Summer is different here… it’s the Darwin wet season! It’s still summer, but it’s tropical. Everything is alive and bright and warm, the storms are sudden and the rain is heavy – it’s wild and it’s beautiful.
It’s a welcome reprieve from a dry season packed to the brim with events and camping trips. The summer months are about taking a breath and being able to embrace our Territory in a way that is focused completely on its beauty – whether it be sunny and bright, stormy, or glistening post rain.
It’s a Territory that people are not as used to seeing – and it’s a really beautiful time to be here.
So what should you look forward to if you’re visiting in the Darwin wet season?
THE EPIC STORMS
Watching them roll in over the city, the Stokes Hill Wharf, one of the boat clubs or INFINITY at Mindil Beach Casino is the BEST.
THE AWESOME PHOTOGRAPHY OPPORTUNITIES
The wet is honestly a photographers dream – even amateurs! This place is mesmerising. Storms, flowers, waterfalls… it’s all epic content!
THE BEAUTIFUL COLOURS
In the build up/early wet season it’s flame tree (Poinciana) season, and after the rains the grass is green everywhere, mangos are ripe, all the tropical plants are lively. It’s a real tropical summer!
ITS EVEN BETTER FROM THE AIR
Everyone should do a flyover of the epic Jim Jim falls at least once when they visit the NT, and it’s only flowing in the wet, so it’s the best time to be here! Even checking out Tolmer and Wangi from the viewing decks after some rain is really spectacular – the contrast of how the exact same place can be completely different in each season is amazing!
THE FISH
The early months of the wet/build up are great for fishing, as are the last few known as ‘the run off’. It’s Milion Dollar Fish’ season all throughout the wet season – there are tagged barra to catch and win money!
THE WET SEASON SPECIALS
There are some falls that are actually BETTER during the wet season & just after it, like Motor Car Falls in Kakadu and Southern Rockhole in Nitmiluk!
THE CAFE / BAR SCENE
The Darwin wet season is definitely time to take advantage of the cool emerging bar & cafe scene, and there’s some really cool new ones that have popped up recently! Check out Charlie’s of Darwin and Willing Distillery, and the Air Raid Arcade, home to Babylon Bar and the 1995 – the cool thing about venues in Darwin is that they all know how to be indoor AND outdoor venues, depending on the time of year!!
THE RADAR CHAT
If you’re not into the ‘BOM radar’ – you will be. It’s a regular conversation starter in the wet, it’s pinned to our browser on our computers and it pops up on social media with even the slightest chance of a storm or a big rain!
And if we’ve convinced you – We asked some locals on our socials about how to embrace the heat when you get here… their tips here!
Follow us on socials for the latest local’s tips!