We have 3 days to spend seeing Kakadu. Would we be better off staying in Cooinda or Jabiru? We will be there in early October, 2007. Thanks for any input.

Sharon

Hi Sharon,

We were in Kakadu September 2006 and stayed in Jabiru. Don't know about your budget but for us, a cabin at Lakeview Park Cabins & Bush Bungalows was good value for money. You can walk to the Crocodile Holiday Inn (quite posh and expensive) for restaurant meals if you want or cook your own. The advantage of Jabiru is that it is great for self-catering as there is a small supermarket in the village centre and most importantly it is closer to Ubirr Rock (a must-do, go in time for the sunset, it is awesome, only 30 min from Jabiru as opposed to 1.5 hr from Cooinda so you won't be driving home in the dark). The Bowali Visitor Centre is also around the corner and it has a really neat Aboriginal display. All the other tourist sites were within 30 min drive, including Nourlangie Rock. We did drive all the way to Cooinda for the Yellow Water cruise. This is the only advantage of Cooinda, you can go on the early morning cruise without having to wake up super early, you just roll out of bed and you're there. We left Jabiru at 8am to make it for the 9am cruise and so glad we made the decision - there were lots of things to see in the 9am cruise including crocs in and out of the water (they start crawling out when the sun is already up to warm themselves) - an early morning rise would not have made any difference. Don't miss Ubirr Rock at sunset, it is truly magical!

Also, the petrol station is at Jabiru just around the corner from Lakeview - and the bakery too (delicious quiches to takeaway).

I second the recommendation of bellytoo. We liked the Lakeview..they have several types of places to stay. We did move to Cooinda for our last night so we could take the early morning cruise. It worked well for us because we were driving south to Katherine after Kakadu. Cooinda is mostly just a resort, very near the launch for the cruise, plus the museum there which is worth a look. Jabiru is more of a town, so you can get supplies, etc. and it is closer to some of the sites you want to see. Do a search for "Kakadu" (and also "Litchfield&quot on this message board and you will get a lot of posts that describe all of this in more detail.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...amp;dirtyBit=1

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=3

Here are a couple of links, but if you are serious, just do the search and read them all. There is a lot of information buried in these posts.

Here is a link to some reviews of the Lakeview on tripadvisor

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...Territory.html

Hmmm somehow those links didn't work. Try a search for "Kakadu with kids" and there is a really long thread about lots of stuff you'll want to know.

I am copying my post from that thread about the Lakeview and our stay in August 2006, but there is other info there.

"We self-drove to Kakadu, leaving Darwin after 10 am. It took us a few hours to get there. We stopped at Fogg Dam and thought that was a good stop. Lots of birds. This is 10 km off the main road, so you should allow about 45 min. for this stop. Nothing formal here, just a few lookouts to the wetlands, a walking trail we didn't take, very few people, quite serene, but interesting...we saw a sea eagle take a rat and we saw a cockatoo really close up eating a pandanus fruit. We also stopped at Windows on the Wetlands, which I could have passed on but there are exhibits which appealed to my 10 yr. old so you might want to stop. It is free. We had lunch at a picnic table there. We also stopped at Mamukala (sp?) overlook. The walking trail here is closed due to crocodile sightings along it (!) but the wetlands are nice to view. They aren't very far off the road along a boardwalk. The best thing about this stop was that as we walked along the boardwalk we came upon a wallaby having a feed and he just looked at us and kept on eating. He was about 3 meters away and this absolutely thrilled our 10 yr. old.

Onward to Jabiru where we stayed at the Lakeview Caravan Park in a Bush Bungalow. These are AU$85 per night. I am going to post a review on Tripadvisor with photos at some point. We loved this place. The bush bungalows are a little like upscale camping with a tent-like thing on a platform, double bed and bunk beds, fridge (so there is electricity inside) and outside cooking facilities, with grill. The bathroom is a brick block little house that is very clean and your own private place but you do have to leave the bungalow so that can be a hassle in the middle of the night. Some people would probably not like this if they want more luxury. The Lakeview also has cabins but we didn't see inside any of them.I think these are ensuite. Otherwise your choice is really only the Crocodile place in Jabiru which is pretty expensive.

Note on the Lakeview...they lost several bungalows during Cyclone Monica and are in the process of rebuilding them. If you think you might want to stay here book immediately.

You can see the effects of Monica all around Jabiru and the outlying areas. Thousands upon thousands upon thousands of gum trees all downed in the same westerly direction.

We stayed at the Lakeview for 2 nights. On our first morning in Kakadu we went to the Bowali Visitor's Center, which is good and got some good brochures and advice from the park rangers there. We booked on the East Alligator river cruise for 3 pm and took a 2.5 km walk near the boat launch. Interesting walk and you can get a brochure about it from the Bowali center that gives info about things to notice along the walk. Interesting cave and rock formations.

I have to go now, but we liked the boat cruise, with lots of info by the guide on aboriginal customs, lots of crocs to be seen, a stop on the Arnhem land side where you can get out and walk around a little. Be aware that these cruises leave EXACTLY on time. If you are 5 minutes late you will have missed the boat. They last 1 hr. and 45 minutes.

After this on to Ubirr rock formations and art and the climb up to the Nadab lookout for sunset. Really a highlight.

More later."

Sharon,

I stayed at the Gagudju Crocodile Holiday Inn (2006) which was quite nice; but where ever you stay I strongly recommend their Escarpment Restaurant's "Taste of Kakadu" price fixed meal (AUD 58.00). A sample of the local foods of the territory. It was one of my best meals in Australia.

Kakadu National Park is fantastic!