Culturally uplifting experience - Interesting hearing about the Tiwi cultural and history from some colourful characters. Lunch and the smoking and dancing which followed were particularly enjoyable.

Tiwi island tour - Was a wonderful day the Tiwi people are so welcoming a fantastic experience learning about their culture will treasure this forever

Tiwi hospitality - Whilst it was a long journey on the boat, the hospitality shown to us by the Indigenous community was well worth it. Lunch was lovely and our guides were great. Thank you to the Tiwis for making us so welcome.

Fabulous day trip to Tiwi - A wonderful day with AAT Kings . Our driver Adam was fabulous and local guide Phelan fun , informative and was generous with sharing his culture with us . The tour included the Museum , church art centre , and the most enjoyable part , an opportunity to sit with locals and talk , participate in a smoking ceremony, face painting and dancing . Lunch was a simple but delicious salad / cold meats buffet , eaten outdoors . The ferry ride is long , but it’s a large boat with indoor or outdoor seating, snacks and drinks . The best day , I’d recommend to anyone looking to explore the Tiwi culture

Fantastic - The whole day was fantastic so informative its was lovely listening to Trevor and friends and hearing about their way of living but we would have loved to hear more! We were sad we couldn't climb the stairs to get into the church and hear the history there!

A Sound trip to the Tiwi with Authentic Aboriginal Guides - I enjoyed this pricy but very interesting tour. The Tiwi Aboriginal guides made it and were interesting funny great sensor of humour and caring. The trip started off chaotically with the ticketing process which took too long. The boat trip was 3 hours and it was choppy. And likewise on the return. The crew were helpful in handing out bags to those feeling ill. The ferry was fully loaded. On arrival the darlings customers were split into 2 equal groups and we proceeded with the tour. We wandered around visiting a good museum and old Catholic Church. The guide gave us some stories of founding of Christianity on the Tiwis and the relationship with the first priest and the islanders. We then visited an art museum which you could purchase locally made items. Lunch was a standard buffet salad and was very tasty. Tea coffee and water were supplied. Then we had the guides paint themselves up and did some cultural dances. These were good and interactive. Finally a bus tour around the town and before we knew it, it was time to farewell our guides. It was a great experience and I felt enriched with knowledge about our First Nation People from the Guides. The ferry trip was very quite choppy and there was some illness on board but sealink staff handed out sick bags it took 3hours. Overall a great tie-me made special by the guides.

The Tiwis - Very interesting visit to the crisis. Excellent guides. Fascinating history. Museum was a highlight.

Good and bad - The tour on the island, once we got there, was fantastic. We felt welcomed and included. The local guides, Roma, Fred and Steel, willingly shared their culture and historical insights of the island. Lunch was great too. They were very patient and forgiving with our lack of understanding of the local customs. Life on the island is so different from ours, going back thousands of years. The part they played in the Darwin air raids was very interesting so was seeing the places that Top End Wedding was filmed. However, the lack of communication from the ferry operators spoilt it. People arrived on one day early to find out that the ferry had broken down and the tour was cancelled. They should have been told when they knew instead of letting them spend money on taxi fares and wasting their time when there is so much else to be done in Darwin. They were given credits for the next day but there were still problems with the ferry and we waited for over an hour, not knowing what was happening. We were told to turn up early and it was a classic case of hurry up and wait. Simple organisational skills like being directed to checking in and bag checking in the correct order would have been less frustrating. We have had experience with AAT Kings before and every time we have been mucked around. They lack communication and we would be very hesitant in booking with them again.

How much of my $419 gets to the community? - It’s a long and fairly expensive day with relatively low reward. I’m not sure how much of the cost flows back to the local community - if it’s a high proportion then I’d hesitate to be critical but I suspect otherwise. The boat trip each way is a full 2.5h and with extensive delays at start and end we spent only slightly more than 3h on the ground of an 11h day. The local guides put in a good effort but I suspect AAT Kings is making a good quid with minimal involvement from them and very little guidance as to how to run a rewarding tour. We were met on arrival by a bus that accommodated less than half the day’s clientele so most of us were asked to walk most of the tour. The tour itself is interesting and the community works hard to give insight into their life and culture but really, for $419 dollars it’s hard to see the value. A return ferry trip is $120.

Sad and not worth $430 - Very disappointed in this tour. Arrived ant the ferry terminal early as instructed. The boat operators were late, and then we had a lengthy check in process. Arrived at Bathurst island, this tour had 40pax and only a bus for 22, so we wait again at the island terminal. When we do get onto the bus, it’s not air conditioned We spent almost an hour at a cemetery and there were people with mobility issues forced to stand for the whole time. Then we were ferried to the arts centre, which felt more commercial than cultural. Lunch was nice… fresh sandwiches you make yourself… then some traditional dancing. Because of our transport situation we missed seeing the museum because it had closed. The island itself is unkempt, uncared for and just sad. Sadly, this was a disappointing trip. Found out later you can just catch a ferry over for $90 return and walk around the island yourself. Wish I had had the benefit of hindsight.