn't see the tree kangaroo during our day tour (but luckily saw it on our trip to Taronga Zoo in Sydney). Suggestions: take motion sickness pills before the trip, as there will be 233 turns in half an hour; preload the Australian bird package in the Merlin app if you want to identify birds.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sarah_w
Jun 25, 2024
Fantastic experience - Great experience, Paul was an excellent guide, very friendly and knowledgeable, and we saw lots of wildlife.
Review provided by Viator
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up to 11 guests
1 Adult
November 2024
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