Exclusive places you can only visit with an Aboriginal guide

17 September 2024
Original content by Natasha Dragun

As vast and open as Australia is, pockets of the country are inaccessible because their sacred status requires they be visited only with an Aboriginal guide.

This not only offers exclusivity, but also takes you on an immersive journey into Indigenous histories and cultures, with insights that reveal just how wide, wonderful and ancient Australia really is.

NSW South Coast

The Yuin Traditional Owners of Ngaran Ngaran Culture Awareness created their motto – ‘give it away to keep it’ – in the understanding that sharing their knowledge and Country was the ultimate way to expand visitor horizons. The organisation offers experiences that take you to parts of Gulaga (Mount Dromedary) on the New South Wales South Coast – culturally significant places you couldn’t visit or truly comprehend without a Yuin guide. The forested mountain is not only beautiful, but also extremely sacred, and your expedition here on a two-night Yuin Retreat reveals moving Dreaming stories that will change the way you see this special area.

Stockton Beach, Sand Dune Adventures. Credit: Tourism Australia

NSW North Coast

Further north in New South Wales, Sand Dune Adventures is owned and operated by the Worimi Local Aboriginal Land Council, with the ultimate goal of preserving stories, culture and heritage across this part of the state. While Traditional Owners allocate some concessional permits that allow other operators to visit the Stockton Bight Sand Dunes here, the only other way to experience the longest moving sand dunes in the Southern Hemisphere is on an exclusive dune-bashing experience with Sand Dune Adventures. On quad bikes you’ll zip across some of the 4,200 hectares of sacred coastal land, all the while learning why it is so special to the Worimi people.

Arnhem Land and the Northern Territory

On its tours across remote Arnhem Land and the Cobourg Peninsula in the Northern Territory, Venture North Safaris pauses at Injalak Hill, home to some of the world’s most significant rock art. The only way to visit the main rock-art site is with an Indigenous guide from Injalak Arts. This not only ensures the protection of the art for future generations, but also gives the work integrity and context – your guide is an artist and able to decode the work you see while you wander.

Sab Lord, the son of a buffalo and crocodile hunter and owner of Lords Kakadu and Arnhemland Safaris, grew up in Kakadu alongside local Aboriginal clans, through which he formed lifelong connections. Thanks to these relationships he has permission to take his private charters on otherwise restricted cultural lands.

Lords Kakadu & Arnhemland Safaris, Northern Territory. Credit: Tourism Australia

South West Victoria

The Budj Bim Cultural Landscape Tourism offering unfolds on Gunditjmara-owned land, a unique UNESCO World Heritage Site listed solely for its Aboriginal cultural significance. This extraordinary region bears evidence of one of the world's oldest and most extensive aquaculture systems, dating back over 6,600 years. From the Tae Rak Aquaculture Centre, visitors embark on cultural tours led by Gunditjmara guides, discovering ancient lava flows, fish traps, eel smoking trees and remnants of Aboriginal stone huts.

Budj Bim National Park. Credit: Tourism Australia