Bombing of Darwin World War II Tour with Harbour Cruise

Great Tour

Great day. We learned so much. Highlights were Charles Darwin Park and seeing the USS Peary on the harbour floor, and the Anzac biscuit of course. Nice touch.

This tour lived up to its reputation

Garry was an entertaining & knowledgeable host who told/showed us so much of this event that wasn’t publicised at the time & since. He involved all 6 of us in his commentary & promoted the friendship amongst us all - we also got cues for “things to do” in Darwin

Informative, recommended

Sightseeing on boat cruise very enjoyable. The military museum was great. Learnt a lot about Darwin in ww2.

A good way to learn about the bombing of Darwin

We enjoyed this tour which covered a lot of ground regarding Darwin in WW2. It was good to combine the coach tour with the harbour boat tour.

Darwin WW2 tour

This was a very informative, comfortable and fun tour. Would recommend it for anyone wanting to get a good overview of Darwin & WW2. Our guide Chris, our guide, was very knowledgeable and provide some great insights to events of February 1942. The harbor cruise gave us a different aspect to the city and the bombing raids.

Darwin Harbour bombing WW11, lest we forget

Our tour guide Mariet picked us up in a clean, air conditioned mini bus. She was very knowledgeable about the fateful day, 19th Februay 1942 when the Japanese flew over Darwin Harbour and dropped hundreds of bombs, devastating Darwin. Lots of information I wasn’t taught in school. This tour took in the various points that were affected, and a visit to the defence museum, returning to town and then we boarded the cruise boat and were able to see the relevant points of interest from the harbour. A great tour; I totally enjoyed it. Well done to Mariet and the people on the boat, who did a great job.

Would recommend

Booking on line was a nightmare. Tour operator communication left a lot to be desired. We were told we would be picked up at 7:30, by 8am nothing, I made a phone call and was told we would soon be collected and we would be phoned back, nothing, eventually picked up at 8:20. The tour itself was very good but some parts were a bit hurried because of the late start, but all in all very informative.

Great experience about History.

Bus trip in morning and boat trip after. Very informative and great local guides. Bombing of Darwin centre is great, could easily go back later and visit to see rest of it as have limited time on bus trip. Highly recommend this trip.

Insightful tour

Fascinating tour. Mariette is an amazing guide. She has deep knowledge of the subject and is passionate about it. Logistics were also top notch.

A Must Do Tour in Darwin

You will leave this tour with a deep understanding of the many bombings of Darwin. The staff were knowledgeable and took you through the key bombing locations in Darwin (by air conditioned bus), the Darwin War Museum and the harbour tour of where Darwin was bombed. This overlooked, under told and hidden WWII story of Australian history is a must! Mariette was a great tour guide. You will need to purchase your own food and wear comfy shoes.

The Bombing of Darwin: A history that made the Darwin of today.

We learnt so much about the bombing of Darwin on this tour. Jim our tour guide gave us loads of valuable historical information that was both informative and interesting. For most Australians, I would assume, like us, the bombing of Darwin was not on our curriculum growing up so this tour gave us the story every Australian should know. What we particularly liked, was the 'real' story Jim gave us, which isn't always in the official records. The War Museum which is included was well worth the visit. This history is a history that has shaped Darwin in so many ways. This tour is new and our only constructive criticism is that it needs more time. Time to stop for photos at various sites and time for the boat trip to give people more opportunity to engage in the history of this essential tour. Thank you Jim for a truly memorable and informative tour.

WWII Bombing Tour well worth doing.

This was a very interesting and informative tour of Darwin and history of WWII Bombing .Marriette and Terry were excellent with their knowledge and presentation of information. Pick up and drop off service was much appreciated.

Absolute must do!!

This was an amazing tour. Friendly staff who are more than happy to answer all your ‘noob’ questions!! Very informative as well as thorough. Pick up was from our hotel and they arrange a time the day before. Hubby and I loved it all. Fully air conditioned bus which was great as it was as hot as Hades!! They had water and bug spray for you if you came unprepared. Cruise part was fabulous. Darwin Barbour is stunning. Definitely worth the money. We are already trying to get the time to do this again next year!!! Highly recommend you add this o. Your to-do-list if you visit Darwin!!

VERY COMPREHENSIVE TOUR

Great tour with Mariette. Lots of information on Darwin and especially the WW2 experiences. Good selection of stops. Harbour tour very refreshing in hot weather!

Informative and enjoyable.

Enjoyable tour. Plenty of information. Museum was great. Guides on the boat very knowledgeable. Bus tour showed us more than we could have found on our own.

Absolutely fantastic

Highly recommend this company for this tour they were absolutely fantastic right from pick up to finish. All tour guides on the bus and the boat were a wealth of information and we thoroughly enjoyed our time with the tour. Even arranging pick up, etc over the phone was fantastic and so helpful.

Great

Great informative tour. So easy to jump on pick a place to go to then jump back on to the next interesting stop. Would highly recommend

WW11 tour and river cruise

The excellent knowledge and enthusiasm of our guides. A pleasurable tour which gave me a better insight to war in Darwin

Bus and harbour tour

Well organized with excellent guides volunteering historical and local cultural information with suggestions for further activities. Included visits to war relics, vivid descriptions of the conditions and the geopolitical events. Harbour tour of war graves and big picture of the bombings. Interesting comments and your of architectural changes before and after the war and cyclone Tracey.

SUCCINCT AND NOVEL PRESENTATION OF WWII HISTORY

An effort has been made here to use technology to the maximum extent possible to both entertain and inform about the bombing of Darwin in WWII. While the floor area is not big, the amount of information conveyed is large. Children will not be bored at this museum, the virtual experiences guaranteeing that. The only criticism I could make is that the display concentrates on the initial bombing and fails to make the truthful point that Darwin was bombed over 60 times during the war, not just once or twice. The entry ticket is combined with a museum display of the history of the Royal Flying Doctor Service, which is interesting but not as spectacular as the WWII efforts. You can also get a combined ticket with SEADARWIN's WWII boat tour of Darwin harbour, but I would not recommend this (see separate review).

Darwin Bowbing Tour

This was a great tour, it took about 4 an half hours. We got to learn a lot about the Dawin Bowbing as we well as see a lot of Darwin from the driving to and from places. The tour guide new a lot or information and spoke to us for pretty much the whole tour. Note, the oil tunnels are not included in the tour, we went and did this after the tour ended which was good.

Great, informative tour

Great tour. Very informative and interesting. Can highly recommend. Tour operators are knowledgeable and give great insights into the tour subject.

Friendly informative tour of WW2s bomb Ing of Darwin

Great tour with an informative explanation of the bombing of Darwin. Tour bus driver Phillip was very informative safe and friendly. And the guys on the boat did a great job too. Well worth it if you’ve a half day in Darwin.

Well worth the time! So much to learn about.

Highly recommend this tour. Great experience to really understand what happened in the Top End during WWII. Did so much and it was so interesting that the time flew. Getting out on the harbour plus the bus tour showing you all the locations and what went on was really very informative. Excellent trip.

A History Lesson

The tour people were knowledgeable, professional and very friendly. The War tour was a real history lesson to us, understanding the true events that took place was just amazing. The guys taking the tour were professional and set the scene to the chain of events. Well Done!

Worth every penny. Would do it again in a heartbeat.

It is hard to pick the "best" part; the whole tour was the best. Our driver on the bus, Phil, was most informative and knowledgeable. The harbour tour was very enjoyable and we learned a lot about where our Dad had been during the time of the bombings. We were only in Darwin for a few days and we are so thankful that we picked the right excursion to learn so much. If we are fortunate enough to get back to Darwin, we would certainly do the same tour again. We have already recommended it to fellow travellers.

Must do tour

This is a must do tour in Darwin. Didn’t know all this happened back in WW11. Our guide Phil was excellent - explaining everything to us and also a lovely man

An excellent WW2 tour and cruise

This was an excellent tour and cruise. We learnt so much about WW2 history in Darwin - interesting, informative and a great experience with excellent tour guides.

Bombing of Darwin

Phil did an amazing job teaching and showing us the history of this area, it really should be taught in schools, it truly is something that we need to learn about, recognise and see for ourselves. The boat ride was also fun and overall we had a great time, thank you.

Well worth doing the trip

The visit to the war museum was a highlight. The displays are fantastic. The bus driver gave interesting information and was enthusiastic in his comments. We learnt a lot about the war and how it affected the people of Darwin.

Great experience coupled with excellent staff and service

Harbour cruise and commentary were excellent and the land based coverage was also informative and the guide extremely helpful and knowledgable

Interesting

Phil our driver was so excellent. He had so much information and was passionate about the Bombing of Darwin story. Thankyou we really enjoyed ourselves

My highest recommendation

Perfect mix of transport and information. Two highly motivated and informative tour leaders Phil on bus and ? on boat. Really brought this part of Australia’s history to life. Why didn’t we learn more about this at school. Highly recommend this tour for all ages as one of the best O have experienced. SeaDarwin deserves success

Discover the extent of destruction to Darwin during WW II.

Visit to WW II museum was interesting and informative. Guide/driver who provided information about attacks on Darwin during World War II was knowledgeable and enthusiastic.

Best half day tour

Phil was amazing and showed a great deal of love for his tour. His knowledge and experience was excellent and made everyone included. A great tour overall.

TEACH IN AUSTRALIA HISTORY CLASSES

Being taught in school would have been great, unfortunately we were never told, Big eye opener’ very impressed with Phil or tour guide. What a legend 👌

Darwin WW2 experience

I must experience if you want to know the history and importance that Darwin played in WW2. Too many people are ignorant of the importance of Darwin during the war and the bombings by the Japanese. This day will truly give you an appreciation of what our servicemen, woman and others in Darwin went through

Learnt more than I imagined.

Tour guide very knowledgeable, would highly recommend. Didn't realise there was so much devastation in Darwin 😪

Fantastic History Tour about Darwin Bombing

Best tour we have experienced due to Phil our guide, and the wealth of knowledge he had. Every Australian, young or old should do this tour to understand part of our history. All venues were so intersecting.

Excellent tour with lots of interesting information.

I enjoyed the whole experience but particularly the Darwin Military Museum. I could have stayed there much longer. Also enjoyed the boat trip on the harbour.

Fun and informative

A fascinating tour, we learned stuff we didn't know about the bombing of Darwin. The harbour cruise was excellent also and just gave depth to the whole adventure. Our guides knowledge and passion for the topic added further to the experience

Amazing, must do

Phil our guide had amazing knowledge. A fabulous tour. He had water on board as well as insect repellent. He went above and beyondensuring everyone had been dropped off to their preferred locations.

A must do for Darwin

The cruise and the museum were very informative, the guides knowledgeable and the tour professionally run.

Very enjoyable

This tour is very informative and thorough. The history up in Darwin is amazing. A shame it doesn't get told in schools.

Amazing and so easy to enter

What an amazing piece of history. My kids were amazed and loved walking into it. Much more info in there then you think. We all loved it.

The information gathered...

The information gathered along the way was very enlightening. The cruise on the harbour was a real eye opener as to what happened in Darwin during WW11

Well worth doing.

A very well presented tour. We knew about the bombings but not all the rest of the wider involvement of the armed forces in Darwin. The boat tour part is definitely worth it.

Excellent

Betty was a wealth of knowledge and so eager to share. Was well worth the time and the money. Thank you Tina

Insight into Australia’s war history

Phil’s knowledge of the WWII bombing of Darwin was extensive and colourful. We visited a number of key sites in and around the city before hopping on the boat which took us to interesting and historical points around the harbour. By the time we finished we had a clear vision of how it must have felt the morning the Japanese attacked the city. Our morning culminated at the military museum where any gaps of knowledge could be filled. An informative and enjoyable morning which was not too heavy and full of variation…..ideal for a couple with one person seriously interested in military history, and the other not so!….

Interesting bus tour but was disappointed with the boat trip

Bus driver was lovely, informative and interesting and the museum excellent (well worth a separate visit really- so much information and a lot of it very interactive). The boat trip was a repeat of what we were told by the bus driver and our guide, friendly as he was, was reading from notes and not at all confident with the stories and it felt really awkward to be watching /listening at times. For $150 p.p. I do expect better.