Cape Tribulation - Daintree - Night Walks - Spotlighting - Day Walk Tours

Although the rain and wind deterred us from seeing a great deal of animals Ian our night tour guide was exceptional. Not only informational but very funny and entertaining, thank you for the night tour.

We were unfortunately disappointed with this day walk and would only rate it one star. We had hoped to see wildlife, but during the tour we saw very few to no animals at all. The walk did not take place inside the national park, but on private land bordering it. While the area is still jungle-like, this was not what we expected from the description. A dog joined the walk, explained as protection against wild boars. While the dog was very sweet and friendly, the experience felt more like a casual dog walk than a guided nature tour, which gave the impression that the focus was not fully on the guests or the tour itself. The trail is partly steep, rocky, and slippery. For fit and confident hikers this may be fine, but it is definitely not suitable for people with mobility limitations. The guide was personally very kind, and binoculars were provided. However, they were never really used in a meaningful way during the walk. Overall, we found the experience overpriced and not good value for money. In comparison, a walk along the public boardwalks is free and in parts more informative. This is our honest opinion — unfortunately, the experience did not meet our expectations.

The walk itself was about 2 hours long, walking through rainforests and near flowing creeks, although the walk was taken at a slow pace and wasn’t strenuous. We saw unique insects, birds, frogs and native mammals (although sadly no tree kangaroos). However the highlight was the guide and his knowledge of the area, the forest and surrounds being second to none. His lived experiences of the area make him a passionate advocate and expert on the forest, the local indigenous practices and local affairs, which he discusses during the walk. I would recommend this walk to anyone looking for a more personal, local perspective, who is seeking local insight and expertise into the Daintree ecosystem.

Sensibly priced. We greatly enjoyed the Daintree night walk. We had visited the walkway during the day but with a knowledgeable guide night creatures and nature highlights were revealed. The couple I encouraged to join us said they felt it would be a highlight of their whole time in Northern Queensland. Thank you.

The night walk involves walking mostly in single file up and down narrow slippery wet rock paths and through small streams, so you do need to be really fit and agile. Even the guide slipped once and almost fell over. The commentary is approximately 10% wildlife, 30% trees, plants & ecosystem, 20% amateur anthropology (some of it dubious) and the rest personal opinion on a range of topics, especially football and covid lockdowns. There are extended periods of standing around on uneven sloping rocky ground listening to the guide. Overseas visitors with English as a 2nd language may struggle to understand the commentary. During our walk, a middle aged woman slipped over in water and hit her head on a rock. Her head was bleeding. She had to walk back to the carpark- up and down the slippery rocky path - and was then going to walk to the guide's house to have her head wound dressed, and to be assessed after 20 minutes to see if she needed medical attention because "Mossman hospital is a long way away". I would have expected a head-injured person to stay where they were for a while, especially if concussed and experiencing a surge of adrenaline - maybe the guide could carry a small first aid kit with antiseptic and bandages, cold packs, something sterile to staunch bleeding, a radio or satellite phone, maybe have a stretcher stashed in a locker at the midpoint of the walk in case of serious injuries which might prevent a person from walking out. I've lived and worked in several remote communities in the Kimberley, the NT and on Cape York and do understand that getting help to injured people is difficult in remote areas - but making someone with a head injury immediately walk a few hundred metres does not seem at all like "best practice" first aid to me. (I expect a scathing response to my comment from the guide, which will not make it anymore likely that I would recommend this walk or do it again).

We booked a night walk with Ian well in advance, but on the evening of the tour, he simply didn’t show up. After several attempts, we finally managed to reach him by phone, and he told us he had messaged us the night before to cancel — but we never received any message, not even in the spam folder. He said he was planning to do another walk the following night, but unfortunately, that no longer fit our travel plans. It's a shame — it probably would have been a great experience, but poor organization really let us down.

This Jungle Escapes tour was absolutely amazing and a must if you enjoy wildlife and nature. A big thank you to Ian for getting me situated - I had a hiccup with my reservation the first night but he allowed me to move it to the following night. The night of the tour itself was so incredible. Up in Cape Trib for a week, I had gone on quite a few “night walks” myself on the Dubuji boardwalk. This experience was unparalleled though - exclusive access in unlogged rainforest… during the rain. Nat (I believe that was her name?) was our tour guide and she was super informative and was able to spot all sorts of plants and critters and tell us about them. We saw snails, stick bugs, crickets with MASSIVE antennae, heaps of spiders, bioluminescent fungi… but the highlight of the night for me was seeing not one, but TWO Boyd’s forest dragons. I was very pleased by the tour’s approach to the wildlife. They asked us not to shine our lights at them due to them sleeping at night and their sensitive eyes. I don’t think a lot of tours would have that same respect for wildlife. To add to the ambience of the tour… 1/3 of the way through, a deluge of rain began. But hey - that’s the rainforest. Huge thank you to the Jungle Escapes team for making my last night in Cape Tribulation so wonderful!

My partner and I had a wonderful night tour with Ian. We nabbed a last minute booking due to a cancellation, so really appreciated the quick response and flexibilty to accomodate us. Go in with an open mind about what you might see (and hear!) - the tour is about experiencing the rainforest as a precious and unique ecosystem, not a list of wildlife to check off. Enjoy the stillness and darkness of the forest at night. Have at least one minute with all lights off, it's magic. And make sure you come with closed-toe shoes (thanks for the lend of the Crocs, Ian..!).