Our dream of having it to ourselves was not to be. We were mobbed! But first, lets talk about tides. We’re using the White Island tide times, as the closest. However, the tide at Camp Creek last night was about 90 minutes later than the times for White Island. The guide says to leave about mid-tide and head up the 7nm to the falls - but if the reef part way along is more than 1m out of the water, you won’t have sufficient water to cross the shallows further up.

When we passed the reef it was more than 1m out of the water, but we didn’t have a problem with water (though the route is a bit convoluted and we had no route to follow other than one we’d determined from the satellite photos of sandbars which may have moved). We took it slow and safe anyway.

Part way up, we saw 2 boats behind us. One was catching up fast! However, we were just far enough ahead to duck into the falls and get the photo thats already on the blog. Very pleased - but Lady M arrived just as we finished, so a quick chat on the radio to tell them we’d be 2 minutes and they were very chilled about things. We got out of their way and let them go in for their guests to get photos.

We moved a short distance downstream and anchored in the little hole we’d checked out on the way up. It has enough water for us at low tide so we can sit out here and have another day at the falls. As we were anchoring, Great Escapes IV passed us and began their negotiation on the VHF with Lady M.

So all happy with our anchor, we were just about to jump into the dinghy when the fisheries guys arrived. They wanted to check our freezer and fridges for fish. Sadly we didn’t have much but what we did have is legal (skin on the fillets is the main thing). So they were happy, and we got to go ashore.

Its a bit of a climb/scramble to find the swimming hole but the crew of Lady M were there and helped us. Very nice of them - in fact they are the nicest crew we’ve met so far - highly recommend them if you are wanting to do a Kimberley tour!

The swimming hole was empty when we got there and we did have it to ourselves. Very lucky considering the number of cruise ships around. We’re seeing more cruising ships than yachts - I guess because they move so much faster…

Our peace was disturbed a bit by the helicopter from Great Escape, but it didn’t last long. The quiet returned pretty quick.

I still think Ruby Falls is my favourite swimming spot so far, but this is pretty darn good - and such a treat to (once again) have it to ourselves!

Being a bit unsure of the tide times and wanting to be sure the wind hadn’t blown Duplicat around too much, we headed back. As we reached the boat, we saw yet another cruise ship - Odyssey - arriving! Busy day at the falls indeed!