Enjoy a rare chance to visit the Tiwi Islands and witness an Aboriginal community that holds on tightly to its traditions. Located off the coast of Darwin, the Tiwi Islands experience is led by an indigenous guide who shares local history and traditions. Partake in a traditional morning tea with Tiwi Islanders before visiting the Tiwi Museum and joining Aboriginal artists for an art-making workshop. You can also shop for Tiwi paintings, fabric, carving, pottery and clothing at island prices (own expense).

Full-day tour to the Tiwi Islands from Darwin
See informative exhibits of Tiwi art, including depictions of aboriginal dreamtime stories
Learn about ancient rituals for Tiwi burials and honoring the ancestors
Includes round-trip ferry between Darwin and the Tiwi Islands

What's Included

Local guide
Lunch
WiFi on board
Restroom on board

Food and drinks, unless specified
Hotel pickup and drop-off

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

Cullen Bay Ferry Terminal
Larrakeyah NT 0820, Australia
Cullen Bay Ferry Terminal, at the end of Marina Boulevard, Cullen Bay, Darwin. 5 minutes drive from Darwin CBD, free all day parking in off-street carparks.

Start time

08:00 am

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Travel by ferry from Darwin to Bathurst Island, one of the Tiwi Islands. Seating is available on an outside sun deck or in and air-conditioned indoor cabin. Sandwiches, snacks, soft drinks, and water are available for purchase onboard, and there are limited food options on Bathurst Island. Keep an eye out for wildlife such as sea turtles, dolphins, and seabirds. The Tiwi Islands provide important breeding grounds for a variety of native Australian animals.

A local indigenous guide accompanies you on your tour, which includes a scenic walk and a visit to the museum and an art-making class. At the end of the tour, your guide returns you to the ferry dock for the trip back to Darwin.

SeaLink Northern Territory

5 hours • Admission Ticket Included

Tiwi Design

2 hours • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Service animals allowed
Near public transportation

Infant seats available
This is a walking tour, an easy stroll over short distances between the ferry landing, art centre and mission precinct. **Please note that the Bathurst Island Museum is closed until 2022, and is no longer included in this tour**
Covid Procedures: We have always had stringent and rigorous hygiene standards, cleaning procedures and health and safety practices. During this time, we have stepped our practices and procedures up even further. Where possible we have made additional hand sanitisers and cleaning stations available to our customers and employees to exercise good hand/hygiene practices. We have also placed hygiene communications in our vessels, vehicles, accommodation, food venues, shop fronts/counters/terminals from the relevant health authorities.
Most travellers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 35 travellers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires a minimum number of travellers. If it’s cancelled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveller Photos

Traveller Tips

This day trip is a really cultural experience and an opportunity for friendly interaction with the Tiwi islanders and a chance to spend time at the art centre.

Reviews

4.5

106 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travellers.

Showing 1-10 of 106 reviews

We just still want to go !!!

Kat_G, Apr 2023

One it was cancelled because the boat broke down Two still waiting for the notification Three how do we rebook for Monday 10th April?

A Unique Experience

Jan_S, Oct 2022

Loved the whole cultural experience from the Welcome Ceremony to screen printing to learning about the history of the islands. It was a very personal experience meeting the hosts and artists. It was great to see the sense of hope for the future well being of the community. Our host was knowledgeable and entertaining. Lunch delicious.

Tiwi trip

micsmate, Sept 2022

Meeting the artists and doing a one off screen print on either a t shirt or a tea towel was a highlight.. Morning Tea was lovely, tea, coffee, and damper with a choice of toppings, most enjoyable. Lunch was provided and it was great. There was a sandwich, a piece of quiche, a chocolate muffin, a mandarin and water. Our guide, Kevin, was informative and had a great sense of humour.

Well worth it.

Judith_M, Aug 2022

Nicely done… welcome to country, smoking ceremony, museum, church, explanation of calm system among Tiwi islanders, lunch well done, screen printing a great idea and well done. Enjoyed the gallery and whole day including ferry rides.

Not to be missed

Joanne_M, Aug 2022

Excellent indigenous cultural experience. Best fun & great value. Extensive range of genuine Tiwi artworks available & the opportunity to create a quality screenprinted souvenir to take home

Great day

Greg_L, Aug 2022

A totally enjoyable day. The Tiwi mob were welcoming, pleasant, entertaining, knowledgable and fully keen to explain their culture and island. Lunch was scrumptious.

Could do it again

Heather_G, July 2022

Enjoyed learning the history side. Loved the hands on silk printing. The staff were very helpful and happy to share their knowledge

A wonderful day out.

Sasha_C, July 2022

An amazing day out - so engaging and educational. It was the highlight of our NT trip. Beautiful storytelling and fun art making that we will be proud to wear.

A fantastic experience

Robyn_P, July 2022

Whole tour was excellent. A highlight of our trip. The screen printing and the walk were great. Lunch was fantastic and the welcome at the beginning superb.

Wonderful experience

Susan_M, June 2022

Wonderful experience, would highly recommend to anyone to do this as was worthwhile, educational and enjoyable day.

Hassle free towing visit

John_K, May 2022

I feel the casual happy approach by tour guides is a mirror of the lifestyle on the tiwi Islands. Most enjoyable

Amazing, best tour I've...

alan_g, Apr 2022

Amazing, best tour I've ever had. An experience you can't put a price on. The tour guide has developed alot being the foundation of this tour. All credit to him👍🏼

Brilliant Day !!

Alexi_K, Sept 2021

Buffy was a most stunning guide! What a wonderful representative of this spectacular island and people! It was relaxed and fun and informative . Lunch was delicious and our yarns were life changing. A great ferry trip on the way over and back too! Don’t miss this tour.

Response from Host, Nov 2021

Hi Alexi, Our thanks for leaving your wonderful feedback regarding your Tiwi By Design experience. Apologies for the long delay in responding to your feedback. Wonderful to hear you had a great day, the lunch was delicious and that you enjoyed the ferry journey! We thank you for your great review and look forward to welcoming you back for another SeaLink experience in the future.

Very disorganised

Joanne_V, Aug 2021

This trip was very disorganised and wasn't what I was expecting. Screen Printing my own tea towel was fun. It gave me something to remember my trip.

Response from Host, Nov 2021

Hi Joanne, Thank you for your valuable feedback, and our sincere apologies for the delay in responding. We understand that 'Tiwi time' can be a bit different to grasp, however we hope that you were still able to make the most of your day and the beautiful culture and humor of the locals. We look forward to welcoming you on your next SeaLink experience and aim to help manage your expectations to ensure that you have a most enjoyable day!

Tiwi Island Special

James_S, July 2021

Meeting the local indigenous people on the tour was the most amazing experience Wonderful stories and an amazing culture on Tiwi The people at Tiwi Design are really special artists and showed how talented they were

Fun and welcoming

Tracey_M, June 2021

Making the t shirts and talking with the local people. Lots of fun. The welcome smoking ceremony was beautiful. The guide Ronnie was very good

Art, ritual and smiles.

Janice_T, June 2021

A truly wonderful day experiencing art, culture, music and ritual. Loved the opportunity to screen print a tea towel. Bought art direct from the artist. Great vege lunch box. A success all round.

Will be back

Tracey_G, May 2021

Loved the interaction with the artists. Locals all very friendly and helpful. Learned a lot and had a really good time!

Great experience

Anne, May 2021

It was all great except the white lady doing the printing of the t-shirts not as good as the aboriginal guys and made mistakes on two one being mine. I was lucky I got to do mine again but the other person was not so lucky. Everything else was great. Felt so welcome.

Doing the screen printing

Laurie_K, Oct 2020

Was a good day. Very hot walking around due to COVID 19 restrictions. No vehicle. Disappointed that we couldn’t get into museum.