Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures

I’ve lived in the Northern Territory where there are crocs aplenty.  Once we were crossing a river into Arnhem Land in our Ford Laser (I’d watched other people do the same and it looked safe).  Half way across a three meter crocodile surfaced right next to our vehicle.  I remember thinking “If we stall now we’re stuffed.”  We didn’t stall of course, and I went on to experience an amazing Indigenous festival in Arnhem Land, travel the world, have three beautiful kids etcetera etcetera.  I am also now much more sensible about crossing rivers.

Flash forward a few years and we were living in Cairns.  I know there are crocodiles around Cairns.  There are many places in tropical north Queensland I wouldn’t dream of swimming because I know I might get eaten by a crocodile.  They are just harder to spot.  Part of this is of course their amazing design.  Crocodiles are stealth hunters that stalk their prey effectively by remaining unseen.  We found out the expensive way – by taking a number of crocodile spotting cruises.  The only ones we saw in the wild in five years living there were a few baby crocs on croc spotting cruises.  No mummy or daddy crocs, none at all.  Fortunately for visitors to Cairns and Port Douglas there are many wildlife parks, and all of them are home to at least one crocodile.  The biggest, best, wildlife park to view and learn about crocodiles is Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures.

Hartley’s Crocodile Farm

Hartley’s has commercially bred esturine crocodiles since 1989.  The big money earner in crocodile farming is the skins – Hartley’s supplies crocodile skins to Luis Vutton.  Crocodile meat is also sold from the farm hence the number of outlets around Cairns selling crocodile schnitzel although the meat is also exported to Asia.  Visitors to Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures have the opportunity to learn about the workings of a crocodile farm.  From experience we know however that the presentation at the farm varies considerably depending on who is giving the talk.  To get the most out of your visit do make sure you ask as many questions as you like after the crowds have moved along.  Doing this helped us get the most out of our farm visit.  Visitors with young children – also beware.  Staff at the farm had placed chairs alongside the pens for children to stand on so they can see the crocs.  My own son climbed up to have a look, which made me anxious.  As I ran over to stop him doing this I was yelled at by one of the Hartley staff because someone else’s child had put their arm out over the pen and was presumably at peril of losing it.  My advice, keep your kids away from the chairs.  There are many other crocs for them to see at Hartley’s in safer environs.

Little Lady Bub meets her first crocodile

Other than the farm Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures works as a wildlife park which, although it has an emphasis on crocodiles also houses many other species .  There were opportunities for my kids to be hands on with young crocodiles, as well as other native Australian animals such as wallabies.  Presentations at Hartley’s are particularly informative and interesting.  Highlights were the crocodile feeding and snake show.

What sets Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures apart from the other wildlife parks around Cairns and Port Douglas is the boat cruise.  The jumping croc cruises on the Fitzroy River in the Northern Territory are famous, and when we lived there I would send all our visitors down to experience them.  When we moved to Cairns I was surprised to discover that as feeding Australian wildlife is illegal, there are no jumping croc cruises in north Queensland.  The difference it seems is how the legislation regarding Australian wildlife is enforced between the Northern Territory and Queensland.  Visitors to Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures get the jumping croc experience with Hartley’s captured crocs.  For those wondering exactly what a jumping croc cruise is the next picture really sums things up.

Jumping croc Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures.

How things work –  an attendant lures a crocodile to the edge of the boat with a bait (usually a pork chop or chicken carcass).  The crocodile then, with a bit of precision pork chop/chicken technique shown by the attendant will jump out of the water to retrieve it’s food.  Written down it doesn’t sound so exciting.  Holy Smoly though if it isn’t the most exhilarating display of the crocodile’s raw power.  It also gives cruisers the chance to view the crocodile in its entirety out of the water.  Unlike some of the boats on the Northern Territory’s Fitzroy River which are open,  which give visitors the chance to feed the crocs (yes I have done it) and which are a little terrifying Hartley’s boats are closed behind glass and only the attendant does the feeding.  What this meant was that I felt safe taking my young kids onto the boat and that they were able to enjoy the jumping crocs too.

Koalas Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures

After all of that excitement I was a little relieved to move on to some more sedate animal watching, like the cutest mum-bub koala pair I have ever seen.

Snake Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures

And the prettiest snake I have ever seen.

Turtle Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures

And the sweetest little turtle I have ever seen…

Getting the most out of your visit to Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures

• Take hats for the whole family and sunscreen.  There is perhaps not as much shade as you would like in some parts of the park.
• Take your good camera, don’t just rely on your phone for a visit to Hartley’s.  You want to make sure you can take some speed shots of the jumping crocs.
• There is a kiosk with reasonably priced food and drink however they did not sell anything appropriate for a baby.  Make sure you take your own baby food if like me you are visiting with a little bub.
• If you can visit during the cooler months of the year.
• Entrance to Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures entitles you to three days entry.  This is a really substantial sized attraction and you could easily spread your visit over a few days.
• Try to arrive at opening time to make the most of the coolest time of the day.

The Where:  Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures is located at Wangetti between Cairns and Port Douglas.

You may also be interested in Top tips for exploring tropical North Queensland with young kids and Three tropical north Queensland travel bloggers you don’t want to miss.

Bubs on the Move provides tips and advice for parents traveling with small children including attraction and accommodation reviews. You can join us on Facebook or Twitter to receive updates to your news feed.

Disclaimer:  We received free entry to Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures.

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